THE PREHISTORY WORKSHOP
PALEOANTHROPOLOGY AND ARCHAEOLOGY FOR HISTORY STUDENTS
Frank Martos. Highlands School, Seville.
THE HOMO ERECTUS
Early African Homo erectus fossils (sometimes called Homo ergaster) are the oldest known early humans to have possessed modern human-like body proportions, adaptated to a life lived on the ground, with the ability to walk and possibly run long distances.
The most complete fossil individual of this species is known as the ‘Turkana Boy’ (see article on the right). The appearance of Homo erectus in the fossil record is often associated with the earliest handaxes, the first major innovation in stone tool technology.
Generally considered to have been the first species to have expanded beyond Africa, Homo erectus is considered a highly variable species, spread over two continents (it's not certain whether it reached Europe), and possibly the longest lived early human species - about nine times as long as our own species, Homo sapiens, has been around!
THE TURKANA BOY: A COMPLETE HOMO ERECTUS FOSSIL
The ‘Turkana Boy’ skeleton has allowed scientists to find out a lot of information about body size, body shape, and growth rates of Homo erectus. This skeleton is 40% complete, based on the principle that bones from one side of the body can tell what the same bone from the other side looked like even if it’s missing.
His pelvis shows he was male. His second molars had erupted, but not his third (the wisdom teeth), indicating he was not an adult. His age: eight or nine years old. He was 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) tall and weighed 48 kg (106 lb) when he died; if he had reached adulthood, he might have grown only a little bit taller.
Turkana Boy’s cranial capacity at death was 880 cubic centimeters, but scientists estimate it would have reached 909 cubic centimeters if he had grown into adulthood.
His body shows long legs and narrow shoulders typical of humans who live in hot, dry climate today. These long legs helped Homo erectus walk upright and possibly run long distances.Homo erectus is the first known species to spread widely within Africa and throughout Asia.
The Turkana Boy’s species made and used stone tools. The tools known from 1.6 million years ago in the Turkana Basin included simple stone cores and flakes but also large cutting tools such as handaxes.
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