Name: ____________________________ Period:______ Great Rift Valley - Early Migration Notes The ______________________ is a vast break in Earth’s surface that runs along part of East Africa. The valley is part of a larger feature called the East African Rift System. Location of the Great Rift Valley The valley is situated in a region where three ___________________________meet. Tectonic plates are large sections of Earth’s _____________. Millions of years ago the _______________ began to move apart because of forces within Earth. Those forces also result in volcanoes. Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro are two of the tall peaks formed by volcanoes in this area. Mt. Kilimanjaro Map of Tectonic Plates Some of the __________________ lived in the area of the Great Rift Valley. In 1974 an American paleontologist (fossil expert) found bones belonging to an early human in Ethiopia. The skeleton, which was female, lived about 3 _________________ years ago. It was given the name ____________. Scientists have found bones of many other early humans who lived in the area as well. Lucy Facial Reconstruction and Fossil Modern humans—__________________________—began their ______________ out of ____________ some 60,000 years ago. Our early ___________________ kept exploring until they spread to all corners of the Earth. How far and fast they went depended on climate, the pressures of population (for example, having enough _____________________), and the invention of _______________ and other technologies. Less tangible qualities also sped their footsteps: imagination, adaptability, and an innate curiosity about what lay over the next hill.
