The oldest people ... What were they like? In Africa and southern Eurasia, fossil remains of representatives of the hominid family were found, which lived in different regions of our planet about 2 million years ago and earlier. A skilled person belongs to this group, or a Australopithecus is skilled. Findings of the creature's fossil remains belonging to the species Homo hablilis, its origin and kinship with other hominids caused heated debate among paleoanthropologists.
Finds in the Olduvai Gorge and other areas of Africa
It all started with the finds of the family of paleoanthropologists Lika. Since 1930, several generations have been searching for the ancestors of man in Africa. In the summer of 1960, in the Olduvai Gorge, in the north-west of Tanzania, Jonathan Leakey and his companions found fossils belonging to a child of 11-12 years old. Bones lay in the earth 1.75 million years. The structural features of the foot proved that the creature walked straight. The new hominid was first called presinginthropus, but after a few years another scientific term appeared - "skilled man." The name of the species indicates the use of primitive stone tools found next to the bones in the same geological layers. In Kenya in 1961, a group of scientists unearthed the remains of hominids living in Africa 1.6–2.33 million years ago. More complete samples were discovered in 1972 near Lake Turkana. The age of the finds was 1.9 million years. New excavations then did not clarify the big picture.
The most ancient people. Skillful man
For a while, two names were used for the fossil ancestor found in the Olduvai Gorge - Australopithecus hablilis and Homo hablilis. This was due to doubts that paleoanthropologists had about kinship with other hominids. Some researchers considered this species the earliest ancestor of modern people. A skilled person found by Liki could move on his hind limbs, as modern people do. Perhaps he spent the night in the trees, rested and escaped in the branches from predators. It has been suggested that H. hablilis is the ancestor of Homo erectus. There were experts who said that the creature found belongs to the genus Australopithecus, whose representatives became extinct and have not been found on the planet for about 1 million years. The reason for the disagreement lies in the erroneous assumption of scientists that human evolution is straightforward. For a long time it was believed that one species of primates gave rise to another. Later, a hypothesis arose about the possible coexistence of several species of the hominid family in the past, both Australopithecus and humans. A more complex picture of human evolution arose than that which existed at the beginning and middle of the last century.
A skilled person. Characteristic appearance
In many aspects of their appearance, representatives of the species H. hablilis resembled Australopithecus. They had a monkey-like appearance, which implies a short body and long upper limbs hanging down below the knees, comparable in size to the legs. There are suggestions that A. Afar, who lived more than 3 million years ago, was a direct ancestor of H. hablilis. The proximity of this species to the main line of human evolution is confirmed by the characteristic structure of the skull. The growth of males was approximately 1.5–1.6 m, body weight - about 45 kg, females were lower. Features that distinguished H. hablilis from Australopithecus:
- relatively large brain;
- small teeth;
- protruding nose;
- flexible gait;
- the skull capacity of representatives of the species H. hablilis was 630–700 cm 3 .
Skillful lifestyle and nutrition
A change in habitat could cause the appearance of various adaptive features in the structure of the trunk, limbs, and digestive system. Found along with fossilized remains of hominids, animal bones, pollen, and primitive tools prove that these creatures ate meat, as well as fruits, insects, and plants. The word "skilled" in the name of the first person characterizes the structural features of the brush, adapted to capture tools.
The most ancient creatures broke bones to extract a nutritious brain from an internal cavity, united for protection against predators and searches of food. There is evidence that it was then that a division of labor arose between women and men.
The strong sex mined meat, and the females collected plant products. Acquired behaviors were beneficial for survival in the changing environment.
Production and use of tools
The tools of skilled man were stone, roughly worked. The hominids used rubble and cobblestones as axes and scrapers, and bone fragments were used to dig roots out of the ground. Stones, possibly wood, were the basic materials for the manufacture of tools and protection against predators.
Scrapers with sharp edges served to dissect carcasses, cut tendons, and clean skins. Some scientists suggest that the first tools were the result of natural factors. Water, wind, erosion processed natural materials, not the hands of a skilled person. Thanks to microscopic studies, scratches and grooves from other stones - tools with which the manufacture of tools was carried out - were found.
Climate change and the evolution of hominids
During the cooling period that occurred in the Eastern Hemisphere more than 3 million years ago, tropical forests gave way to the ancient savannah. There is evidence that animal evolution in East and South Africa has been linked to these climate changes.
Ancient primates needed to find additional food sources that provide more energy than forest fruits and root crops. Australopithecus gave rise to one branch of evolution; a skilled man continued this line. The emergence of other hominids was the result of the development in the direction of consumption of not only plant, but also animal food. The main sign of the transition from Australopithecus to humans is the manufacture of primitive tools and an increase in the volume of the skull.
Kinship of a skilled person with other fossil hominids
The bipedal erect primates of the species H. hablilis are almost identical in
appearance to A. afar, with which they were associated. In the central part of China, tools and bones of these hominids, whose age exceeded 1.9 million years, were found. Other remains of the species H. hablilis are contained in archaeological sites of Tanzania, Kenya, Sterkfonteyna. Finds prove the widespread distribution of the species in Africa and Asia.
It is possible that over 0.5 million years on the planet at the same time Australopithecus coexisted, bipedal, skillful and working. The differences between the species are very insignificant; they could lead a different lifestyle, occupying various ecological niches. In an upright man, body proportions were close to the same parameters of H. sapiens, but had a more prominent nose than representatives of the species H. erectus. Extinct hominids:
- skilled person;
- Homo erectus (Homo erectus);
- including Lake Rudolph (H. rudolfensis);
- h. Georgian (H. georgicus);
- hours worker (H. egaster).
The place of a skilled man in the evolution of Homo sapiens
For many years, the minds of paleoanthropologists have been occupied with the question of the direct ancestors of modern man. A skilled person is one of them? Just like Australopithecus, the very first people ate nuts, seeds and root crops. But they were able to make tools and use them to get animal food. An ancient representative of the genus Homo - H. erectus - did not belong to Australopithecus. This was the first direct ancestor of modern man, which, after lengthy debate, scientists included in the genus Humans (Homo) family hominids. Bone remains and implements of H. erectus were found not only in Africa, but also in Asia and Europe. At the same time, there was a bipedal man who used a more advanced method of processing stone and manufacturing tools. The working man was carnivorous and also used processed stones, wood, and bones as primitive tools.