Module 2 - LG 2.1 Prehistory PDF

PREHISTORY Module 2: Lesson 1  Prehistory Period of time before writing was developed. Prehistory refers to all the developments of man, both biological evolution and cultural changes, till the beginning of historical peri...

PREHISTORY Module 2: Lesson 1  Prehistory Period of time before writing was developed. Prehistory refers to all the developments of man, both biological evolution and cultural changes, till the beginning of historical period. Archaeology The study of past societies through an analysis of what people left behind. ArchaeologIST are scientists who learn about prehistoric people by studying artifacts or even human fossils. Anthropolog y Study of human life Artifacts and and culture human remains - human fossils. Used to determine how people lived their lives. ANTHROPOLOGI ST focuses on culture —way of life of a people.  Define what is evolution. HOMANIZATION HUMANIZATION refers to the evolution of man refers to the changes in the form his earliest ancestor to behaviors and characteristics his present form. Typical, it is of man that favored the characterized by the physical psychic and social evolution of transformation of man human beings. It is often (change in the structure of characterized as the the foot, upright posture, “unfoldment” of intellectual enlargement of the brain, activities such as the ability of etc.). observation and intelligence. HOMINID Early human- S like species or “hominids” lived over the 4-8 million years. Some hominids lived at the same time, but not all of them are the direct ancestors of modern humans. Australopithecines Earliest of humanlike creatures “southern apes” First hominids to make simple stone tools.  Have broad faces, Australopithecines flat nose, large teeth, small brain, Scientists prominent broad believed bone, long arms and that they legs existed They stood less than around 4 four feet tall million to 2 million years ago. The Australopithecines were the first to walk upright, lived in small social groups and used  stood about 1.2 meters tall, their remains show that their foramen magnum was large showing the ability to walk upright The forelimbs were different from other human-like species. They had teeth like Australopithec humans. us ramidus  Australopithec They lived in Africa and were shorter than us afarensis the A. ramidus. They could walk on two legs but their legs were bent slightly and they climbed and lived in trees. They had a small skull with large teeth and jaws, flat noses and no chin. Australopithec us africanus They were walked on two-legs. They had a small skull with small brains than Homo erectus but larger than their predecessors. Compared to present- day humans, they had large jaws and large teeth and were herbivorous. Australopithec us robustus They were tallest and heaviest Australopithecines but still ape-like. The Paranthropus had large faces with pronounced sagittal crests and large Paranthropus jaws. Compared to australopithecines and early humans, they had larger back teeth and smaller front ones. The Paranthropus had some characteristics which showed dramatically that they had differed from the line which would become human. Paranthropus Paranthropus Paranthropus boise robustus aethiopicus lived about 2.0-1.4 million years ago and they were bigger than P. robustus. They had prominent sagittal crests. They had large grinding lived about 2.5 million years lived about 2.0-1.4 million teeth, capable of cracking ago. It had a smallest brain years ago. They had strong hard nuts and dry seeds. in the Paranthropus species. jaws and very large teeth. Analysis also tell us that It had a large sagittal crest. P. boise also ate grasses, The group is believed to have descendent from the Australopithecus. It includes both the ancestral or closely related Homo sapiens (modern humans) and extinct species. They are characterized as having a relatively large brain, erect posture, bipedalism, hands with opposable thumbs, capable of making tools. The known members are Homo habilis, HOMO Homo erectus and Homo sapiens.  It first discovered in the Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania by Louis Leakey in the 1960’s. It had a larger brain size in comparison with the Australopithecus. It stood around 5 feet tall and erect. The skull and brain size suggests it may have been able to speak. It probably created the first stone tool, possibly hunted for meat, lived in social groups HOMO  HOMO ERECTUS It probably emerged around 1.8 million years ago in Africa. There are evidences (Upright that suggest it expanded Man) out of Africa into East Asia and Southeast Asia around 1.5million years ago. Erectus fully walked on two feet. It had a small and longer face, less prominent or no It knew how to make and chin, a large brain and the use tools. The Java man capable of speech. It lived (Homo erectus erectus, or in a larger, more Pithecanthropus erectus) cooperative social groups. and Peking man (Homo It ate more meat in its diet. It erectus pekinensis or probably used or had Sinanthropus pekinensis) control of fire. are examples of the Homo erectus species. HOMO SAPIENS (Wise Man) modern humans the Homo sapiens is classified two classification HOMO SAPIENS NEANDERTHALENSIS It had a larger brain size compared to modern man and were gigantic in size ranging from 1,200 cc to 1,750 cc. Also, they had a large head and powerful jaw. They had muscular bodies. They ate meat and created the tools that show they were hunters. They were also lived in caves. They lived in groups and forage for food. HOMO SAPIENS Their jaw is small, have a round SAPIENS skull and more noticeable chin. Homo sapiens sapiens or the Cro- Magnon spread wider to Europe, Australia, and the Americas. Considered as the ‘modern- day man’ and compared with the Neanderthal man they have They were omnivores. They developed the smaller size and brain size. power of thinking, producing art and more sophisticated tools and sentiments.  HUMAN ADAPTATION & EVOLUTION It is an influential idea in human evolutionary biology that proposes early hominins (our ancestors) The savannah theory adapted to life in open suggests that hominids grassland (savannah) were pushed from the trees environments, which they lived in and into the significantly influenced growing savannah. The their physiological and theory was extended in the behavioral evolution. It is aridity hypothesis, which particularly important in posited an extension of the explaining the development savannah due to of bipedalism (walking on increasingly arid conditions two legs), a defining  HUMAN ADAPTATION & EVOLUTION The Turnover-Pulse The turnover pulse Hypothesis (TPH), first hypothesis notes that proposed by specialist animals are paleontologist more harmed by Elisabeth Vrba in extinctions due to 1985, is an ecological environmental factors and evolutionary theory than generalist ones. primarily applied to Although generalist explain patterns in the species spread as evolution of mammals. environmental While initially focused on conditions change, African mammalian specialist species species, it has become more advanced implications for human and evolve at a higher  HUMAN ADAPTATION & EVOLUTION The social brain The Red Queen hypothesis suggests hypothesis notes that that by improving organisms will cognitive capacities, it continuously evolve to would enable hominids cope with the animals to influence local that co-evolve around communities and them. monitor resources. The theory of the Toba catastrophe states around 70,000 years ago there was a near-extinction event for early humans. HUMAN ADAPTATION: BIPEDALIS M: HUMAN ADAPTATION: LARGER BRAIN SIZE HUMAN ADAPTATION: LONGER ONTOGENY (GESTURE AND INFANCY) HUMAN ADAPTATION: Sex distinctions between males and females have been eliminated, and female fertility is all year round and shows no specific sign of fertility. HUMAN ADAPTATION: Certain adaptations include hair loss, a nose, a lower larynx and emphasis on vision rather than smell. HUMAN ADAPTATION: Certain adaptations include hair loss, a nose, a lower larynx and emphasis on vision rather than smell. References: Website Search Results - The Australian Museum Photo Source: Homo habilis | Description, Traits, Tools, & Facts | Britannica Photo Source: Homo erectus - The Australian Museum Photo Source: Homo habilis | Description, Traits, Tools, & Facts | Britannica Photo Source: Homo Erectus Skull Vs Homo Sapien Skull (animalia-life.club) Photo Source: Australopithecus africanus | The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program (si.edu) Photo Source: Skull of Paranthropus aethiopicus with prominent sagittal (mediastorehouse.com)