ARCH 112 Lecture Notes - Lecture 28: Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, Serengeti
27 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Sept. 22, 2017
Australopithecus africanus
Dates 3 to 2 million years ago • Some significant sites include:
Taung, South Africa – Taung Child
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Sterkfontein, South Africa – “Mrs. Ples”
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Video segment from Episode One of “Becoming Human”
The Robust Australopithecines (classified as Genus Paranthropus)
Paranthropus aethiopicus
2.5 mya
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Lake Turkana, Kenya
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Paranthropus robustus
2.0 to 1 mya
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Swartkrans, South Africa
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Paranthropus boisei
2.5 to 1 mya
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Koobi Fora, Kenya and Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
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Audio 1
Sept. 25, 2017
The Robust Australopithecines (cont'd)
Three different species
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3 -1 mya
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Paranthropus aethiopicus
2.5 mya
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Lake Turkana, Kenya
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"The Black Skull"--was in sediment that had a lot of
manganese
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Cranial capacity 400 - 500 cubic cm
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Paranthropus robustus
2.0 to 1 mya
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Swartkrans, South Africa
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5 ft. tall, about 100lbs
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Pretty large teeth
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Paranthropus boisei
2.5 to 1 mya
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Koobi Fora, Kenya and Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
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Discovered in 1959
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Found by Mary Leakey
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Nicknamed the "nut cracker"--because of the huge jaw
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Trends in Hominid Evolution
Bipedalism (appeared 7 mya)
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Expansion of the brain (2.5 mya)
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Reduction of the face, teeth and jaws (due to improved tools, cooking
food)
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Stone tools developed 2.5 mya for meat eating
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Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania *
Apart of the Great rift valley system
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Canon 40 m long 100 m deep
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Important hominin site
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Located on Serengeti Plain of Northern Tanzania
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Gorge exposes 2 million years of the earth’s history*
Volcanic sediment where you can identify dating by potassium-
argon and argon-argon dating
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Important finds at Olduvai include:
Paranthropus boisei, Homo habilis, Homo erectus
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Sequence of stone tools including Oldowan tools and
Acheulean tools
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Discussion of the significance of this site
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Friday, September 22, 2017
11:14 AM
