Chapter 12 3.12.12

-All early hominins were restricted to Africa
-discovery of fossils now referred to as homo erectus
-grade: a grouping of organisms sharing a similar adaptive pattern, it isn't necessarily based on closeness of evolutionary relationship but it does contrast organisms in a useful way
-homo erectus populations lived in different environments
-shared a similar common trait: body size, brain size, & cranial shape
body size: some homo erectus adults weighed over 100 lbs, average height was 5''6, increased height and weight=dramatic increase in robusticity
brain size: range from 500-800 cm for homo sapiens but homo erectus 700-1250 cm
cranial size: distinctive shape, ramifications of heavy built cranium are reflected in thick cranial bone, large brow ridges, and projecting nuchal torus at the rear of the skull. Cranium is wider at the base compared with earlier homo and later homo species of genus.
-Dmanisi: republic of Georgia produced several individuals
Dmanisi crania are similar to homo erectus
less robust and thinner browridge, projecting lower face and relatively large upper canine
-Acheulian: pertaining to a stone tool industry from the Early and Middle Pleistocene; characterized by a large proportion of bifacial tools (flakes on both sides). Tool kits are common in Africa, SW Asia and western Europe but less common elsewhere.
-Pleistocene: the epoch of the cenozoic from 1.8 mya until 10,000 ya. Also known as teh Ice Age, associated with continental glaciations in northern latitudes
-Homo erectus from Indonesia
-along Solo River, skullcap found, near the town of Trinil
-fossil that has become the first recognized human ancestor
-human femur found
-Homo erectus from China
-Zhoukoudian was the site where the bones were found
-1920s a skull was found
-belong to a juvenile, it was thick, low and small, no doubt it belonged to an early hominin
-unusual preservation have been offered: ritualistic treatment or cannibalism, left over remains of the meals of giant hyenas
-remains belong to upward 40 adults and children together

-tools are usually shapeless and overtime become more refined
-Zhoukoudian were described as hunter-gatherers who killed deer, horses, and other animals and gathered fruits, berries and ostrich eggs

-Asian and African Homo erectus: A comparison
-cranial bones aren't as thick, aren't as strongly buttressed at the brow ridge and nuchal torus

-specimens found in Spain and Italy
-In Atapuerca was the earliest find dates to 1.2 mya, oldest hominin found in W. Europe
-partial jaw with a few teeth
-close analysis shows it resembles the Dmanisi fossils
-S. Europe, well-preserved cranium from the Ceprano site in central Italy
-cranium important date between 900,000 and 800,000 ya
-Oldowan tools which were taken to Dmanisi and Java and now Acheulian
-biface had a flatter shape than seen in the rounder earlier Oldowan cores
-raw materials being transferred frequently
-homo erectus remains have been found in Africa, Europe and Asia dating back to 1.8 mya
-homo erectus first appeared in E. Africa and later migrated to other areas
-certain homo erectus populations evolved into later premodern humans  which than turned into homo sapiens