The name given individuals of these first people is Homo erectus¸ for one of their characteristics was erect posture. Unlike their apelike ancestors¸ they walked upright¸ which freed their arms for the many other functions that¸ as humans¸ they required.
The cortex¸ the outer layer of the brain, was much larger than in any other primate. To fit inside the skull, the cortex was folded and overlapped. Since it is in this part of the brain that memory is learned and behavior fashioned¸ its development was essential for human activity. The brain gives people those characteristics that identify them as humans.
They could remember the past and plan for the future they could move from cause to effect¸ and they could use their reason to solve the problems of day–to–day existence. Above all¸ they¸ could think in abstract terms and had a sense of self at a level that no animal has ever reached. Scientists can say that this occurred; they cannot tell why. Religion and philosophy attempt to provide the answer.
The human body proved to have exceptional qualities. It had a complex spinal cord that passed messages from the brain to the rest of the body instantly. The body's muscles were so arranged that men and women were able to run¸ walk¸ swim¸ or climb. Without the fur or hair that kept other animals warm¸ humans had to live in tropical regions of the world until they discovered how to use animal skins for warmth. On the other hand¸ the millions of sweat glands in the human skin provided an excellent cooling system for people when doing hard work in hot climates.
Human eyes were also special. Unlike many animals¸ humans see objects in color and in three dimensions. Since so much information to the brain comes from eyes¸ about 90% of the total¸ the placement of the eyes and their to see in the way they do gave humans a great advantage in the struggle for survival.
Anthropologists still do not agree about when exactly humans began to speak¸ perhaps it was 1¸500¸000 years ago. The organs for speech were present in the first humans¦ the larynx¸ the pharynx¸ and the tounge¸ which was attached to the throat in a special way. Combined¸ these three elements made it possible for humans to produce a wide range of sounds, pitched from very high to very low. The pharynx of Homo erectus was not so large as that found in humans today; therefore¸ the first men and women's capacity to speak was somewhat more restricted.
The skull shape of Homo erectus had several characteristics that made it a bit different from modern people. Homo erectus had a sloping forehead and deep ridges that projected over the eye sockets¸ a very small chin¸ and much larger teeth that modern people.
One of the distinguishing features of humans was the long period between the birth of a child and its ability to care for itself. The process requires many years¸ necessitating a great amount of socialization. The human brain takes 10 years for it to reach 95% of its development. Only at 20 years dose the brain reach full maturity. Parents¸ especially the mother¸ create a strong bond with the child¸ but the father¸ siblings¸ relatives¸ and friends all contribute to early education. The emergence of society was the only way to cope with the weakness of the individual. Mutual support¸ sharing¸ and devising ways to settle quarrels without violence contributed to the socialization process.
From the study of Homo erectus sites¸ it appears that many infants died at childbirth or in their early years. At Zhoukoudian in China¸ there is a cave where Homo erectus lived 400¸000 years ago. Even for adults¸ life expectancy was probably under 25 years of age. Although many modern diseases were not present¸ and every indication suggests that the first people nutritious diets¸ and injuries were frequent. A broken arm or leg was not easily fixed¸ given the lack of knowledge about setting bones or infection in a wound. Hunting especially for large game¸ is a dangerous occupation¸ and many times hunters must have returned without all their party.
The world in which Homo erectus men and women lived is known as the Paleolithic Age or Old Stone Age. It receives its name from the numerous stone tools that were and still found at places where Homo erectus lived. After a stone tool is fashioned¸ it is almost indestructible. The most frequently found objects are spear points¸ which men fashioned to put on wooden sticks to hunt¸ and hand axes¸ which they used to hammer¸ hunt¸ and dig for roots. Hand axes found in Africa¸ India¸ and Europe¸ but not in East Asia. They were exceptionally effective¸ which explains why their shapes stayed exactly the same for hundreds of thousands of years.
While men were hunters or fishers¸ women and children were gathers. They looked for fruits¸ nuts¸ and roots of plants and for insects that could supplement their meat and fish diets. Anthropologists estimates that women furnished about 70% of the family food; nevertheless¸ because of these activities leave no trace¸ women's contributions have not received the prominence they deserve.
After thousands of years of practice¸ hunters learned when animals migrated and were easier to kill¸ and women gathers knew when wild rice could be harvested at a particular location. Families often lived near streams or lakes where fresh water¸ along with fish crustaceans¸ were easy to secure.
It does not seem that Homo erectus men and women knew how to start a fire¸ that most useful instrument of nature¸ even though they must have been anxious to use it when they found it. Fire was obtained from a natural source¸ for example¸ when lightning struck a tree and started a blaze. At their homes Homo erectus families kept a hearth to provide light¸ warmth¸ and of course¸ heat for cooking. They also used fire to smoke food¸ harden wooden weapons¸ and dry animal hides. The first evidence of a hearth dates from a half million years ago.
It was probably the task of a women to keep the fire going¸since the only way to rekindle it was to seek out another friendly hunting group that would part with some of its flame. With a now–¸ a course sent out for fire returned to the hunting band. Sometimes weeks went by with a cold hearth since Old Stone Age bands were always on the move and many might separate them.
Cooperation was a key element for the hunters and gatherers of the Old Stone Age. Survival depended upon it. Sharing was more important than storing food or other material goods¸ which¸ in any case¸ were minimal. Therefore¸ when expeditions went out look for animals¸ often much larger and more powerful than humans¸ a hunting band that was successful had to be sure that everyone knew what to do. Patience¸ as well as skill¸ were always required. Fortunately¸ the ability to speak made hunting easier¸ for the individuals in the band could alert someone nearby of any change in plans.
The bones of thousands of animals that were killed in a massive hunt can be found at some archeological sites. Consequently¸ what occurred can be reconstructed. After hunters spied a herd of horses or elephants¸ they must have encircled them¸ passed out burning torches¸ and then¸ amid much shouting¸ rushed upon the animals creating a stampede that led their prey into a valley where there was no escape or over a cliff. Therefore¸ so many animals died that there was enough food for weeks. In fact¸ because it could not all be taken home¸ the hunters probably smoked much of the meat to preserve it.
Hunting and gathering societies usually had ample time for their own interests¸ for as long as there was a store of supplies¸ men and women could enjoy themselves telling stories¸ caring for their children¸ or making tools from stone¸ wood¸ or the horns and bones of the animals they killed.
Homo erectus lived on the earth for a very long time¸ from approximately 2¸000¸000 years ago until about 300¸000 B.C.E. Over tens of thousands of years¸ these first people made their homes throughout Africa¸ Europe¸ and Asia in bands of 20 to 60 individuals. During this period¸ only slight modifications in the way people made their tools tell of change.
Gathers and hunters are usually conservative¸ not wanting to take a chance with a new weapon or an untried plan. Homo erectus men and women must have been content with their way of life¸ for it offered a great deal satisfaction.
Probably the most significant challenge came from climatic change ¸ for four times in the last million years the earth became extremely cold during what we call the Ice Age. In the Northern Hemisphere great glaciers covered much of the land surface. When this occurred¸ those Homo erectus¸ living in cold climates¸ had to migrate toward the tropics. Once the world became extinct¸ requiring adaptation to new circumstance.
The Issue of Big–Game Hunting
The simple Oldowan technology of Homo habilis remained in use for more than a million years before evolving slowly into a more diverse stone technology that itself remained in use for a further half million years. Neither Homo habilis nor Home erectus relied exclusively on stone for we can say with confidence that our remote ancestors also made use of wood one of the most versatile raw materials known to humanity. The earliest known wooden artifacts are three throwing spears and a possible thrusting spear dated to 400000 years ago found with broken animal bones and stone tools in an open coal mine at Schoningen Germany. The spears are between 2 feet 9 inches and 7 feet 6 inches (0.78 and 2.3 meters) long with tapering tails to give them better direction when thrown. However most insights into technology of Homo sapiens come from stone tools and the byproducts associated with them because wood and other organic material are rarely preserved.
In Africa¸ Europe¸ and some parts of Asia¸ Homo erectus is associated with a distinctive tool kit that includes not only a variety of flake tools and sometimes choopers¸ but also one of the most common exhibits in the world's museums––the hand ax. Unlike the crude flakes and choppers of the Oldowan¸ the Acheulian hand ax (named after the northern French town of Saint Acheul) was an artifact¸ which converging edges that met at a point. The maker had to envision the shape of the artifact¸ which was to be produced from a mere lump of stone, then fashion it not with opportunistic blows but with carefully directed hammer strokes.
Acheulian hand axes come in every size from elegant oval types a few inches long to heavy axes than 1 foot (0.3meter) long weighting 5 pounds (2.3 kilograms) or more. They were multipurpose tools used for woodworking scraping skins and especially skinning and butchering of animals. The hand ax and its near relative the cleaver with a straight end were ideal for butchery because the artifact could be sharpened again and again. When it became a useless lump of stone it could be recycled into flake tools. However one can achieve effective butchery with simple flakes as well. A number of researches have wondered whether the hand ax was not used for other purpose such as throwing at game or digging for roots.
Hand axes related artifacts occur over an enormous area of the Old World¸ and they underwent considerable refinement dung the millions years or so they were in use. However, what do we know of the behavior of their makers? Without question¸ Homo erectus hunted and foraged for food¸ probably in far more effective ways than Homo habilis. Time and time again¸ hand axes and other butchering artifacts have been found in association with the bones of large game animals. However, did the hunters actually kill such formidable herbivores as the elephant and the rhinoceros? To do so would require mechanisms to foster cooperation and communication abilities far beyond those of their predecessors. The best evidence for this comes from the Boxgrove site in southern England¸ and two remarkable Acheulian sites at Ambrona and Torralba in central Spain.
Evidence for butchery and perhaps big game hunting comes from the Boxgrove site in southern England and two remarkable Acheulian sites at Ambrona and Torralba in central Spain. The Acheulians probably lived in this deep swampy valley either 200¸000 or 400¸000 years ago (the date is controversial). Torralba has yielded most of the left side of an elephant which had been cut into pieces while Ambrona contained the remains of 30 to 35 dismembered elephants. Concentrations of broken bones lay all over the site and the skulls of the elephants have been broken open to get the brains. In one place elephant bones had been laid out in a line perhaps to form stepping stones in the swamp where the animals have been killed. Both sites were littered with crude hand axes cleavers scrapers and cutting tools.
The original scenario for the sites had hunters watching the valley floors which may have lain astride an important game trail. At a strategic moment several bands would gather quietly set brush lines and drive the unsuspecting beasts into swamps where they would be killed and butchered at leisure. Other archaeologists challenge this scenario. They believe the hunters were actually scavenging meat from animals that had perished when they became mined in the swamps.
Bamboo and Choppers in Tropical Forests
The eastern portions of the archaic human world lay in Asia¸ in an enormous region of woodland and forests with great environmental diversity. The tropical forests of east Asia are rich in animal and plant foods¸ but these food resources are widely dispersed over the landscape. Thus¸ Homo Erectus bands were constantly on the move¸ carrying tools with them. Under the circumstances¸ it was logical for them to make use of bamboo¸ wood¸ and other fibrous materials–the most convenient materials at hand. There was no need for the specialized¸ often complicated artifacts used in the open country of the West either for spears points or for the butchering tools used on large animals. As archaeologists Geoffrey Pope has pointed out¸ the distribution of the simple choppers and flakes used by many eastern populations coincides very closely with the natural distributions of bamboo¸ one of the most versatile materials known to humankind. Bamboo was efficient¸ durable¸ and portable. It could be used to manufacture containers¸ sharp knives¸ spears¸ weapon tips¸ ropes¸ and dwellings. To this day¸ it is widely used in Asia as scaffolding for building skyscrapers. It is an ideal material for people subsisting not off large game but off smaller forest animals such as monkeys¸ rats¸ squirrels¸ lizards¸ and snakes¸ as well as plant food. Simple stones flakes and jagged–edged choppers¸ the only artifacts to survive the millennia would be ideal for working bamboo and may¸ indeed¸ have been used for this purpose for hundreds of thousands of years¸ long after Homo Erectus had been superseded by more advanced human forms.
Everything points to Homo Erectus having been eclectic and flexible hunter–gatherers¸ who relied on hunting¸ scavenging¸ and plant foods. They may have understood the tell–tale signs of the passage of seasons¸ the meanings of cloud formations¸ the timing of game and bird migrations¸ and the geography of their territories. However¸ they never exploited small game¸ birds¸ fish¸ or sea mammals on any significant scale¸ as modern humans did almost at once.
Homo Erectus probably lived in relatively large groups at times¸ both to reduce the danger from carnivores and to improve the chance of finding food¸ especially when plant foods were most abundant and easily obtained by individuals. All of this argues for considerable social flexibility and intelligence on the part of Homo Erectus reflected in their larger brain size. However¸ they may have been unable to integrate their social intelligence–their ability to share food and cooperate in the hunt– with other aspects of human intelligence.
Language
Homo Erectus had a large brain with a well–developed Broca´s the zone associated with speaking ability. Its vocal tracts were more modern¸ suggesting considerable potential speech. Anthropologists Leslie Aiello and Robin Dunbar have argued that the basis for language ability appeared in humans by at least 250¸000 years ago. They believe it first evolved as a way to handle increasingly complex social information. As group sizes increased¸ so did a capacity for language¸ used primarily to talk about social relations. It was only later that humans developed the kind of general–purpose language we used today¸ which allows us to communicate freely¸ whatever the behavioral domain. So like us in many ways¸ Homo Erectus lacked the cognitive flexibility characteristic of modern humans¸ yet it was from this archaic human that ultimately Homo Sapiens Sapiens evolved.
