1. Chapter 2 / Section 1
The First People

2. The First People The Big Idea
Prehistoric people learned to adapt to their environment, to make simple tools, to use fire, and to use language.
Main Ideas
Scientists study the remains of early humans to learn about prehistory.
Hominids and early humans first appeared in East Africa millions of years ago.
Stone Age tools grew more complex as time passed.
Hunter-gatherer societies developed language, art, and religion.

3. Scientists Study Remains
PREHISTORY – The time before there was writing
To study prehistory, historians rely on the work of archaeologists and anthropologists.
Archaeologists Anthropologists
Scientists who learn about past Scientists who study the physical
human life by studying fossils and characteristics and cultures of
artifacts humans and
their ancestors

4. Artifacts and Fossils ARTIFACTS FOSSILS
Weapons, tools, and other things made by humans.
FOSSILS
Traces of plants or animals that have preserved in rock.

5. Early Hominids
In 1959, archaeologists Mary and Louis Leakey, found bones of early ancestors of humans, called hominids, in East Africa.
-- believed to be more than 1.5 million years old
-- belonged to an Australopithecus (aw-stray-loh-PI-thuh-kuhs)

6. Lucy
In 1974, anthropologist Donald Johanson, found bones from a hominid that is believed to have lived more than 3 million years ago
in Hadar, Ethiopia.
Johanson named his find “Lucy.”
Lucy:
- was bipedal: walks on two feet
- was about 3 and ½ feet tall
- was a vegetarian
- Australopithecus afarensis

7. Hominids and Early Humans
Four major groups of hominids appeared in Africa between 5 million and about 200,000 years ago, with each one more advanced than the one before.
Australopithecus
* Name means “southern ape”
* Appeared in Africa about 4 – million years ago
* Stood upright and walked on two legs
* Brain was about one-third the size of modern humans
Homo erectus
* Name means “upright man”
* Appeared in Africa about 2 – 1.5 million years ago
* Used stone tools like the hand axe
* Learned to control fire
* Migrated out of Africa to Asia and Europe
Homo sapiens
* Name means “wise man”
* Appeared in Africa about 200,000 years ago
* Migrated around the world
* Same species as modern human beings
* Learned to create fire and use a wide variety of tools
* Developed language
Homo habilis
* Name means “handy man”
* Appeared in Africa 2.4 million years ago
* Used early stone tools for chopping and scraping
* Brain was about the size of modern humans

8. Stone Age Tools
The first humans lived during a period called the Stone Age.
The first part of the Stone Age is called the Paleolithic Era, or Old Stone Age.
Paleolithic times began roughly 2.5 million years ago and lasted until around B.C.
During this time people used stone tools.

9. The First Tools
The earliest stone tools were found in Tanzania, in East Africa.
About 2.6 million years old.
Stones were struck against one another to
create a sharp, jagged edge along one side.
Tools were used to cut and chop, or scrape
root, bones, and meat.

10. Later Tools
Improved tools were made out of flint, which was easier to shape and can become very sharp.
Began making hand axes and attached wooden handles to tools.
Attached wooden shafts/sticks to stone
points to create a spear.
Stone Age people hunted deer,
horses, bison, and mammoths.

11. Hunter-Gatherer Societies
Early humans formed societies, or communities of people who share a common culture.
Nomadic hunters-gatherers , wandering in search of food/resources and gathering wild plants, seeds, fruits, and nuts.
Lived outside or took shelter in caves

12. Language, Art, and Religion
The most important development of early Stone Age culture was language.
−Allowed more relationships to form
− Easier to hunt
− Allowed food distribution
Early humans also expressed themselves in art:
- cave paintings
- carved figures out of stone, ivory,
and bone
Items found in graves give clues about the
development of first human religions during the Stone Age.