 Scientific measurements of skulls show that larger

brain size evolved quickly in ancient human relatives,

while walking on two legs instead of four left their
hands free to use sone tools.
 Increasing intelligence and skill in tool use made early
humans formidable hunter-gatherers. They may even
have learned by trial and error to use herbs to treat
illnesses, in the same way as some apes are thought to
do today.
The distribution of genes in modern humas shows that Homo sapiens
evolved in East Africa. They migrated about 100,000 years ago. They then
traveled across Asia, Europe, Australia, and into North America, eventually
reaching South America.
 Proconsul
20 million years ago

Australopithecus Homo erectus Homo neanderthalensis Homo sapiens

5-2 million 1.7 -250,000 million 250,000-35,000 100,000
Walked on all fours, to
ancient hominid
(humanlike) relatives and
modern humans. The
sequence is not a straight
line, but a “tree” with dead
endes that do not
necessarily indicate
ancestry.
 Homo ergaster (“handy man”) was one of our earliest
homonid ancestros and evolved about 1.75 million
years ago.
 Homo ergaster was probably a very clos relative of
Homo erectus, the first human species to migrate out
of Africa. By hunting and killing animals, it is like that
early humans would have learned about the heart and
other organs.
 Humans belong to the genus Homo, and evolved from
an apelike ancestor, Proconsul. All early humans
would have been hunter-gatherers, living on a diet of
plants and animals.
 Neanderlthals, and acient relative of modern Homo
sapiens, appeared about 250,000 years ago.
Archaeological evidence supports the argument that
they looked after their sick and probably knew how to
set broken bones: remains of a Neanderthal man fond
in a cave in Shanidar, Iraq, show crusing injuries that
din not directly cause his death.
 Our Ancient ancestors would have used sounds and
facial expressions to communicate desires and
emotions, jst as humans do today. Although they
would have had some understanding of hte use of
plants, they did not know how the body worked and
would have explained illnesses in terms of evil spirits.