Early homo(1)-3

Look at lecture before this one because shes really confusing Always questions on cranial capacity ANT101 THE GENUS HOMO Early homo 2.5-1.6 mya  Louis Leakey (1960)  Olduvai Gorge, Northern Tanzania  1.8 mya  Homo habilis  Austrolopithecus Boisei – they lived in the same time period but boisei became extinct.  1.8 mya is a key time (massive drop in religion pleocene to the plistocene aka ice age) Significance of the name Early tool makers (habilis means tool maker, this suggests that this is the first standardized tool maker. Suggesting to find earliest evidence of the genus homo) Ancestors to modern humans Other Plio-Pleistocene sites EAST AFRICA  Omo, Southern Ethiopia  Koobi Fora,  KMN-ER 1470 – Richard Leakey  Olduvai Gorge SOUTH AFRICA  Sterkfontein  Swartkrans General trends of early homo in comparison to Australopithecines CRANIAL ANATOMY • Brain expansion 600-800 cc (brain encephilization for homo and more rounded cranial vault. chimps are 200- 500 and all australopithecines fall into that. Afarensis average 420 cc) • Thin walled – no crests • Rounded vault • Weakly projecting ridges • Variable facial proportions between individuals Dentition 1. Anterior teeth generally the same size as australopithecus 2. Premolars and molars are reduced compared to australopithecines (but larger than modern humans) KNM ER 1470 (homo rudolfensis?) • Koobi Fora, Richard Leakey (1972) • 1.9 mya • 752 cc • Rounded cranial vault • No heavy crests • Robust face • Back teeth still quite large (but < australopithecines) • East Africa • Own species designation because its still prognathic similar to australopithecine but has an average of 750 cc which is larger than other australopithecines. Who is an early specimen. Associated crude stone tools More human like brain organization

Look at lecture before this one because shes really confusing Always questions on cranial capacity Evolutionary Role played by early homo TRENDS: Increased encephalization (hominins was bipedalism. Homo has a bigger and more complex brain.) Dental reduction (leafy diet) Tool making Opportunistic tools 5 – 2.5 mya Manuports: Unaltered objects carried some distance before use 7 things to know about every tool industry (1) industry (2) tool (3) where (4) who, existence, function and mode of manufacture and production australopithecines used tools but it wasn’t standardized, but there were manuports which were opportunistic tools. Maybe found a sharp rock or stone in a home base that isn’t made from a material that’s not naturally found naturally in that particular area. 5million years ago. Standardized 2.5mya LOWER PALEOLITHIC (old stone age) Approx. 2.5 mya – to 200 kya 1. Important in brain evolution 2. Emphasizes manual dexterity 3. Requires a complex, abstract thought process 4. Lower, middle and upper Paleolithic. Palio= old and lithic=stone (European) OLDOWAN INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX Earliest identifiable stone tools 2.5 mya – 1.4 mya Sites: • lake Turkana • Olduvai Gorge • Hadar • Omo Characterized by Oldowan Chopping Tool (Oldowan Chopper) • All purpose chopping tool • Made from smooth water worn cobbles • Can also use a hammer (another type of rock) to shape your cobble • Olderwan industrial complex • Multi-purpose (chopping tool) • Butcher meat, split bones, defense Hard hammer / PERCUSSION METHOD Hammerstone – Bipolar Percussion • Rock used to strike flakes off cobble Anvil – Direct Percussion • Large rock that you strike the cobble against or place the cobble on Concoidal fracture • Produced by striking one stone against another