archaeology unit 11

the first members of the genus homo

The beginnings of the Pleistocene

To sum up, beginning with the appearance of the genus Homo in Africa between 2.5 and 2 million years ago, increasing brain size and increasing cultural development each acted to promote the other.

Oldowan tool industry

coinciding with the emergence of Homo habilis, we saw the appearance in the fossil record of the first stone tools in the Awash region of Ethiopia, around 2.5 mya. Similar tools have been found at other sites in East Africa between 3.3 and 1.7 mya.

larger brains, smaller face, rounder head, smaller teeth

what are the main anatomical traits used to explain the origins of the genus homo?

culture, tools, increased cognitive abilities, scavenging and hunting

what are the main non-anatomical traits used to explain the origins of the genus homo?

Carolus Linnaeus

who established the genus homo?

Homo neanderthalensis

In 1864, the Irish geologist William King referred a partial skeleton that had been recovered in 1856 from the Feldhofer cave in the Neander Valley in Germany as this

Homo heidelbergensis

The first specimen of this kind was a mandible that was found in 1907 during excavations to extract sand from a quarry at Mauer, near Heidelberg, Germany. The next evidence within Europe came in 1933 from a gravel-pit at Steinheim in Germany, but in the meantime evidence had also been found at the site of Kabwe in what was then Rhodesia. The brain cases of which are often, but not always, smaller than those of modern humans (e.g., Steinheim), but they are always more robustly built, with large rounded ridges above the orbits and a thickened occipital region

Homo erectus

The range of morphology within Homo was widened again in 1940 when Franz Weidenreich formally proposed that […] Pithecanthropus erectus and Sinanthropus pekinensis, should be merged into a single species.

Homo habilis

In 1964, Louis Leakey, Phillip Tobias and John Napier announced the discovery at Olduvai Gorge of specimens that they believed belonged to a previously unknown species of Homo. In 1960, the son of Louis and Mary Leakey, Jonathan, found pieces of a hominin jaw, cranium, and hand. The Leakeys assigned this specimen (dated to ca. 1.75 mya.)

Homo floresiensis

The specimens initially attributed to this species were recovered from […] the Indonesian island of Flores, and are dated to between approximately 74,000 and 18,000 years ago, but they may be closer to 100 Ka. They include a well-preserved skull and partial skeleton of an adult female as well as several more fragmentary specimens. This was a particularly important addition to the homo genus because of its increased brain size.

opportunistic tools

simple unaltered objects found nearby. Probably predated the actual physical alteration of an object.

Oldowan tool industry

Found in the Awash region of Ethiopia and were dated to about 2.5 mya. Moreover, similar tools have been found at other African sites between 2.5 and 1.5 mya. three main kinds of material remains associated with these industries: Hammerstones, Flake and cores.

Hammerstones

Cobbles or chunks of stone that show battering on particular surfaces, suggesting their use as hammers in the making of stone tools.

Flake

The earliest tools were made by delivering a sharp blow to a rock in order to break off a smaller piece, a technique known as percussion. This term refers to the piece that is struck off.

cores

The earliest tools were made by delivering a sharp blow to a rock in order to break off a smaller piece, a technique known as percussion. This is the term that refers to the piece from which the flake is struck.

Homo habilis: the smaller-brained, less robust individuals. Homo rudolfensis: the more robust ones with larger brains

What are the main differences between Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis?