Homo Erectus And Homo Erg example essay topic

Crist ela Aguilar Anthropology 161 July 21, 2005 Final Exam 4. The word hominid refers to members of the family of humans. It includes all species from our human ancestors and also all living apes, such as the Hominoid ea. The hominid fossil record will not be complete for a long while, but there is enough evidence for researchers to give us good idea about the history of humans. There are a number of fossils that have been found throughout the researchers journeys. One of them is called Ardipithecus.

It is the oldest known hominid species, found in Aramis, Ethiopia in 1994 by Tim White. Most remains are skull fragments. Indirect evidence suggests that it was possibly bipedal, and that some individuals were about 4'0 tall. The teeth appear to be more apelike than any other hominid. Another fossil is the Australopithecus africanus which was found by Dr. Raymond Dart in 1925 in a limestone quarry in South Africa. Brain size ranged between 420 and 500 cc.

Although the teeth and jaws of africanus are much larger than those of humans, they are far more similar to human teeth than to ape teeth. There are eight species named so far. There are two general categories for these species, "gracile" which is slightly built and "robust" which is heavier built. Australopithecus is another fossil that existed between 3.18 million years ago.

It was found in Had or, Ethiopia. A. Afarensis had an apelike face with a low forehead, a bony ridge over the eyes, a flat nose, and no chin. They had jaws that were sticking out with large back teeth. Their brain size was from about 400 to 500 cc. The skull is similar a chimpanzee, except for the more human like teeth. The canine teeth are much smaller than those of modern apes, but larger and more pointed than those of humans. Their pelvis and leg bones resemble those of modern man, and they were bipedal.

Their bones show that they were physically very strong. Females were significantly smaller than males. Height varied between 3'6' and 5'0' and they weighed about 35-50 lbs. Australopithecus robust us existed 1-2 million years ago. They had a similar body to that of africanus, but a much larger and more robust skull and teeth. It weighed about 75-200 lbs and was about 3.5-4.5 feet tall.

It has a big flat face with no forehead and large brow ridges. It has fairly small front teeth, but massive grinding teeth in the lower jaw. Most specimens have sagittal crests. Its diet would have been mostly coarse, tough food that needed a lot of chewing. The average brain size is about 530 cc and its capacity was from about 400-550 ml. Two other type of fossils found in the hominid specie are homo erectus and homo erg aster.

Homo erg aster was found about two million years ago in Lake Turkana, in Northern Kenya. It was considered to be a specie with a large-body and large-brain. It has a high cranial vault, thin cranial bone and it doesn't have a sagittal keel. Now the homo erectus was also found in Kenya and lasted about 1.5 million years. They both have very similar aspects of their anatomy. There are a number of fossils that have been discovered and some that are yet to be discovered that show physical evidence of the different types of hominids that exist and have existed in our world.

5. The fossil Homo erg aster was found about two million years ago in Lake Turkana, in Northern Kenya. This hominid species is believed to be a different geographical population of Homo erectus. Many aspects of Homo erg aster and Homo erectus anatomy are very similar. The main differences between them are that the Homo erg aster has a higher cranial vault, thinner cranial bone, the absence of sagittal keel, and certain cranial base characteristics that homo erectus doesn't have.

There is one unique characteristic between the early Homo and erg aster / erectus which is the increased brain size. Some features that differ mainly in the homo erectus are they have a long, low cranium, they have the presence of brow ridges and a shortened face. They also have a nasal opening that makes researchers imply that this is the first appearance of the typical human external nose with the nostrils facing downward. 7.

There are two different hypotheses that exist which try to explain where the Homo erectus first arose. There is the "Out of Africa" and the "Multiregional Hypothesis. The 'Out of Africa' hypothesis was brought forward in 1987 by Allan Wilson. In this hypothesis it is believed that a single population in Africa led the change in homo erectus.

Wilson proved that all humans developed from a single female about 200,000 years ago. The Multiregional Hypothesis believes one million years ago the homo erectus expanded through Asia and Europe and became the direct ancestor of the Homo sapiens. Researchers have debated on how, when and where modern humans originated. A study was done in Cambridge University where DNA was studied to help gain evidence to these hypothesis.

The DNA that was studied for the research came from mitochondria and cellular organelles that convert food into a form of energy that that rest of the cell can use. All of this research made Wilson conclude the region of origin for modern humans which was Africa and he estimated how long ago it happened which was about 200,000 years ago. He believed that the female who contributed her mitochondrial DNA to the world was a member of a population of an estimated 10,000 individuals. Also, he believed they were part of several species of old sapiens and Homo erectus. Therefore, his hypothesis states that this African population migrated into Europe from Africa.

Also that it didn't include the Neanderthals and whatever hominids lived there during that time. 8. Researchers have found a lot information about Neanderthals behavior through their remains that they have discovered. They " ve found the different methods of survival the Neanderthals had. Tool-making was one of them.

They made complex stone tools, which were an important part of their survival. These tools were used for hunting, processing materials, and creating fire. The Neanderthals were carnivores, and in order to obtain enough animal meat to survive, they needed to be skilled hunters, which they were. The Neanderthals hunted bison, deer, reindeer, ox and other animals that lived in their surroundings. Neanderthals also ended their hunts by gathering around fire pits in the cave to eat.

They also used fire to cook their food and help them warm up in order to survive the Ice Age temperatures. One behavior which has attracted a lot of attention from the researchers is the use of burials by Neanderthals. They still wonder what the exact significance of those burials really is. Their burials were very simple pits where the bodies were set. Researchers believe they were caring people because they were kind enough to bury their dead. Also, some were buried in groups which can symbolize the unity they had between them even after death.

Sometimes tools or animal remains were placed in the grave. There is even some evidence that Neanderthals were the first to place flowers at the site of a burial. Also, it is thought that they performed basic surgery that helped keep the injured alive. This type of evidence suggests that Neanderthals were engaged in ritual behavior. There is a story I read about an elderly Neanderthal known as La-Chapelle-aux-Saints. He was buried and inside his grave he had animal remains next to him.

Many of the bones seemed to have been burnt which makes researches believe they had some kind of feast or ritual before he was buried. The evidence that researchers have found to lead them to this conclusion is that there are other burial sites similar to the one I mentioned. They had tools and other food offerings inside of them. The story also mentioned this man had lost all his molar teeth which made it impossible for him to chew his food. It said that the bone above his tooth with cavities had partly healed. Researches believe that other Neanderthals might of his chewed his food for him and fed it to him afterwards.

Researchers don't know any kind of art, symbols or pictures used by Neanderthals. They do know they used pigment but they don't know for what purpose. The Neanderthals also built structures out of wood, mammoth bone, and animal skins. There has been evidence in the Ukraine, where ten sites contained the remains of mammoth structures. Apart from making structures out of mammoth bones, Neanderthals also made tents out of wood and animals skins.

An example of this type of structure is located at the French site of Terre A mata. This is where large huts were found and in the inside of the hut, they found a fireplace, a fireside, numerous stone tools, and pieces of animal bones. It is believed that after the modern humans invaded Europe, they brought a lot of new behaviors with them. Behaviors such as the use of symbols and pictures. The last of the Neanderthals somehow followed these new behaviors and started to make body ornaments, and some type of jewels. In one of the last videos we watched in class it mentioned they had found ornaments and beads inside the caves.

The researchers in this movie believed it was a form of expression for the Neanderthals. They believed it was a form of creating social standing and relationship..