Early Hominids
Australopithecus
Afarensis
Location of
Discovery?
Discovered
By?
Age of Fossil
Physical
Characteristics
Tools Used
Homo Habilis
Homo Erectus
Homo Sapiens
Neanderthalensis
Homo Sapiens
Sapiens
Early Hominids
Australopithecus
Afarensis
Location of
Discovery?
Afar Triangle,
Ethiopia
By?
Donald Johansen
Age of Fossil
3 – 4 million
years
 Human hands and
feet
 long arms
 3 feet tall
 jaw and
Physical
forehead
Characteristics
sticks out
from face
 large head w/ a
small brain
Tools Used
 No tools but
hands were free
because they
Homo Habilis
Olduvai Gorge,
Africa
Homo Erectus
Java, Asia
Eugene Dubois
Louis & Mary
Leakey
1.5 – 2 million
years
 walk on 2 feet
 brain was 2x as
big
a Lucy’s
 more humanlike
features
 4 feet tall
1.8 mil, – 200,000
B.C.E.
 taller and
thinner
than earlier
hominids
 5 feet tall w/
strong
bones
 more humanlike
face with a
round,
smooth
forehead
 large ridge
above
eyes
 Rocks for
 strong hand
chopping
axes
made from
 Sharp pieces of
Homo Sapiens
Neanderthalensis
Neander Valley,
Germany
Homo Sapiens
Sapiens
Originated in
Africa
Mine Workers
230,000 – 30, 000
B.C.E.
35,000 – 12,000
B.C.E
 walked upright
and
were shorter
and
stockier than
modern humans
 lived and
traveled in
groups
 large brain
 high, round
skulls,
large brains,
small
teeth and
slender
bones
 hunted in
organized groups
 created
knives,
scrapers, and
 attached thin
blades
to bones,
were bipeds
“Wise Man”
bone
for cutting
 bone as digging
sticks
“Lucy”
“Doubly, Wise Man”
stone
 fire to cook
meat
 oval huts
covered
with branches
“Handy Man”
spear
points
 hunted in
organized
groups
antler and
stone to
create
throwing
spears,
bows and
arrows,
and other
tools
“Upright Man”