Homework

• HW #4 due tomorrow

Aim #4: What were the earliest humans like? (continued)

• Do Now: Describe one accomplishment for EACH of the following early human groups:– Australopithecines

– Homo Habilis

– Homo Erectus

• Homo Sapiens Means:

200,000 B.C. to the present

Neanderthals Homo sapiens sapiens (Cro Magnon)

Modern Man

• Neanderthals (“cavemen”) • 200,000 to 30,000 B.C.

• Found in Europe / SW Asia

• Brain Size: 1,450 cm³

• Had thick bones, well-developed muscles, heavy foreheads; hunched over due to arthritis

• First to bury their dead.

• Skilled hunters

• Mysteriously died out around 30,000 B.C.

• Homo Sapiens Sapiens (“modern man”)

• Appeared 40,000 B.C.

• Started in Africa → migrated all around

• Brain size 1,400 cm³

• Superior hunting skills (bows and arrows)

• More advanced tools, evidence of art (cave paintings)

• Advanced spoken language

Spread of Homo Sapiens Sapiens

Article Questions • What new knowledge do we now have about modern

humans and Neanderthals because of DNA testing?

• How could the information in this article help to explain why the Neanderthals ultimately disappeared?

• Since Neanderthals and Cro Magnons could and did

interbreed, some scientists now feel that we can’t even view them as different hominid species. What does the fact that scientists are questioning long held assumptions about these groups tell us about our knowledge of prehistoric man?

Concluding Question

• Which theory for the disappearance of the Neanderthals do you find most persuasive? Why?