Hominids and Hunter- Gatherers

Investigating prehistory Historians rely on written records- Did hominids write? Archaeologists- study/analyze material remains like tools, pottery, weapons, clothing, jewelry Anthropologists- study bones of our ancestors and their culture (way of life, beliefs, values, practices)

Early Hominids Australopithecus- 4 million years BC –S/E Africa –500 cm³ brain size –First hominid to walk upright Homo Habilis- “handy man”, 2.5 million years BC 700 cm³ brain size E Africa First to make stone tools

Early Hominids Homo Erectus- “upright man”, 1.6 million years BC –Africa, Asia, Europe –1,000 cm³ brain size –First to ??? Neanderthal- 200,000-30,000 BC, Europe and SW Asia, 1,450 cm³ brain, first to have ritual burials

Early Hominids Cro-Magnon- Homo Sapiens- 40,000 (or 150,000) to 8,000 BC –Europe –Brain size 1,400 cm³ brain size –Fully modern humans –First to create art, more organized

museum/hominid/australopithicus/australo pithicus.shtmlhttp:// museum/hominid/australopithicus/australo pithicus.shtml

Hunter-Gatherers Mode of Production- the way goods and services are produced, used, and traded Hunter-Gatherers- nomads who obtained food, clothes, shelter from plants and animals

The Bering Strait today

Land Bridge quicktime beringlandbridge1l.mov

Hunter-Gatherers They hunted wooly mammoths, elk, reindeer, musk oxen, wooly rhinos, saber- toothed tigers, etc They hunted with stone spear tips called Clovis points

Clovis points

Stone Axe

Folsom Point

Darts and Fish hook

Animals

Shelter