Walking with Cavemen

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Chapter 2 - Blood Brothers

Boisei:

Powerful jaw muscels, robust jaw --> eat tough food.

(although almost 100% vegetarian) Termites --> tools

Bad at building shelters

Master of one trade (Specialist) - may not be able to adapt to vegetation or animals

World change - Uprepared for (survival?)

Eventually die out - leave fossilied bones, but nothing else lives on.

Homo Habilis:

Stuggling to find food (dont have big teeth or powerful jaw - wont survive dry season)

Different adaptation - inquisitive - e.g. why do vultures gather together (sign of carcass)

Eat meat - essential protein + animal fat = development of brains and intellengence (half as big again than boisei)

scavengers - pack hunting

'Jack-of-all-trade'

Quick-witted and inventive - first creatures on earth to make and use stone tools

Stone tools - bone marrow

This trait lives on in us today - adaptivity - free itself from rule of life

Rudolfensis:

Also scavengers - competition (fight for food)

Homo Ergaster: (southern africa 1.5 million years ago)

Does what Homo Habilis does, only better

Communication- early beginning of 'human' voice

Most sofisticate cooling system - sweat gland, hairless, long nose which keep air moist (dont pant- more control of breathing allowing them to make sounds.

Can work in the sun

Enourmous Brain - inherited this from them. (gave them revolutionary insight in to their surroundings)

Tracking hoof prints

unerstanding world is essential to controlling

technological breakthrough - stone axe (most sofisticated on the plannet)

But require far more energy to run (about 6th of calories to run)

Need a big brain to understand other people, work together to find, stalk and hunt prey.

Also take back to other members - potential bargining tool.

Don't have permanent home base - drift depending on food

Fist group held together by family and friends (not safety in numbers, nor male dominance)

Monogomy - at least for a portion of time

Think they are first to have whites to their eye

Society - enemies and friends

Given them the competence to populate the rest of the world (i.e. leave africa)

Africa --> middle easty --> asia (took thousands of years) they are now called homo erectus

Homo erectus

Didnt find stone axe - potentially used plentiful bamboo

3m gigantopithicus - affraid of

Tough and adaptable

! million years later....

Back in africa, ergaster have not advanced - still using the same technology (still stone axes)

Limited brain function

Then they encountered fire, or at least to harness it. They now control their world. Nightfall does bring danger.

1. stood upright

2. survived by becoming inquisitive scavengers

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[25.08.17]

Heidelbergenis

No burial ceremonies

Cannot picture/image worlds beyond the one they live (life beyond death - modern human can at least entertain the thought)

Imagination lacking

Natural disaster acts as evolutionary catalyst (ice age etc.) --> splits into 2 separate species (one with the gift of the human mind)

Northern Heildelbergensis Evolve into Neadertals

(140000 years ago...)

(Iceage)

Rarely over 5.5 feet

Short limbs/extremities (keep heat in)

Broad, big noses to cool them down (dont want to overheat ad sweat - freeze)

Toughness - ability to overocome the unbarely, physically and mentally (many many fractures found on their bodies)

Can plan ambush, antisipate the birth of a child

Lack imagination.

Southern Heildel bergensis

140000 years ago...on brink of extinction

Taller and thiner than those in north

Dark skin ot stay safe sun

Only the most skilled etc. survive (fitness of pop. increases as evolutionary natural selection ecreases pop. size)

Created water bottles - ostridge egg?--> imagination to knwo what an eggcould hold water--> to think beyond here and now.

imagination is te

110000 years ago...

water returns to africa

we are all decended from this small band who survived in africa

30000 years ago....

imagination evolves --> complex language spreading

cave drawings --> world inside his head made real.

not simply living in caves but in an imagianry world of their own making

after 7 million years evolution we have stepped outside rules of life

meet neaderals --> no match for imaginative newcomers