The First

Humans
Hominids are the family of
mankind
and his or her relatives.

Written by Lin Donn

Illustrated by Phillip Martin
Evolution as a theory suggests that the great variety of plant and
animal life on earth developed gradually through natural processes.
Although such an idea had been suggested as early as the sixteenth
century, the great English biologist Charles Darwin (1809-1882) gave
the theory prominence.
The most important of Darwin’s works is On the Origin of Species by
means of Natural Selection, first published in 1859.
Darwin’s examination of geological formations, collection of fossils,
and study of plants and animals from 1931 to 1936 led him to doubt
that divine creation had brought all species of living things into
existence at one moment. His doubts challenged the traditional theory
of creationism held for centuries in the western world.
Darwin’s theory was based on the idea that species changed or ada
over time in response to their environment.
He based his theory on his observations that members of a single s
vary greatly in shape, size, colour, and strength. Most of these varia
he believed, could be inherited.
He also noticed that the population of a species tended to remain th
same size, even though parents usually produced more than two of
He concluded, therefore, that there had to be competition for surviva
the struggle for survival, his theory stated, organisms with character
less suited to their environments likely died without producing young
Those organisms with more useful characteristics survived and
reproduced, passing on these variations to their offspring.As other
descendants developed other favourable variations, they passed on
characteristics as well.
As a result, Darwin argued, organisms with more helpful characteris
survived the struggle for existence. Others died out. He called this
process Natural Selection.
65 Million Years Ago
Dinosaurs died out about 65
million years ago. The first human
like hominids did not appear until
around 3 million years ago.

Thus, no matter what you may

have seen in the movies, early
man did not live during the
same period in history as
dinosaurs!
3 Million Years Ago
3 million years ago, our planet was
teeming with life!

There were deer, giraffes, hyenas,

sheep, goats, horses, elephants,
camels, beavers, cave lions, ants,
termites, woolly mammoths,
saber-toothed tigers, giant sharks,
dogs with huge teeth, and all kinds
of birds and plants and fish.
 “Hominid” Fossils
• Neanderthal Man – accepted as homo sapiens
• Java Man – artificial construct
• Piltdown Man – proven to be a hoax
• Nebraska Man – an extinct pig
• Ramapithecus – an orangutan
• Lucy – make-believe creature

NO credible
“ape ->human”
fossil found!

@ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 19

Very Early Humans
It was during this time that the higher
primates, including apes and early man,
first appeared.
There was a difference between apes
and man. Early human-like hominids
could stand upright. Apes could not.
Their hands were different, too.
Ape hands were made for climbing
and clinging. Man’s hands were
jointed differently, which allowed
them to make and use tools.
 Australopithecus
• Australopithecus means "southern ape" –
found in S. Africa
• Tuang Child – Raymond Dart, 1924
– Dart thought teeth human-like
– Most not convinced – skull of a young 3-
year-old chimp
• Later Dart and Broom found other
Australopithecines at Kromdraii, Swartkrans
and Makapansgat
• Two parallel lines of development, one
being a small “gracile” (slender) type and
the other a larger “robust” type
– “africanus” and “robustus” (now thought
to be female and male forms)
Very Early Humans
How do scientists know about an
early man who lived 3 million
years ago?

Lucy told them!

 Where did people “like us” start from?

Homo sapiens

Homo Erectus Homo Erectus

Most scholars believe that Homo sapiens evolved in Africa, then

migrated to other parts of the world. As modern humans spread around
the world, they completely replaced all other hominid species, including
Homo erectus and our very close cousins the Neanderthals.
 Australopithecus
afarensis "LUCY"
• Discovered in 1974 by Donald Johanson
• Angle of knee joint matched that of humans =
obviously walked upright
• The joint angle also matched that of tree
climbing apes
• Also had curved toes bones, high arm to leg
length ratio, and many other features identical
to tree climbing apes
• Was Lucy just a tree climbing ape or did she
walk upright?
Lucy
In 1974, a skeleton was found in Africa. The bones were
those of a female, about 20 years old or so when she
died. Scientists named her Lucy. About 3 million years
ago, when Lucy was alive, she was about
4 feet tall and weighed about 50 pounds.
Scientists suspect that she fell into a lake
or river and drowned.

Scientists are like detectives.

They can tell a great deal from a
skeleton, whether it's one year old
or 3 million years old!
Fossils & Artifacts
Scientists use many clues to help them put pieces of the
past together. One thing they must know is the difference
between a fossil and an artifact.
Fossils are remains of living
things (plants, animals, people),
not things that were made.
Artifacts are remains of
things that were made, not
remains of living things.
Handy Man
The Stone Age refers to the materials
used to make man-made tools. In the
Stone Age, man made tools out of
stone. “Handy Man” was one of the first
hominids to use stone tools.
Hunters & Gatherers: The Old Stone Age
people were hunters/gatherers. We know
this because scientists have found fossils
and artifacts, which reveal traces of their
life. These people did not plant crops. They
gathered wild fruits, nuts, berries, and
vegetables.
Handy Man
These early human-like hominids
were taller and smarter than Lucy’s
people, but they did not know how
to make fire.
When they broke camp, they
probably tried to bring fire with
them by carrying lit branches to
use to start a new campfire.
If their branches went out, they
did without fire until they found
something burning.
Homo Habilis
Historians believe Homo Habilis, or “handy man”, flourished in Africa
about 2.5 millions year ago. Homo Habilis were the first hominids to
develop and use stone tools-proof of their ingenuity and creative
ability. The brain size and presence of humanlike teeth from fossil
finds suggest that Homo Habilis might have been our human
ancestor.
Many scientists believe that Habilis bridges the evolutionary gap
between Australopithecus and Homo. Yet, the sequence of human
ascent is still uncertain. Signs of co-existence have arisen.
 THE
“STONE AGES”
PALEOLITHIC
PALEOLITHIC
• “Old Stone Age”
• 2.5 Ma => about 10 Ka
• Started with Homo habilis (maybe
Australopithecus garhi 2.5 Ma)

• Chopped stone tools

 NEOLITHIC
• ? 10 Ka => ?
• Agricultural Revolution
• A neolithic product:
BEER!
Homo Habilis
Historians believe Homo Habilis, or “handy man”, flourished in Africa
about 2.5 millions year ago. Homo Habilis were the first hominids to
develop and use stone tools-proof of their ingenuity and creative
ability. The brain size and presence of humanlike teeth from fossil
finds suggest that Homo Habilis might have been our human
ancestor.
Many scientists believe that Habilis bridges the evolutionary gap
between Australopithecus and Homo. Yet, the sequence of human
ascent is still uncertain. Signs of co-existence have arisen.
VI. Human Ancestors

B. Genus: Homo
1. Homo habilis (“Handy Man”)
• Smaller face, larger brain than australopithecus
• Used primitive tools made of stone and bone
• Lived between 1 and 2 million years ago
 Homo Habilis

• “Handy Man” – first discovered in

1959 by Mary Leakey
• Found with stone tools and
evidence of “butchered” animals
• 1470 with larger dome-shaped
skull, higher forehead, small brow
ridges, and associated human-
like femur and leg bones found in
the same layer just a few
kilometers away
VI. Human Ancestors

B. Genus: Homo
2. Homo erectus
• Larger brain than Homo habilis (cranial capacity > 800 cm3)
• By 1 million years ago, they had spread from Africa to
Europe and Asia
• Excellent tool maker (crafted and used hand axes)
• Used fire for cooking
• Lived in primitive huts
• Used speech to communicate
Homo Sapiens
The species name, Homo Sapiens, means “man who thinks”-an
appropriate title for the species that formulated the spoken language
and developed more sophisticated tools. The most ancient find was
discovered in Hungary in 1965, dating from about 450 000 to 400 000
years ago.
Other remains of Homo Sapiens have been found in England,
Germany, and France. These bones date from approximately 250 000
years ago, the period between the third and fourth ice ages.
There are two types of Homo Sapiens; the Neanderthals, or Homo
Neanderthalis, and Modern Human, or Homo Sapiens Sapiens.
VI. Human Ancestors

B. Genus: Homo
2. Homo erectus
• Larger brain than Homo habilis (cranial capacity > 800 cm3)
• By 1 million years ago, they had spread from Africa to
Europe and Asia
• Excellent tool maker (crafted and used hand axes)
• Used fire for cooking
• Lived in primitive huts
• Used speech to communicate
Upright Man
Many years passed. Another group of man was born.
Scientists nicknamed this group “Upright Man”. Upright
Man did know how to make fire.

That changed everything!

People began to cook their food,
which helped to reduce disease.
People collected around the fire
each night, to share stories of the
day's hunt and activities, which
helped to develop a spirit of
community.
Upright Man
These Stone Age people were about the
same size as modern humans. Their
tool-making skills were considerably
improved. Their weapons included stone
axes and knives.
Because Upright Man could make fire,
he was free to move about in search
of food. He did not have to worry
about freezing. He made warm clothes
from animal skins. At night, he built a
campfire to cook his food and to stay
warm.
Man Leaves Home
About one million years ago, Upright Man
began to slowly leave Africa. These early
people began to populate the world.
They did not need a boat. The Ice Age
was here! They traveled across giant
walkways of frozen ice, over what later
would become vast rivers and seas.
Scientists have found artifacts of their
tools and weapons, which help us to
understand how they lived, where they
went, and how they got there.
Neanderthals
One day, scientists found a new skeleton. This skeleton
was from another group of early men. Scientists named
this man Neanderthal man, after the valley in which the
skeleton had been found.
Scientists announced that
these early men were dim-
witted brutes, who walked
with bent knees, with their
heads slung forward on
their big necks. Could
these early people really
be our ancestors?
• Neandertal (Neanderthal) Man (Homo neanderthalensis)
• Thought to have died out over 20,000 years ago.
• First found in 1856 in Neander Valley, Germany, by the school teacher
Johann Fahlrott
• Dozens of skeletons have since been found
• In 1908, Professor Boule of The Institute of Human Paleontology in Paris
declared Neanderthal an ape-man because of his low eyebrow ridges
and the stooped over posture of some of the specimens
• In 1950s it was found that Neanderthal man's
average brain capacity was larger than modern
man's by over 200 cc's.
• Some also claim that Neanderthal man, at least the
stooped over ones, suffered from osteoarthritis
• Even as far back as1872, Dr. Rudolph Virchow, the
father of pathology, claimed that these skeletons
were nothing more than modern man with rickets
and arthritis
• The Chicago Field Museum has since put in a
newer exhibition of Neanderthal man looking more
fully human
• What’s the latest “scientific” explanation?
– Neanderthal man was an “evolutionary dead-end”
Neanderthals
But scientists had made a mistake!

The bones were bent

because they were part
of the skeleton of an old
man suffering from
arthritis! Arthritis is a
disease that bends and
cripples bones.
• Obviously Neandertals can’t really be human:
– The skull is lower, broader, and elongated in contrast to the higher
doming of a modern skull.
– The average brain size (cranial capacity) is larger than the average
modern human by almost 200 cubic centimeters.
– The forehead is low, with heavy brow ridges curving over each eye.
– There is a slight projection at the rear of the skull (occipital bun).
– The cranial wall is thick compared to modern humans.
– The facial architecture is heavy, with the mid-face and the upper jaw
projecting forward (prognathism).
– The nose is prominent and broad.
– The frontal sinuses are expanded.
– The lower jaw is large and lacks a definite chin.
– The body bones are heavy and thick and the long bones somewhat
curved.
• Donald Johanson (discoverer of Lucy) wrote
something very interesting about what Huxley
did in setting up a sequence of modern skulls
to link Neanderthals to modern humans:

"From a collection of modern human skulls

Huxley was able to select a series with features
leading ‘by insensible gradations’ from an average
modern specimen to the Neandertal skull. In other
words, it wasn’t qualitatively different from
present-day Homo sapiens."
• What about DNA?
• July 11, 1997, Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA
(mtDNA) successfully recovered and
sequenced by Svante Pääbo et. al. (Cell)
• mtDNA recovered three times
• Conclusion: Evolutionary divergence from
modern humans some 550,000 to 690,000
years ago
Neanderthals
Still, Neanderthals were different from
other species of early humans. They
were tall and smart, and used caves as
their homes. They were great hunters.
Considering how smart they were, and
how advanced for their time, scientists
are puzzled that the Neanderthals were
one of the early species of man to die
out. Many species of man died out in
these early days. But why the
Neanderthals? It is a history mystery.
Cro-Magnon Man
Another group of early men stood out during
this period. Scientists nicknamed this group
“Cro-Magnon man”.

Cro-Magnon man lived in Europe.

This group did not live a life of

constant struggle for survival because
they worked together to provide food
for their tribe.
Cro-Magnon Man
These Stone Age people learned to cure and store food
for the long winter. They used traps, which allowed them
to catch food while they were busy doing something else.
Fisherman used nets woven from vines and fishhooks.
Some groups built rafts and canoes
to catch bigger fish in deeper waters.
They made clothing and
jewelry. They invented the bow
and arrow.
Cave Paintings
Cro-Magnon man did something rather unusual. For
some reason, he drew paintings deep inside dark caves,
on cave walls.
His paintings were added to the
paintings already on the cave walls,
left by other Cro-Magnon men.
Over time, a cave
might accumulate
hundreds of paintings.
Colors used most often
were brown, yellow/tan,
dark red, and coal black.
Cave Paintings
Animals were well drawn and filled in with natural colors
to give them even more shape and substance. They drew
stick figures for hunters. They drew stencils of hands.
VI. Human Ancestors

B. Genus: Homo
2. Homo erectus
• Larger brain than Homo habilis (cranial capacity > 800 cm3)
• By 1 million years ago, they had spread from Africa to
Europe and Asia
• Excellent tool maker (crafted and used hand axes)
• Used fire for cooking
• Lived in primitive huts
• Used speech to communicate
Cave Paintings
To reach the deepest part of the cave, where other
paintings could be found, Cro-Magnon man had to crawl
through the maze like tunnels of the cave, holding a
spoon-like oil lamp to light his way, while carrying his
carefully prepared paints.
Gorilla Skull
A Mystery
It was quite dangerous. Cro-Magnon man had no idea if he
might run into a cave lion. He might fall into a hole and die.
Why did he do it? Perhaps it was a coming of age
ceremony, or perhaps it served a religious purpose.
Maybe it was a sort of, “I was here.”

There are
many history
mysteries.
This is one of
them.
 Evolutionism is Not
Self-consistent
• By requiring multiple “definitions”,
depending on the need of the moment
• In the varied, and contradictory camps
connected with thermodynamics,
phylogeny, proposed mechanisms, and
various sub-theories, etc.

@ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 106

 Evolutionism is Not
Self-consistent
• By requiring multiple “definitions”,
depending on the need of the moment
• In the varied, and contradictory camps
connected with thermodynamics,
phylogeny, proposed mechanisms, and
various sub-theories, etc.

@ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 107

 Evolutionism is Not
Self-consistent
• By requiring multiple “definitions”,
depending on the need of the moment
• In the varied, and contradictory camps
connected with thermodynamics,
phylogeny, proposed mechanisms, and
various sub-theories, etc.

@ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 108

Evolutionism Found Wanting
• Evolution has never been observed
• Evolution violates 2nd Law of
Thermodynamics
• There are NO credible transitional fossils
• Life can/did not originate from non-life by
chance
• Evolution is only a (unproven) theory
@ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 109
 “Hominid” Fossils
• Neanderthal Man – accepted as homo sapiens
• Java Man – artificial construct
• Piltdown Man – proven to be a hoax
• Nebraska Man – an extinct pig
• Ramapithecus – an orangutan
• Lucy – make-believe creature

NO credible
“ape ->human”
fossil found!

@ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 110

Lascaux France
The existence of cave paintings was discovered by
accident. Around 1940, during World War II, some kids
were playing in a field in Lascaux,
France. They stumbled across a
cave entrance. It had been
hidden by the tree roots. The
walls were covered with cave
paintings!
Once people knew the paintings
existed, they looked for more
such caves, and found them.
About 40 000 years ago, modern humans moved into Europe armed
with the skills to make clothing, better shelters, and more efficient
hearths. Nineteenth-century scientists named these newcomers Cro-
Magnon people after the French rock-shelter where three
anatomically modern skeletons were discovered in 1868.
Cro-Magnons were Homo Sapiens who evolved in Africa and slowly
pushed their way into Europe. They developed the ability to endure
colder climates, even climates as cold as those found in Iceland or
Greenland.
Cro-Magnon people were about as tall as modern northwestern
Europeans. They also had many of the same facial and cranial
features as modern northwestern Europeans.
Eventually, their successors moved into Asia. About 30 000 years
ago, they crossed the Bering Strait after the retreat of the ice and
entered the Americas. Others reached Australia.
With this migration, our modern human ancestors spread throughout
the world.
 Science and Chance
• Aristotle
– Accident vs. Necessity
– Accidents don’t repeat
• E.g., Empedocles, the “Man-
faced ox progeny.”
– Things that happen by chance
don’t repeat, so ignore them.
– Science concerns regularities, not
exceptions.
Evolution traces human development through several stages or species
from the first humanlike beings to modern humans. Although we still do
not know exactly when the evolution of humans and apes diverged or who
our common ancestor is, we do know that hominids (humanlike creatures)
began to appear over four million years ago.
Hominids are distinguished from apes most notably by their bipedalism
(their ability to walk on two feet) and by their larger brain size. All
hominids are members of the human family tree.
Our understanding of human evolution is constantly changing. New
and different species are found and the human evolutionary tree grows
more branches.
One example of continuous change came in 1994 at Aramis, Ethiopia,
where people unearthed fossils of a previously unknown species
dating from 4.4 million years ago. This humanlike creature walked the
earth nearly half a million years earlier than the oldest human ancestor
identified to that point.
This exciting discovery led to the identification of a new genus called
Ardipithecus Ramidus. Ramidus has may chimplike as well as human
features, but its position on the human family tree is still not certain. It
is a mystery that still has to be solved.
Recap
We know about early Stone Age people because
scientists have found fossils and artifacts that reveal
traces of their life.

Man went through many stages

to evolve into the humans of
today! Since this evolution
covers roughly 3 million years,
you might say it took man a
long time to grow up!
Early Humans
Questions
1. What is a hunter-gatherer?
2. What is a Stone Age?
3. Why was the ability to make
fire so important?
4. How could early humans
travel from Africa to Australia
without a boat?
5. What did Cro-Magnon man
paint on cave walls?
6. Why did Cro-Magnon man
paint on cave walls?
 Where did people “like us” start from?

Homo sapiens

Homo Erectus Homo Erectus

Most scholars believe that Homo sapiens evolved in Africa, then

migrated to other parts of the world. As modern humans spread around
the world, they completely replaced all other hominid species, including
Homo erectus and our very close cousins the Neanderthals.
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