Chapter 1 Notes-Early Humans
Play Overture and Video as Introduction
1. What is the difference between anthropologists and archaeologists?
2. What are artifacts? What type of artifacts would you find in Indiana?
3. What is a culture? What are some cultural traditions that your family practices?
4. Scientists are studying hominids, which are early humans and humanlike
creatures. There are a lot of different theories about how the first man looked.
Try to draw or describe in detail how you think the first human appeared.
5. There have been several hominid skeletons found that helped anthropologists
learn more about early hominids.
1. In 1959 Mary Leaky and her team of anthropologists discovered skull
fragments of a hominid in East Africa that was more than 1.75 million
years old. The fragments formed a skull with a heavy jaw, large teeth,
earning him the nickname: __________________________. He was from
the Australopithecine hominid.
2. In Ethiopia, 1974, a team of anthropologists led by Donald Johanson
found the remains of a hominid skeleton. The bones were a female (3
million years old). What do you think they named this skeleton and how
did she get her name? (play song from computer) (read Donald Johanson’s
story) (Worksheet)
3. Read introduction on page 5. In 1970 Mary Leaky and her team found
hominid footprints in Tanzania and the footprints dated back 3.5 million
years ago. How did her team find the footprints?
4. In 2001 a team of anthropologists found hominid part Australopithecine
and part chimpanzee. It dated back _______ million years ago.
5. In Catal Huyuk archeologist Ian Hodder found a Neolithic farm village in
1993.
6. In 1959, Mary and Louis Leakey found a hominid fossil in Olduvai Gorge
in Tanzania. The hominid was a new species called Homo habilis which
means ______________.
7. In 1991 some hikers in the Alps found a Neolithic nomad named Otzi the
_______________. Otzi was a remarkable find, because it helped
scientists know more about weapons, food, clothing and other important
details on how the Neolithic people lived their lives. (Read the Otzi
Mystery)
6. Turn and look at the chart on page 7. List the four early groups of hominids that
appeared 5 million to 200,000 years ago and tell their nickname and one fact.
7. What continent did humans first live? What continents did humans eventually
migrate? Why did it take so long for the hominids to migrate and why did they
not just stay in the places they were familiar with during their lifetime?
8. How did the first people come to America by foot? Who were the first people to
come to America by boat? (Fill out the ages and Neolithic Revolution sheet) (CroMagnon cave art activity) (Hominid debates)
9. The movie Ice Age is a great Disney movie. Do you think that the Ice Age took
place during our history? What important role has it played in our history?
10. After the Neolithic Revolution agriculture became the way that hominids made
their living. There are positives and negatives of staying in one place and not
hunting and gathering. List some positives and negatives of agricultural
settlements.
11. What characteristics does it take to be considered a civilization? On page 20 and
21 please find, list, and describe those characteristics.
12. List the four river valleys that we will be discussing in the next chapter. Make
sure to include the continent, country, and river.