Lat Human Standing

The big question is why are we the only species of humans here on earth? how come we don't see the Neanderthals standing next to us today? Why did they die out? We have about 20 different human ancestors. 50,000 years ago there were about 4 different types of human living at the same time. But today we are just one species. So when Homo sapiens moved into the Middle East Homo erects died out. And when Homo sapiens moved into Europe the Neanderthals died out, but why? Neanderthals had bigger brains than ours they were the more advanced humans until we arrived. People use to think that neanderthals did not looked like us and were not very smart. Some archaeologists have found the bones of a neanderthal boy. They thought he was around 11 or 12 years old when he died but really he was only 8. Here we can see that he grew up quicker but had less time for the brain to develop. Parts of the neanderthal brain was smallr and they had limited thinking power. Also neaderthals were carnivors so they rarley ate any plants. Another way we can see how our thinking have evolved is if we look at some of tools for example the neanderthals had heavy spears so they could not carry that many and it would be very hard for them to throw it. But Homo sapiens had light spears so they could carry many and they could get a good throw. Europe also had very wild climates so it was very hard for the neanderthals to survive. When Homo sapiens came some of them lived by the sea, archaeologists believe that could have changed them. By looking at their diet they could see they collected selfish, differnt fruits, and plants. They also made different types of tools which helped them get more out of their environment. This is why we are not with neanderthals or Homo erectus today, climates, tools, diet all explain how we evolved and why we are the last human's standing.


"Last Human Stnading ." Becoming Huamn. PBS NOVA. 31 Aug. 2011. Television.

From Grunts to Grammar

From Grunts to Grammar:
They Evolution of Language



English speakers understand language by the order they are in. Grammar in writing makes it easier for us to explain things. But the big question is how did humans learn to talk this way? The earliest human is Homo habilis. Around 2 and a half years ago we started to use speech. For us to have the development in changes of voice is in the larynx (voice box). It has vocal cords that let us make sound form our throats. Most mammals they have their larynx high so their range of sound is limited. Also most mammals are nose breathers. but we can also breath through our mouths. When they chased animals it was easy for them to keep on running and not lose breath because when they breathed through their mouths to let more air in and out of the lungs. So for us to start being able to develop language all the pieces in the brain and throat were put together.

Paleoantlropologists need to look for signs of communication because we cannot find evidence of language back then. So how can we find information on how they communicated to other members of the tribe? First we would not start using full language for making tools because if you look at chimpanzees' they picked leaves off sticks then stuck the stick down a ant hill and then stick it in their mouths and they got a nice tasty snack and they didn't have to use language to do that. But then some tools had certain steps which would maybe require language. We communicated in three different ways sound, hand motions, and facial expressions. And we still all use these today for example people that are deaf they use hand motions to communicate. So if we know how they communitcated then when did they start to communicate? From a small population in Africa, Homo sapiens spreaded out into the world. When they migrated to Asia it was probably around 60,000 t0 80,000 years ago. But migrating to there probably did not need t0 much language. But when they went to Australia, at some point there was water they would need to cross so to cross it they would have to make some type of boat and to do that you would need to use language. So this shows how language started and how it has changed over time.

Bibliography

Miller, Jeanne. "From Grunts to Grammar." Odyssey: Adventures in Science  Oct. 2009 : 34, 35, 36 . 

     Print. 

Taming Fire

Taming Fire
By: Mary Beth Cox
Odyssey magazine

Fire was a wonderful thing that humans have discovered. Fire is one thing that helps us live today. Prehistoric people thought that fire was scary until they realized it can help them. Wildfire is caused by nature, things like lightning, thunderstorms, molten material from volcanoes, all can make and cause fire. But back then when a wildfire was created and was buring down everything, humans and animals did not have fire fighter or lots of water to put it out, they just had to run away or else they would burn and die. Archaeologists have found hearths at campsites in Europe. Hearths are rocks that we use to put around the fires. When we make are own fire it is called a hearth fire.The differnece between hearth fires and wildfires is that hearth fires heats objects to higher temperatuers which are higher than wildfires. Animal bones can be analyzed so we can see the chemical changes and see if the temperature is higher or lower. At Swartkrans caves in South Africa, they found burnt animal bones, and saw it was exposed to higher temperatures. That shows that humans were cooking their meat. They new how to use the fire but not exactly make it from scratch. So we started to use fire over 1,000,000 years ago. Fire was good for many different things, first it cooked meat which made it easier for us to digest. Second it helped us stay warm in cold temperatures. Third, it gave us light when it was dark so we could still stay up even when the sun went down. And lastly it protected them from predators. Fire helped us stay alive, it helped our species not die out. All these things that fire did are the things that helped us live today.

Bibliography

Cox, Mary Beth. "Taming Fire The frist scientist?" odyssey magazine : 29, 30 . Rpt. in The frist 

     scientist . N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print. 

Becoming Human: Birth of Humanity

Becoming Human: Birth of Humanity
(PBS NOVA DOCUMENTARY)

Homo Erectus was probably one of the most successful of the different hominids. Homo erectus had a big brain but a small mouth. Their arms were thinner and their legs grew taller. The Leeky's found a skull fragment and found more and could see that it was a H. erectus skull then he found more of the body. H. erectus looks more like humans than apes. By looking at the skeleton they could see that it was a boy and about 14 they could also tell at the time the bones were still growing. But then by looking at his teeth they could see that the boy was actually 8 years old. But an 8 year old is usually not that tall. So in growing they were very related to the apes because apes grow fast very quickly compared to humans. To make tools they chipped bits of rock of stones and then making in a tool to chop things. For them to live and have enough energy they would need to eat many plants but then they could eat meat which would give them more energy. Homo erectus were not at the top of the food chain, so how did they kill an animal when the animal is able to kill them? First Homo erectus was built for running. But it would be hard for them to run with all the hair they have on their bodies so did they have that much hair? We do not have hair from when they were alive so we need to look at something different and that would be lice. Because all mammals, birds, and even fish have lice. By looking at the different lice we can see when they started to lose their hair which was 3 million years ago. Mammals today the only way they can cool down is by panting. But humans we sweat which helps us cool down. So when mammals are catching their pray they cannot pant while catching so they can only short amounts of sprints and then need to rest.

Homo erectus also started to build fires. A scientist beleives that we started to learn how to share and communicate by sitting around the fire waiting for the food to cook. We have also learned how to be caring. Human mothers today will be happy to let other people that they know hold the baby and bond with it. But apes and monkey mothers do not let anyone hold their babies. Another piece of evidence to show how we cared is, some archaeologists have found a skull of an old man that has lost his teeth for 2 years. This shows that other members of the tribe must have feed him or even chewed the food for him. Learning to care for one another is probably a big reason of why Homo erectus was able to stay for a long time.

On Our Own Two Feet

On Our Own Two Feet
By: Stephen Whitt
Odyssey: Adventures in Science

We are the only animals that can walk on two feet. We are able to balance our whole bodies on two feet. Two things that we know for sure is that walking upright is very old because our ancestors have walked and also before we became humans we were still developing the brain. Chimpanzee's are not our ancestor! But they were related to our ancestors 6 million years ago. If you compare a human's skull to a chimps you could see that the human has a flater face and the chimp's face sticks out in the front. The human brain is much larger than a chimpanzee's. The skull of Australopithecus aferensis is the same type of skull as Lucy's. They lived around 3 million years ago halfway between human and chimps. A.aferensis skull looks more like a chimpanzee's. But their brain case is not as large as a chimpanzee's. In the back of a chimp's head there is a hole called foreman magnum, this allows the spinal cord to connect with the brain. The chimp also walks on fours, the spine angles up slightly but not straight up or down and angled back. Humans also have it but ours does not angle back, ours goes horizontal. Our hole for our spinal cord is at the bottom of the skull, ours is like this because we walk on two legs. A.aferensis theirs is horizontal like us! and at the bottom of the skull like us. This shows that they walked on two legs also. There are many different theories to why humans stood up and walked. C.Owen Lovejoy a scientist from Kent Sate University in Kent Ohio, has also got a theory. His theory is that hominids stood up and walked because it was easier when they were carry things like food. Another theory is that we stood up to cross hot savannas to reach forests. And the forests actually started to shrink because the temperatures went up. And the last theory is we stood and walked to cross rivers and streams. Today we still do not know for sure how we started to walk but walking has made a big difference in the world for humans.