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How, when, and where did we become human?
Meet our closest ancestor, Homo erectus. Homo erectus was one of the hominid groups that was developing increasingly large brains in both Africa and Asia between about 500,000 and 200,000 years ago. This is a reconstructed Homo erectus skull, found in northern China. It dates to some time after 1.6 million years ago. 250k yrs ago Today Big Eras 3-9 10k Brain Development 500k – 200k yrs ago Photo Franz Weidenreich Reconstruction of Homo Erectus The Smithsonian Institution Human Origins Program Big Era 1 Big Era 2 1.8 mil. yrs ago 27k Homo erectus
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Homo erectus was a traveler!
Homo erectus began migrating to southerly parts of Eurasia sometime after about 1.8 million years ago. 200k yrs ago Today Big Eras 3-9 10k Big Era 1 Big Era 2 1.8 mil. yrs ago 27k Homo erectus
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Homo sapiens (that’s us!) evolved from Homo erectus
By 200,000 years ago, people whose skeletons were like those of Homo sapiens were already living in Africa. Between that time and about 100,000 years ago, people who were both anatomically and genetically “like us” emerged in eastern and southern Africa. This is a reconstructed Homo sapiens skull, found in Israel. It has been dated to about 90,000 years ago. Today Big Eras 3-9 10k years ago Big Era 2 Big Era 1 Photo Skhul V The Smithsonian Institution Human Origins Program 200k yrs ago Human Origins: Homo sapiens in Africa 200k yrs ago Human Origins: Homo sapiens in Africa 100k yrs ago S.W. Asia
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Migrations of Homo sapiens
Siberia 40,000 years ago Europe 40,000 years ago North America 12,000-30,000 years ago Southwest Asia 100,000 years ago Oceania 1600 B.C.E.-500 C.E. Human Origins 200, ,000 years ago Australia as many as 60,000 years ago Chile 12, ,000 years ago Possible coastal routes of human migration Possible landward routes of human migration Migrations in Oceania
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That’s amazing! Why were modern humans able to move into so many different environments? After all, no other large animals had spread so widely! So what was so special about us? 200k yrs ago Human Origins 100k yrs ago S.W. Asia 100k yrs ago S.W. Asia 60k yrs ago Australia 60k yrs ago Australia 40k yrs ago Europe & Siberia 40k yrs ago Europe & Siberia 13k yrs ago Americas Today Big Eras 3-9 10k years ago Big Era 2 Big Era 1
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Language! Homo sapiens had language
so they could exchange complex ideas with each other. and they could store and add to the ideas of previous generations. Because they swapped ideas, they kept finding new ways of doing things. new ways of living. Language Shared Ideas New Learning
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Language made collective learning possible.
The stores of knowledge and skills humans built up are called “culture.” No other animal can store and accumulate knowledge and skills in this way. We call this ability “collective learning.” It is what human history is about! It is what makes us special!
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Storing up and building on new skills and new knowledge is what set our species on the path of continuing cultural changes that led to the world we now live in. Towers, Kuwait City, Today Great Zimbabwe, Southern Africa, CE Monte Alban, Oaxaca, Mexico, 200 BCE Photos by Ross E.. Dunn
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How did collective learning change human culture?
At first, changes in technology were very slow. After about 100,000 years ago, the pace of change began to increase. Evidence appears from about that time of humans living in east, central, and southern Africa. They were: For example, Blombos Cave Making more advanced and varied tools. Experimenting with body decoration and abstract symbols.
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The people who lived in this seaside camp:
Remains discovered at Blombos Cave are one example of the more complex culture some humans were developing as many as 90,000 years ago. View looking out of Blombos Cave to the Indian Ocean The people who lived in this seaside camp: Made sharp stone spear points using methods that appeared in Eurasia only 50,000 or more years later. Made objects from bone, the earliest use of this material known. Scored bits of bone and ochre with marks that may have had symbolic meaning. Bone points from the cave Ochre piece with scrape marks. A person may have scraped the ochre to get powder to use to make body paint. Photos: Arizona State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Photos: Arizona State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
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Acceleration! From about 40,000 years ago, archaeological evidence shows faster and faster cultural change and increasing complexity. The engraved horse panel in the Cave of Chauvet-Pont-D’Arc in southern France. The image is about 31,000 years old. ( Humans began to: Create both naturalistic and abstract art. Make more specialized tools. Weave and knot fiber. Decorate clothing. Make jewelry. Build semi-permanent structures. Venus of the Kostenki I site in Russia dated to about 23,000 years ago. This stone female head is wearing headgear of woven basketry. (New York Times, Dec. 14, Photo: Bill Wiegand, University of Illinois.) Horse panel photo ( Headgear photo New York Times, Dec. 14, Photo: Bill Wiegand, University of Illinois.)
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