Our story starts in Africa, millions of years ago. Small ape-like beings began to walk on two legs. Their long road led to people like us.
This lesson follows fossils, footprints, tools and fire. It also clears up the exam traps about Neanderthals and rival origin theories.
Hominin: a member of the human line, after it split from the chimpanzee line.
Bipedalism: walking upright on two legs.
Mya: millions of years ago.
Archaic human: an older human species, such as Homo erectus or the Neanderthals.
1Who are our closest relatives?
Humans belong to a group called the great apes. Scientists call this family Hominidae. It includes orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees and humans.
The African apes are our closest living relatives. That is one big clue that our story began in Africa.
The oldest fossils on the human line come from Africa too. Sahelanthropus from Chad is dated to about 7 million years ago. Scientists still debate exactly where it sits on the tree.
- Humans are great apes, in the family Hominidae.
- African apes are our closest living kin.
- Africa is called the Cradle of Mankind for good reason.
2Which species form the human family tree?
Australopithecus means “southern ape”. The earliest known member, A. anamensis, lived in East Africa about 4.2 million years ago. The famous Lucy belongs to A. afarensis. These beings had small brains and strong jaws. They still climbed trees.
Homo habilis means “handy man”. It lived in East and South Africa from about 2.4 to 1.65 million years ago. It is linked with early stone tools. Fossils come from Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania.
Homo erectus means “upright man”. It spread out of Africa early. Fossils from Georgia are about 1.8 million years old. Others come from Java and China. Eugène Dubois found the first Java fossils in 1893.
Homo sapiens means “wise man”. Our species most likely arose in Africa between 300,000 and 200,000 years ago. Everyone alive today belongs to it.
- Australopithecus: “southern ape”, small brain, climbed trees.
- Homo habilis: “handy man”, early tools.
- Homo erectus: “upright man”, spread beyond Africa.
- Homo sapiens: “wise man”, from Africa.
3Why did walking upright matter?
Walking on two legs freed the hands. Hands could now carry food, tools and babies. Later they could make tools.
The proof is old. Footprints at Laetoli in Tanzania are about 3.6 million years old. They were left in volcanic ash. Fossil bones from Hadar in Ethiopia also show an upright body.
One change pushed the next. Free hands meant more tool use. Tool use favoured bigger brains. Bigger brains made better tools. Scientists call this a feedback loop.
- Bipedalism freed the hands.
- Laetoli footprints: about 3.6 mya.
- Hands, tools and brains fed a feedback loop.
True or False: Neanderthals were the direct ancestors of modern humans.
4What did tools and fire change?
The oldest known stone tools come from Lomekwi in Kenya. They are about 3.3 million years old. We do not know for sure who made them.
Oldowan tools came later. Some at Gona in Ethiopia are about 2.6 million years old. They are named after Olduvai Gorge, where Louis Leakey found the first ones in the 1930s.
Fire was a second big step. Charred bones in Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa, are about 1.79 million years old. Wood ash suggests Homo erectus used fire by about one million years ago. The first clear sign of fire-making is about 400,000 years old, from England.
Hunting grew skilled too. Butchered animal bones at Boxgrove, England, are about 500,000 years old. Wooden spears from Schöningen, Germany, are about 400,000 years old. They are the oldest known wooden weapons.
- Lomekwi: stone tools about 3.3 mya, maker unknown.
- Oldowan: tools at Gona, about 2.6 mya.
- Fire: signs from 1.79 mya, fire-making by 400,000 years ago.
- Schöningen spears: about 400,000 years old.
Think it through: Why would cooked food help a growing brain?
Cooking makes food softer and easier to digest. The body gets more energy from the same meal. Brains use a lot of energy, so this could have helped them grow.
5Who were the Neanderthals?
Neanderthals lived in Europe and Western and Central Asia. They are named after the Neander Valley in Germany. The first recognised fossil was found there in 1856.
At first many scholars doubted it. Some called the skull diseased. Today we know Neanderthals died out about 40,000 years ago, after modern humans arrived.
They were not our direct ancestors. They were a related branch. In 2010 their genome was sequenced. It showed that they interbred with modern humans.
Homo heidelbergensis is another cousin. It had reached Europe by about 700,000 years ago. It is named after Heidelberg in Germany.
Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species came out on 24 November 1859. The first printing had 1,250 copies. Booksellers had taken up all available copies two days earlier.
- Neanderthals: found 1856, died out about 40,000 years ago.
- A related branch, not our direct ancestors.
- Genome (2010) shows interbreeding.
- Darwin’s book: 24 November 1859.
True or False: Stone tools about 3.3 million years old were found at Lomekwi in Kenya.
6Out of Africa or many regions?
Scientists offer two rival models. The recent African origin model says modern humans arose in Africa. They then spread out some 50,000 to 100,000 years ago and replaced older groups.
The multiregional model says something different. Local archaic groups evolved into modern people in many places. Milford Wolpoff, Alan Thorne and Xinzhi Wu proposed it in 1984.
Most evidence today favours an African origin. Yet it is not the whole story. Modern humans also mixed with archaic groups such as Neanderthals. So human evolution looks more like a web than a straight line.
- Recent African origin: one home in Africa, then replacement.
- Multiregional: separate regional lines, proposed 1984.
- Mixing with archaic humans made the story weblike.
7What came with art and new tools?
Cave art shows a growing mind. Lascaux in France is dated to about 17,000 to 22,000 years ago. Chauvet Cave, also in France, has art about 32,000 to 30,000 years old, and some of it may be older.
New hunting tools followed. The spear-thrower has been used by Homo sapiens since about 30,000 years ago.
Cro-Magnons were early modern humans in Europe. Ask yourself this when you read an exam option. Is it an early modern human, or an older archaic human?
- Lascaux: about 17,000-22,000 years old.
- Chauvet: about 32,000-30,000 years old.
- Cro-Magnons: early modern humans in Europe.
True or False: The multiregional model says modern humans arose once in Africa and replaced everyone.
Remember: Habilis made tools. Erectus left Africa. Sapiens came last, in Africa. Neanderthals were cousins, not parents.
8What are the exam traps?
- Neanderthals were not direct ancestors. They were a related branch.
- Erectus came about 1.8 mya. Sapiens came far later.
- Homo erectus had a smaller brain than Homo sapiens.
- Do not swap the replacement model with the multiregional model.
MCQ on Human Evolution
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