Early Homo Homo habilis mya contemporaneous with Australopithecus boisei and Australopithecus robustus for at least 500,000 years. Then no fossils of either australopithecine; gone by c. 1.2 mya.
?
Homo habilis and “H. rudolfensis”
Olduwan stone culture: Homo habilis chert flint
Homo erectus: 1.8 mBP – c. 27,000 BP
Homo erectusHomo sapiens “Peking man”
A basic tool of Homo erectus Acheulian biface “hand axe” 1.5 mya - 250,000 ybp entire stone flaked Acheulian technique Tool kit
Homo ergaster / Homo erectus sites 1.8 mya Date too conservative 1.8 mya and 27-53,000 ybp ! 1.7 mya
Pleistocene Epoch 1.8 mya – 10,000 ya, then Holocene Epoch Ice Ages Alternation of warm and cold climates Glaciers grow, move south Water locked up in ice Lowering sea level Land bridges Facilitated dispersal of Homo erectus of Africa at least 1.8 mya
Glaciation -= land bridges
Relative brain size
Brain size / time relationship
Homo erectus
“Nariokotome boy” Kenya, Africa 1.6 mya 5’6” tall Est. 6’ had he survived to maturity Homo erectus or H. ergaster c. 8-9 years old 8-9 day growth increments Alt.: 11 years old Prominent epiphyseal plates
1.5 mya: optical laser scan H. erectus trackway in Kenya (Ileret) Au. afarensis