Types of Early Humans - Homo Genus

The Homo habilis started appearing around 2 million years ago. They used stone tools. The name "homo habilis" comes from Latin meaning "handy man." Their heads were longer and flatter, compared to modern man. The brains of the Homo habilis are 2/3 as large as ours. The Homo habilis walked slightly bent forwards. The adults were ~1.5 meters high. They built shelters of branches. For food the Homo habilis ate bird's eggs, and wild berries. They also ate raw meat. The Homo habilis also hunted wild pigs. They would creep up in groups and pounce or surround the frightened animal and threw rocks and branches at it. They also ate it raw because they did not know how to make fire yet. The Homo habilis was the earliest member of humans.

The Homo rudolfensis started appearing around 2.5 million years ago. They made more tools than the Homo habilis did. They died away about 1.8 million years ago.

Homo ergaster appeared in Africa 2 million years ago and quickly spread into Asia. They had a larger brain than the Homo habilis and was an active hunter. After spreading into Asia, it changed into Homo erectus.

Around 1.8 million years ago, the Homo habilis started getting replaced with the more developed Homo erectus. They had no permanent home because they were constantly on the move. The Homo erectus remains were found in Africa, southern Europe, southern Asia, England, and Germany. "Homo Erectus" in Latin means "Upright Man". The Homo erectus had great eyeball ridges, and almost no chin. They were tall and slim, their spines got straighter, and their faces became more like modern man. The Homo erectus were the first to have brains were asymmetrical. They had an agile body and a brain exclusive for handling things. The Homo erectus' brains were half the size of our brains. The late groups of Homo erectus learned to use and eventually make fire. They used bone, and rocks to chip away flint. They used the flint for cutting and scraping. The Homo erectus tools also included wooden spears. One of the tools was the teardrop-shaped hand-axe. For meat, they hunted wild animals such as elephants. When an elephant passed by a swamp, the group set its path on fire causing the surprised elephant to charge into the swamp. Since the swamp was muddy, the large, heavy elephant would be exhausted and stop. That is when the people kill it with spears. Using their knowledge of making fires, they used the fire to cook the meat. The Homo erectus ate a large variety of food. This consisted of meat, plants, fruits, and a large range of food. When it came to communication, they used facial expressions, grunts, gestures, and what we call "baby talk". The Homo erectus talked in a slow, halting way. Other interesting information about the Homo erectus was that protein helped their brain to be bigger. They were scavengers and hunters that lived in groups of about 100 and they were the first explorers in the Stone Age. They furthermore were the first to make something that resembled a home base or campsite, and the first ones to use fire. The Homo erectus group died out about 250,000 years ago.

The Homo Heidelbergensis appeared around 600 000 years ago. They had big noses, and no chins. They were roughly 1.5 meters tall and lived in Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Neanderthal man appeared after the Homo erectus group about 130,000 years ago. They were the first people to live in colder climates. For clothes, they dressed on animal hides. The Neanderthals scraped off the fat of the animal hides so that it is not all slimy and stuff. Neanderthals lived in caves with fire for warmth. They made loads more tools that previous generations. Some types of tools that they used and made were knives, borers, spears, spear sharpeners, chipped rock, and other tools for collecting food, protection and shelter. Neanderthals hunted giant bears too. They threw flaming branches to move bear out of its cave then kill it with rocks and spears. Neanderthals were six centimeters taller than Homo erectus people. They inherited the thick eyebrow ridge also from the Homo erectus group. Neanderthals were the first humans to bury the dead. The Neanderthal group died out roughly 30,000 years ago.

The Homo Sapiens were our earliest form of our species. They lived ½ million years ago. They were very tall and slender. But they were weaker. The Homo Sapiens were cleverer than the Neanderthals because they had more imagination and made tools that no Neanderthal could have thought of. The Homo Sapiens began moving out of Africa 100,000-60,000 years ago. They went through France, and Siberia, and over the Bering Land Bridge that was a sheet of ice, to Alaska. They grew larger lungs because they needed to gulp down additional oxygen now they were in Andres. They were the first explorers. They also out competed the Neanderthals. The Homo Sapiens ate roughly the same kind of food as the Neanderthals. The food included meat, plants, and fruits. They even ate the Neanderthals when they did not find any food. The Homo Sapiens were born with a larynx that was lower, thus, they could communicate with a larger variety of sounds than the Neanderthals, which had a higher larynx. The Homo Sapiens also enlarged their range of ideas to converse. They also drew on walls because it could have served as a journal or warning. The Homo Sapiens were cleverer then the other early types of man so they made new tools. Some of the materials that they made tools out of were stone, ivory, and bones. Some tools were harpoons, spears, fire and stones. The Homo Sapiens were the first to be religious. And they were also the first to establish a trading post to trade for food, beads, and other things for survival. They were also symbolic and artistic. They used their symbolic and artistic talents to make artwork. They were the first to draw art on walls, and create crafted animals. The Homo Sapiens grew the first livestock and plants. They could also foresee events. The reason they survived was because they eat more food and the women could breed more children and would enlarge populations.

The name "Cro-Magnon" came from the local rock shelter that the skeletons were found in. They were part of the Homo Sapiens Sapiens group. The Cro-Magnons were almost identical to modern man. They had the same sized brain as modern man and adults were 2 meters tall. They had improved tools from the Neanderthals. Cro-Magnon tools were made out of flint, deer antlers and other objects. Chisels, knives, and spears were made out of flint. Needles, fish hooks, barged harpoon heads were made out of deer antlers. Cro-Magnon used nail shells, animal teeth to make necklaces. They also made flutes, whistles out of animal bones. Filling a stone bowl with animal grease made lamps and a wick of moss or fur was dropped into the liquid. They were also strong fighters. People think that they may have killed the Neanderthals. They were the first people to live in colder climates. For clothes, they dressed on animal hides. The Cro-Magnon first appeared in Europe around 30,000 years ago. The first fully modern people of Europe appeared about 40,000 years ago.

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