ANTH 1150 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Paleolithic, Homo Heidelbergensis, Australopithecus
16 Oct 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Humans are classified by biologists as belonging to the primate order. A group that also includes lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes. By studying these animals we are able to better understand how and why humans developed as they did. Human culture appears to have really developed when some early hominins began making stone tools to butcher animals for their meat. The increasing importance of culture in human survival favoured the evolution of a better brain, which in turn made possible improvement in culture as the vehicle that humans used to secure their survival. Present evidence suggests we evolved from primates. By the beginning of the upper paleolithic period, humans had evolved complex cultural systems. Technology, art, and language were developing much more rapidly than before. The achievements of the upper paleolithic were significant and coincided with the disappearance of the neanderthals. Primate order: the group of mammals that includes lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans.
