H.erectus



 Origins of Skull... Around 1.3 to 1.8 million years ago, human-like ancestors called ‘Homo Erectus’ walked the earth. In 1891, Eugène Dubois made a discovery in Indonesia (Java) of a fossil in which he and his team called ‘Pithecanthropus Erectus’ which is now named Homo Erectus. One thing that has been outstanding in the evidence found, has been that the Homo Erectus was the first of its kind to be found across different continents. The migration of this Hominid spread from Africa, to Asia, to Europe. Discoveries of other Homo Erectus fossils have been found in places such as Europe (Georgia and Spain), Vietnam, India, China (Shaanxi), Africa (Lake Turkana and Olfuvai Gorge) and Indonesia. The most complete fossil/skeleton found is called the Turkana Boy and was discovered in 1984 by Kamoya Kimeu in Kenya. The skeleton is estimated to be of a young boy ranging between the age of 11 and 12. Physical Description: The average male body size was 1.8metres and 1.55 average for females. The face is short but wide and had a defined browridge and the nasal aperture projected - Suggesting this was one of the first piece of evidence showing the similarities with modern humans (homo sapiens). Homo erectus males are almost half the size of Hominins. Hominins were double the size of females, while Homo erectus are only 20-30% larger. They had a similar basic bone structure to that of humans. Homo erectus could run and walk bipedally. They were quite hairless compared to their ancestors.   Behaviours... __What did they eat?__ Homo Erectus is a close species to Homo sapiens. As they were their intellectual ability was very developed and useful for things such as hunting, eating and basic survival. Homo erectus would usually eat meat (deer, bear, foxes, baboons, cats etc. – depending on where they lived), berries, honey, bird eggs and some other smaller softer foods. Their water source would be nearby lakes or rivers. Dental development also had a small impact on their diet, as the species evolved their teeth became somewhat smaller (mainly due to molars) and they were anatomically more like humans. Their level of intelligence enabled to them to seasonally migrate to Asia and Europe over time. This meant they were more broadly spread out and had a wider range of foods to access. __Use of tools…__ Certain archaeological finds have brought us to the conclusion that Homo erectus was able to use various tools and also create things to aid them with shelter or movement. They’re known to have been able to create fires which would sometimes be used to cook foods such as meats, to build rafts for travelling across waters and more. They demonstrated systematic hunting, usually in groups, and cooperated to find food. They were able to create shelters (like huts) for themselves if needed. Certain species of the Homo erectus could make tools usually created from sharpened stones, sticks or bones. Hand axes, cleavers (stick with a sharp straight edge) and wooden spears were common and would’ve been used for hunting, preparing, chopping, pounding and piercing foods. They would’ve also used them to dig and saw wood. __Communication…__ There is no way of knowing for sure about the communication of Homo erectus but there have been some theories based on other evidence of their intelligence. It is suggested that Homo erectus would’ve had some form of communication between them to organise attacks and talk about hunting techniques etc. Skull findings indicate they had some vocal capabilities and a better ability to create sounds more complex then grunting although speech would’ve been more of a mumble and possibly slurred. Because their facial structure was a bit similar to ours facial expressions could’ve also been a small part of their communication as well as possible gestures. There’s no doubt they would’ve had some form of communication, less developed than humans but more than the majority of other animal species. __Physical abilities…__ Their physical structure was very much like humans compared to any other Homo species. Their legs were long and throughout their body they had a lot of muscle. Bipedal movement was common and this enabled them to run for long distances and it would’ve been useful for hunting and escaping a possible danger. This also would’ve been a contributing factor to their broad migration. **__ Bibliography... __** <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'courier new',courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">[|www.earthfacts.com/evolution/homoerectus/]  <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #c0c0c0; display: block; font-family: 'courier new',courier,monospace; text-align: center;">[] <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #c0c0c0; display: block; font-family: 'courier new',courier,monospace; text-align: center;">[] <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #c0c0c0; display: block; font-family: 'courier new',courier,monospace; text-align: center;">[] <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #c0c0c0; display: block; font-family: 'courier new',courier,monospace; text-align: center;">[] <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #c0c0c0; display: block; font-family: 'courier new',courier,monospace; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">"Homo Erectus." //Stanford University//. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. <http://www.stanford.edu/~harryg/protected/chp22.htm>. "Homo erectus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_erectus#Classification_and_special_distinction>. White, Tim, Berhane Asfaw, and Gen Suwa (1994) in 1992. "Prominent Hominid Fossils." //TalkOrigins Archive: Exploring the Creation/Evolution Controversy//. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. <http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/specimen.html#turkana>.