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They developed opposable thumbs and were the first form of hominids, creatures that could walk upright.
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Australopethecines lived about 3.5 million years ago
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Homo habilis (man of skill) made tools of lava rock, and used them tocut meat and crack open bones.
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The oldest stone chopping tools date back to this era. Much of this era occured during the Ice Age.
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Homo erectus, upright man, was more intelligent and adaptable than homo habilis was. They developed technology. They were hunters and invented even more tools for various uses. They were the first hominids to migrate from Africa and also the first to use fire. They may have made their own spoken language.
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After a long period of time, the entire homo habilis species disappears
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The entire specie of Australopethecines goes extinct long after the homo habilis disappeared.
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Neanderthals were powerfully built, had heavily slanted brows, well developed muscles, and thick bones.They had religious beliefs and performed rituals. They even had a funeral for a man.
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Both species of hominids disappearead around the same time.
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Cro-magnons have an identical skeleton to humans. They were strong and about 5 & 1/2 feet tall. They migrated from North Africa to Europe and Asia. They made many new tools, planned their hunts, and had more skill with their spoken language.
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As the Paleolithic Age ended, so did the era of the Cro-magnons.
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About 10,000 years ago, the Neolithic Revolution, or agriculture revolution, occured when some of the female people scattered seeds near a campsite, left, then came back next season to find crops growing. This is one of the greatest breakthroughs in history.
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The Neolithic Age, or New Stone Age, is the second phase of the Stone Age, where people learned to polish stone tools, make pottery, grow crops, and raise animals.
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In the Zagros Mountains, it is believed that that is the place where agriculture was started. Villages like this one were the beginning of an entiely new era. They also laid the foundation for life as we now know it.
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Catal Huyuk, or forked mound, was located on a plain in south-central turkey near a twin-coned volcano. It was about 32 acres in area. It housed 5 to 6 thousand peopleand 1 thousand shelters made of brick. Catal Huyuk showed the benefits and drawbacks of settled life. It had a varied culture and it was a place with many opportunities for fulfillment.
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Sumer was one of the first civilizations. It was located in Mesopotamia, in modern day Iraq. They had advanced cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, and record keeping. It was the most advanced civilization at the time.
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The Bronze Age is the time when people found out that mixing tin and copper made bronze. People used bronze instead of copper and stone, to make tools and weapons. It was a huge breakthrough in history.
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Ur, one of Sumer's earliest cities, was on the banks of the Euphrates River. About 30,000 people lived in this city. People were divided into social classes and rulers, priests, and priestesses had the most power. It had an agricultural economymany artisans and workers, houses tightly packed on the street, a barter type of trade system, and a temple called a ziggurat. This temple is rituals are perfromed, stores grains, fabrics and gems.
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Many recent discoveries occured and gave us the knowledge we have today.
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Quarry workers were digging in Neander Valley, Germany. they were searching for limestone but instead they found bone fragments that were fossilized and they were Neanderthal remains.
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Louis and Mary Leakey found a hominid fossil at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. They named it homo habilis which means man of skill.
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At Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, Louis Leakey finds stone tools that are 2 million years old.
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Archeologist Mary Leakey was in Tanzania when she found prehistoric footprints fossilized in volcanic ash.
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Donald Johnson was searching in Ethiopia and found a complete skeleton of an adult female hominid. They named her Lucy after "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". The was the oldest hominid found to that date.
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In Ethiopia, a team of scientists find a jaw that is 2.33 million years old.
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DNA tests showed that Neanderthals are not related to humans. Neither were Cro-Magnons.
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In Chad, scientists found a skull of a hominid that is possibly 6 million years old.
