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Early Human Essay for Children | Early Man Lifestyle | History

December 2, 2017 by Study Mentor Leave a Comment

Man has developed from prehistoric ages from an ape like creature to what he is now. From fours he started walking on twos. From stooping on the ground he started to stand up on his legs. He learnt to walk run hunt and cook.

Man’s evolution came about in certain phases. It wasn’t done in a jiffy. But it came about in a very slow and gradual phase.

Before, man used to live on trees like apes. They had a huge head and a smaller brain. His senses weren’t that developed that time. His only means of survive was to eat the wild berries and fruits that grew on trees. He was a prey that time and not a predator, since he did not know any hunting skills. He was preyed on like other monkeys and apes. His body was full of hair and he had a tail also.

As time passed man came down from the trees to the land. He started residing in caves and niches in mountains. The hair quantity in his body reduced.

Then man developed tools. This brought a major change in his life. He learnt the art of hunting. He learnt how to make sharp object by rubbing two objects with each other. With tools now he could build temporary sheds and hunt animals at close proximity.

Another change that came with tools was that he started walking on twos instead of all fours. Yes! Man started using his lower limbs. But his walk wasn’t this upright and straight as it is now. It was more like how gorillas look when they walk on their feet; slightly humped in front and the movement is from side to side.

While rubbing two stones to sharpen them man made another accidental discovery that is fire. Till then fire was a matter of mystery, something fearful, and something unknown. Something, that cannot be under control. It was an act of nature. But when man learnt this new trick he could produce fire at his will by rubbing two stones or two twigs together. He became the master of fire.

The size of his brain increased considerably. He stood more upright. With fire at control there came many advantages. He could now have cooked food (before man used to devour raw flesh) hence it enhanced his taste buds. He can now light up dark caves and stay up late in the night. Also now they have this instrument to protect themselves from wild animals. They can also keep themselves warm in winters. From a herbivore he became an omnivore.

By this time he had learnt to tame animals. He started taming animals of domestic behavior. Man started living in groups. From a nomadic nature he started having a family. From a collection of different families it soon turned into a prehistoric village.

Man shifted from the caves to the open land. He built himself huts. Separate huts for separate families. Man learnt that the soil near the river is most fertile and there is also an easy availability of water. Villages started coming up along the banks of the water sources.

Man started producing food instead of just eating the wild fruits. The very first grains to be cultivated are still unknown because at that time trees also hadn’t undergone much evolution and there were a lot more different species of trees. So the main diet of man comprised of wild fruits, berries, meat, milk from the animals he domesticated and the grains that he grew.

He started practicing shifting agriculture that is suppose they settled in an area and cleared the forest cover there and started their agriculture there. But after some years the soil will lose its fertility, then again the people will shift to a new area, make a new clearing and start cultivating again, and leave the earlier patch to regenerate itself.

The third breakthrough came with the discovery of wheels. Man saw wooden logs of trees to roll down easily from a hill top. This gave him the idea of making wheels. He tied his domesticated animals to the wheels and used them to pull the wheels. This gave him the basic idea of making a cart. Early carts were very different from us though.

Nothing much is known about the language of early man at those times. Scientists say they didn’t have a proper context or verbal sentences. Instead they had calls like animals. He used to communicate or call each other through specific set of music, shrieks, cries or calls. They had separate calls for expressing joy , sorrow or giving signals for any danger lurking nearby.

Man started using different materials for building his home- like straw, wood, mud, bamboo and wood. With the advent of fire and wood man made another discovery that changed the pace of time. He discovered metals. He discovered ores from which metals can be formed. The very first metal to be discovered was copper.

Man can now store food. Before he used to store milk in earthen pots or skins of animals hence the food got easily wasted. But with copper utensils now he can store food easily for days. Food production became super functional. Man started producing food more than he needed. This gave him the idea of trade. He traded his grains for cattle or new weapons and utensils.

Such is the journey of man. This by and by gave rise to huge and renowned civilizations which shaped our future-like the Mayans, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Indus valley and many more. What we are now is because of them

“ For men may come, and men may go, but I go on forever ” -the river

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The Life and Times of Early Man

Very early humans probably ate mostly plants, fruit, nuts and roots that they found. Any meat they got was by scavenging after other animals. Early humans did not have strong claws to help them him fight. They could not outrun saber-toothed tigers or cave lions. Early humans had to get smart to survive. They had to use reason and invention.

Introduction - Four Important Definitions You'll Need

Back in time, 3 million years ago

The Stone Age

Handy Man - Stone Age (Stone Tools)

Upright Man - Made and controlled fire & learned to cook food

Hunter/Gatherer

Neanderthals

Cro-Magnon Man

Cave Paintings

What does it take for a group of people to become a civilization?

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Introductory essay

Written by the educator who created What Makes Us Human?, a brief look at the key facts, tough questions and big ideas in his field. Begin this TED Study with a fascinating read that gives context and clarity to the material.

As a biological anthropologist, I never liked drawing sharp distinctions between human and non-human. Such boundaries make little evolutionary sense, as they ignore or grossly underestimate what we humans have in common with our ancestors and other primates. What's more, it's impossible to make sharp distinctions between human and non-human in the paleoanthropological record. Even with a time machine, we couldn't go back to identify one generation of humans and say that the previous generation contained none: one's biological parents, by definition, must be in the same species as their offspring. This notion of continuity is inherent to most evolutionary perspectives and it's reflected in the similarities (homologies) shared among very different species. As a result, I've always been more interested in what makes us similar to, not different from, non-humans.

Evolutionary research has clearly revealed that we share great biological continuity with others in the animal kingdom. Yet humans are truly unique in ways that have not only shaped our own evolution, but have altered the entire planet. Despite great continuity and similarity with our fellow primates, our biocultural evolution has produced significant, profound discontinuities in how we interact with each other and in our environment, where no precedent exists in other animals. Although we share similar underlying evolved traits with other species, we also display uses of those traits that are so novel and extraordinary that they often make us forget about our commonalities. Preparing a twig to fish for termites may seem comparable to preparing a stone to produce a sharp flake—but landing on the moon and being able to return to tell the story is truly out of this non-human world.

Humans are the sole hominin species in existence today. Thus, it's easier than it would have been in the ancient past to distinguish ourselves from our closest living relatives in the animal kingdom. Primatologists such as Jane Goodall and Frans de Waal, however, continue to clarify why the lines dividing human from non-human aren't as distinct as we might think. Goodall's classic observations of chimpanzee behaviors like tool use, warfare and even cannibalism demolished once-cherished views of what separates us from other primates. de Waal has done exceptional work illustrating some continuity in reciprocity and fairness, and in empathy and compassion, with other species. With evolution, it seems, we are always standing on the shoulders of others, our common ancestors.

Primatology—the study of living primates—is only one of several approaches that biological anthropologists use to understand what makes us human. Two others, paleoanthropology (which studies human origins through the fossil record) and molecular anthropology (which studies human origins through genetic analysis), also yield some surprising insights about our hominin relatives. For example, Zeresenay Alemsegad's painstaking field work and analysis of Selam, a 3.3 million-year old fossil of a 3-year-old australopithecine infant from Ethiopia, exemplifies how paleoanthropologists can blur boundaries between living humans and apes.

Selam, if alive today, would not be confused with a three-year-old human—but neither would we mistake her for a living ape. Selam's chimpanzee-like hyoid bone suggests a more ape-like form of vocal communication, rather than human language capability. Overall, she would look chimp-like in many respects—until she walked past you on two feet. In addition, based on Selam's brain development, Alemseged theorizes that Selam and her contemporaries experienced a human-like extended childhood with a complex social organization.

Fast-forward to the time when Neanderthals lived, about 130,000 – 30,000 years ago, and most paleoanthropologists would agree that language capacity among the Neanderthals was far more human-like than ape-like; in the Neanderthal fossil record, hyoids and other possible evidence of language can be found. Moreover, paleogeneticist Svante Pääbo's groundbreaking research in molecular anthropology strongly suggests that Neanderthals interbred with modern humans. Paabo's work informs our genetic understanding of relationships to ancient hominins in ways that one could hardly imagine not long ago—by extracting and comparing DNA from fossils comprised largely of rock in the shape of bones and teeth—and emphasizes the great biological continuity we see, not only within our own species, but with other hominins sometimes classified as different species.

Though genetics has made truly astounding and vital contributions toward biological anthropology by this work, it's important to acknowledge the equally pivotal role paleoanthropology continues to play in its tandem effort to flesh out humanity's roots. Paleoanthropologists like Alemsegad draw on every available source of information to both physically reconstruct hominin bodies and, perhaps more importantly, develop our understanding of how they may have lived, communicated, sustained themselves, and interacted with their environment and with each other. The work of Pääbo and others in his field offers powerful affirmations of paleoanthropological studies that have long investigated the contributions of Neanderthals and other hominins to the lineage of modern humans. Importantly, without paleoanthropology, the continued discovery and recovery of fossil specimens to later undergo genetic analysis would be greatly diminished.

Molecular anthropology and paleoanthropology, though often at odds with each other in the past regarding modern human evolution, now seem to be working together to chip away at theories that portray Neanderthals as inferior offshoots of humanity. Molecular anthropologists and paleoanthropologists also concur that that human evolution did not occur in ladder-like form, with one species leading to the next. Instead, the fossil evidence clearly reveals an evolutionary bush, with numerous hominin species existing at the same time and interacting through migration, some leading to modern humans and others going extinct.

Molecular anthropologist Spencer Wells uses DNA analysis to understand how our biological diversity correlates with ancient migration patterns from Africa into other continents. The study of our genetic evolution reveals that as humans migrated from Africa to all continents of the globe, they developed biological and cultural adaptations that allowed for survival in a variety of new environments. One example is skin color. Biological anthropologist Nina Jablonski uses satellite data to investigate the evolution of skin color, an aspect of human biological variation carrying tremendous social consequences. Jablonski underscores the importance of trying to understand skin color as a single trait affected by natural selection with its own evolutionary history and pressures, not as a tool to grouping humans into artificial races.

For Pääbo, Wells, Jablonski and others, technology affords the chance to investigate our origins in exciting new ways, adding pieces into the human puzzle at a record pace. At the same time, our technologies may well be changing who we are as a species and propelling us into an era of "neo-evolution."

Increasingly over time, human adaptations have been less related to predators, resources, or natural disasters, and more related to environmental and social pressures produced by other humans. Indeed, biological anthropologists have no choice but to consider the cultural components related to human evolutionary changes over time. Hominins have been constructing their own niches for a very long time, and when we make significant changes (such as agricultural subsistence), we must adapt to those changes. Classic examples of this include increases in sickle-cell anemia in new malarial environments, and greater lactose tolerance in regions with a long history of dairy farming.

Today we can, in some ways, evolve ourselves. We can enact biological change through genetic engineering, which operates at an astonishing pace in comparison to natural selection. Medical ethicist Harvey Fineberg calls this "neo-evolution". Fineberg goes beyond asking who we are as a species, to ask who we want to become and what genes we want our offspring to inherit. Depending on one's point of view, the future he envisions is both tantalizing and frightening: to some, it shows the promise of science to eradicate genetic abnormalities, while for others it raises the specter of eugenics. It's also worth remembering that while we may have the potential to influence certain genetic predispositions, changes in genotypes do not guarantee the desired results. Environmental and social pressures like pollution, nutrition or discrimination can trigger "epigenetic" changes which can turn genes on or off, or make them less or more active. This is important to factor in as we consider possible medical benefits from efforts in self-directed evolution. We must also ask: In an era of human-engineered, rapid-rate neo-evolution, who decides what the new human blueprints should be?

Technology figures in our evolutionary future in other ways as well. According to anthropologist Amber Case, many of our modern technologies are changing us into cyborgs: our smart phones, tablets and other tools are "exogenous components" that afford us astonishing and unsettling capabilities. They allow us to travel instantly through time and space and to create second, "digital selves" that represent our "analog selves" and interact with others in virtual environments. This has psychological implications for our analog selves that worry Case: a loss of mental reflection, the "ambient intimacy" of knowing that we can connect to anyone we want to at any time, and the "panic architecture" of managing endless information across multiple devices in virtual and real-world environments.

Despite her concerns, Case believes that our technological future is essentially positive. She suggests that at a fundamental level, much of this technology is focused on the basic concerns all humans share: who am I, where and how do I fit in, what do others think of me, who can I trust, who should I fear? Indeed, I would argue that we've evolved to be obsessed with what other humans are thinking—to be mind-readers in a sense—in a way that most would agree is uniquely human. For even though a baboon can assess those baboons it fears and those it can dominate, it cannot say something to a second baboon about a third baboon in order to trick that baboon into telling a fourth baboon to gang up on a fifth baboon. I think Facebook is a brilliant example of tapping into our evolved human psychology. We can have friends we've never met and let them know who we think we are—while we hope they like us and we try to assess what they're actually thinking and if they can be trusted. It's as if technology has provided an online supply of an addictive drug for a social mind evolved to crave that specific stimulant!

Yet our heightened concern for fairness in reciprocal relationships, in combination with our elevated sense of empathy and compassion, have led to something far greater than online chats: humanism itself. As Jane Goodall notes, chimps and baboons cannot rally together to save themselves from extinction; instead, they must rely on what she references as the "indomitable human spirit" to lessen harm done to the planet and all the living things that share it. As Goodall and other TED speakers in this course ask: will we use our highly evolved capabilities to secure a better future for ourselves and other species?

I hope those reading this essay, watching the TED Talks, and further exploring evolutionary perspectives on what makes us human, will view the continuities and discontinuities of our species as cause for celebration and less discrimination. Our social dependency and our prosocial need to identify ourselves, our friends, and our foes make us human. As a species, we clearly have major relationship problems, ranging from personal to global scales. Yet whenever we expand our levels of compassion and understanding, whenever we increase our feelings of empathy across cultural and even species boundaries, we benefit individually and as a species.

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Zeresenay Alemseged

The search for humanity's roots, relevant talks.

Spencer Wells

A family tree for humanity.

Svante Pääbo

Dna clues to our inner neanderthal.

Nina Jablonski

Skin color is an illusion.

We are all cyborgs now

Harvey Fineberg

Are we ready for neo-evolution.

Frans de Waal

Moral behavior in animals.

Jane Goodall

What separates us from chimpanzees.

Frontiers for Young Minds

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A Brief Account of Human Evolution for Young Minds

Most of what we know about the origin of humans comes from the research of paleoanthropologists, scientists who study human fossils. Paleoanthropologists identify the sites where fossils can be found. They determine the age of fossils and describe the features of the bones and teeth discovered. Recently, paleoanthropologists have added genetic technology to test their hypotheses. In this article, we will tell you a little about prehistory, a period of time including pre-humans and humans and lasting about 10 million years. During the Prehistoric Period, events were not reported in writing. Most information on prehistory is obtained through studying fossils. Ten to twelve million years ago, primates divided into two branches, one included species leading to modern (current) humans and the other branch to the great apes that include gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and orangutans. The branch leading to modern humans included several different species. When one of these species—known as the Neanderthals—inhabited Eurasia, they were not alone; Homo sapiens and other Homo species were also present in this region. All the other species of Homo have gone extinct, with the exception of Homo sapiens , our species, which gradually colonized the entire planet. About 12,000 years ago, during the Neolithic Period, some (but not all) populations of H. sapiens passed from a wandering lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of sedentary farming, building villages and towns. They developed more complex social organizations and invented writing. This was the end of prehistory and the beginning of history.

What Is Evolution?

Evolution is the process by which living organisms evolve from earlier, more simple organisms. According to the scientist Charles Darwin (1809–1882), evolution depends on a process called natural selection. Natural selection results in the increased reproductive capacities of organisms that are best suited for the conditions in which they are living. Darwin’s theory was that organisms evolve as a result of many slight changes over the course of time. In this article, we will discuss evolution during pre-human times and human prehistory. During prehistory, writing was not yet developed. But much important information on prehistory is obtained through studies of the fossil record [ 1 ].

How Did Humans Evolve?

Primates, like humans, are mammals. Around ten to twelve million years ago, the ancestral primate lineage split through speciation from one common ancestor into two major groups. These two lineages evolved separately to become the variety of species we see today. Members of one group were the early version of what we know today as the great apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos in Africa, orangutans in Asia) ( Figures 1 , 2 ); that is, the modern great apes evolved from this ancestral group. They mostly remained in forest with an arboreal lifestyle, meaning they live in trees. Great apes are also quadrupeds which means they move around with four legs on the ground (see Figure 2 ). The other group evolved in a different way. They became terrestrial, meaning they live on land and not in trees. From being quadrupeds they evolved to bipeds, meaning they move around on their two back legs. In addition the size of their brain increased. This is the group that, through evolution, gave rise to the modern current humans. Many fossils found in Africa are from the Australopithecus afarensis, Homo sapiens ."> genus named Australopithecus (which means southern ape). This genus is extinct, but fossil studies revealed interesting features about their adaptation toward a terrestrial lifestyle.

Figure 1 - Evolutionary scheme, showing that great apes and humans all evolved from a common ancestor.

Figure 1 - Evolutionary scheme, showing that great apes and humans all evolved from a common ancestor.
The Neanderthal picture is a statue designed from a fossil skeleton.

Figure 2 - Great Apes in nature.
(above) Arboreal (in trees) locomotion of orangutans and (under) the quadrupedal (four-foot) locomotion of gorillas and chimpanzees.

Australopithecus afarensis and Lucy

In Ethiopia (East Africa) there is a site called Hadar, where several fossils of different animal species were found. Among those fossils was Australopithecus afarensis . In 1974, paleoanthropologists found an almost complete skeleton of one specimen of this species and named it Lucy, from The Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” The whole world found out about Lucy and she was in every newspaper: she became a global celebrity. This small female—only about 1.1 m tall—lived 3.2 million years ago. Analysis of her femurs (thigh bones) showed that she used terrestrial locomotion. Lucy could have used arboreal and bipedal locomotion as well, as foot bones of another A. afarensis individual had a curve similar to that found in the feet of modern humans [ 2 ]. Authors of this finding suggested accordingly that A. afarensis was exclusively bipedal and could have been a hunter-gatherer.

Homo habilis , Homo erectus , and Homo neanderthalensis

Homo is the genus (group of species) that includes modern humans, like us, and our most closely related extinct ancestors. Organisms that belong to the same species produce viable offspring. The famous paleoanthropologist named Louis Leakey, along with his team, discovered Homo habilis (meaning handy man) in 1964. Homo habilis was the most ancient species of Homo ever found [ 2 ]. Homo habilis appeared in Tanzania (East Africa) over 2.8 million years ago, and 1.5 million years ago became exinct. They were estimated to be about 1.40 meter tall and were terrestrial. They were different from Australopithecus because of the form of the skull. The shape was not piriform (pear-shaped), but spheroid (round), like the head of a modern human. Homo habilis made stone tools, a sign of creativity [ 3 ].

In Asia, in 1891, Eugene Dubois (also a paleoanthropologist) discovered the first fossil of Homo erectus (meaning upright man), which appeared 1.8 million years ago. This fossil received several names. The best known are Pithecanthropus (ape-man) and Sinanthropus (Chinese-man). Homo erectus appeared in East Africa and migrated to Asia, where they carved refined tools from stone [ 4 ]. Dubois also brought some shells of the time of H erectus from Java to Europe. Contemporary scientists studied these shells and found engravings that dated from 430,000 and 540,000 years ago. They concluded that H. erectus individuals were able to express themselves using symbols [ 5 ].

Several Homo species emerged following H. erectus and quite a few coexisted for some time. The best known one is Homo neanderthalensis ( Figure 3 ), usually called Neanderthals and they were known as the European branch originating from two lineages that diverged around 400,000 years ago, with the second branch (lineage) Homo sapiens known as the African branch. The first Neanderthal fossil, dated from around 430,000 years ago, was found in La Sima de los Huesos in Spain and is considered to originate from the common ancestor called Homo heidelbergensis [ 6 ]. Neanderthals used many of the natural resources in their environment: animals, plants, and minerals. Homo neanderthalensis hunted terrestrial and marine (ocean) animals, requiring a variety of weapons. Tens of thousands of stone tools from Neanderthal sites are exhibited in many museums. Neanderthals created paintings in the La Pasiega cave in the South of Spain and decorated their bodies with jewels and colored paint. Graves were found, which meant they held burial ceremonies.

Figure 3 - A comparison of the skulls of Homo sapiens (Human) (left) vs. Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthal) (right).

Figure 3 - A comparison of the skulls of Homo sapiens (Human) (left) vs. Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthal) (right).
You can see a shape difference. From Scientific American Vol. 25, No. 4, Autumn 2016 (modified).

Denisovans are a recent addition to the human tree. In 2010, the first specimen was discovered in the Denisova cave in south-western Siberia. Very little information is known on their behavior. They deserve further studies due to their interactions with Neandertals and other Homo species (see below) [ 7 ].

Homo sapiens

Fossils recently discovered in Morocco (North Africa) have added to the intense debate on the spread of H. sapiens after they originated 315,000 years ago [ 8 ]. The location of these fossils could mean that Homo sapiens had visited the whole of Africa. In the same way, the scattering of fossils out of Africa indicated their migrations to various continents [ 9 ]. While intensely debated, hypotheses focus on either a single dispersal or multiple dispersals out of the African continent [ 10 , 11 ]. Nevertheless, even if the origin of the migration to Europe is still a matter of debate [ 12 ], it appears that H. sapiens was present in Israel [ 13 ] 180,000 years ago. Therefore, it could be that migration to Europe was not directly from Africa but indirectly through a stay in Israel-Asia. They arrived about 45,000 years ago into Europe [ 14 ] where the Neanderthals were already present (see above). Studies of ancient DNA show that H. sapiens had babies with Neanderthals and Denisovans. Nowadays people living in Europe and Asia share between 1 and 4% of their DNA with either Neanderthals or Denisovans [ 15 ].

Several thousand years ago H. sapiens already made art, like for example the wall painting in the Chauvet cave (36,000 years ago) ( Figure 4 ) and the Lascaux cave (19,000 years ago), both in France. The quality of the paintings shows great artistic ability and intellectual development. Homo sapiens continued to prospect the Earth. They crossed the Bering Land Bridge, connecting Siberia and Alaska and moved south 12,500 years ago, to what is now called Chile. Homo sapiens gradually colonized our entire planet ( Figure 5 ).

Figure 4 - The lions in the Chauvet cave (−36,000 years).

Figure 4 - The lions in the Chauvet cave (−36,000 years).
In this period wild lions were present in Eurasia . Photo: Bradshaw foundation.com. Note the lively character of the picture.

Figure 5 - Homo sapiens traveled in the world at various periods as shown on the map.

Figure 5 - Homo sapiens traveled in the world at various periods as shown on the map.
They had only their legs to move!

The Neolithic Revolution

Neolithic Period means New Stone Age, due to the new stone technology that was developed during that time. The Neolithic Period started at the end of the glacial period 11,700 years ago. There was a change in the way humans lived during the Neolithic Period. Ruins found in Mesopotamia tell us early humans lived in populated villages. Due to the start of agriculture, most wandering hunter-gatherers became sedentary farmers. Instead of hunting dogs familiar with hunter-gatherers, farmers preferred sheepdogs [ 16 ]. In the Neolithic age, humans were farming and herding, keeping goats and sheep. Aurochs (extinct wild cattle), shown in the paintings from the Lascaux cave, are early ancestors of the domesticated cows we have today [ 17 ]. The first produce which early humans began to grow in Mesopotamia (a historical region in West Asia, situated between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers) was peas and wheat [ 18 ]. Animals and crops were traded and written records were kept of these trades. Clay tokens were the first money for these transactions. The Neolithic Period saw the creation of commerce, money, mathematics, and writing ( Figure 6 ) in Sumer, a region of Mesopotamia. The birth of writing started the period that we call “history,” in which events are written down and details of big events as well as daily life can easily be passed on. This tremendous change in human lifestyle can be called the Neolithic Revolution .

Figure 6 - From the beginning to final evolution of cuneiform writing.

Figure 6 - From the beginning to final evolution of cuneiform writing.
Writing on argil support showed changes from pictograms to abstract design. Picture modified from British Museum. Dates in year BC.

From the time of Homo erectus , Homo species migrated out of Africa. Homo sapiens extended this migration over the whole planet. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Europeans explored the world. On the various continents, explorers met unknown populations. The Europeans were wondering if those beings were humans or not. But actually, those populations were also descendants of the men and women who colonized the earth at the dawn of mankind. In much earlier times, there was a theory that there were several races of humans, based mostly on skin color, but this theory was not supported by science. Current studies of DNA show that more than seven billion people who live on earth today are not of different races. There is only one human species on earth today, named Homo sapiens .

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Emma Clayton (Frontiers) for her advice and careful reading. Photo of Neanderthal statue was from Stephane Louryan, one of the designers of Neanderthal’s statue project [Faculty of Medicine, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium].

[1] ↑ Godfraind, T. 2016. Hominisation et Transhumanisme . Bruxelles: Académie Royale de Belgique.

[2] ↑ Ward, C. V., Kimbel, W. H., and Johanson, D. C. 2011. Complete fourth metatarsal and arches in the foot of Australopithecus afarensis. Science 331:750–3. doi: 10.1126/science.1201463

[3] ↑ Harmand, S., Lewis, J. E., Feibel, C. S., Lepre, C. J., Prat, S., Lenoble, A., et al. 2015. 3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya. Nature 521:310–5. doi: 10.1038/nature14464

[4] ↑ Carotenuto, F., Tsikaridze, N., Rook, L., Lordkipanidze, D., Longo, L., Condemi, S., et al. 2016. Venturing out safely: the biogeography of Homo erectus dispersal out of Africa. J. Hum. Evol. 95:1–12. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.02.005

[5] ↑ Joordens, J. C., d’Errico, F., Wesselingh, F. P., Munro, S., de Vos, J., Wallinga, J., et al. 2015. Homo erectus at Trinil on Java used shells for tool production and engraving. Nature 518:228–31. doi: 10.1038/nature13962

[6] ↑ Arsuaga, J. L., Martinez, I., Arnold, L. J., Aranburu, A., Gracia-Tellez, A., Sharp, W. D., et al. 2014. Neandertal roots: cranial and chronological evidence from Sima de los Huesos. Science 344:1358–63. doi: 10.1126/science.1253958

[7] ↑ Vernot, B., Tucci, S., Kelso, J., Schraiber, J. G., Wolf, A. B., Gittelman, R. M., et al. 2016. Excavating Neandertal and Denisovan DNA from the genomes of Melanesian individuals. Science 352:235–9. doi: 10.1126/science.aad9416

[8] ↑ Richter, D., Grun, R., Joannes-Boyau, R., Steele, T. E., Amani, F., Rue, M., et al. 2017. The age of the hominin fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, and the origins of the Middle Stone Age. Nature 546:293–6. doi: 10.1038/nature22335

[9] ↑ Vyas, D. N., Al-Meeri, A., and Mulligan, C. J. 2017. Testing support for the northern and southern dispersal routes out of Africa: an analysis of Levantine and southern Arabian populations. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol . 164:736–49. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.23312

[10] ↑ Reyes-Centeno, H., Hubbe, M., Hanihara, T., Stringer, C., and Harvati, K. 2015. Testing modern human out-of-Africa dispersal models and implications for modern human origins. J. Hum. Evol . 87:95–106. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.06.008

[11] ↑ Templeton, A. 2002. Out of Africa again and again. Nature 416:45–51. doi: 10.1038/416045a

[12] ↑ Arnason, U. 2017. A phylogenetic view of the Out of Asia/Eurasia and Out of Africa hypotheses in the light of recent molecular and palaeontological finds. Gene 627:473–6. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2017.07.006

[13] ↑ Callaway, E. 2018. Israeli fossils are the oldest modern humans ever found outside of Africa. Nature 554:15–6. doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-01261-5

[14] ↑ Benazzi, S., Douka, K., Fornai, C., Bauer, C. C., Kullmer, O., Svoboda, J., et al. 2011. Early dispersal of modern humans in Europe and implications for Neanderthal behaviour. Nature 479:525–8. doi: 10.1038/nature10617

[15] ↑ Vernot, B., and Akey, J. M. 2014. Resurrecting surviving Neandertal lineages from modern human genomes. Science 343:1017–21. doi: 10.1126/science.1245938

[16] ↑ Ollivier, M., Tresset, A., Frantz, L. A. F., Brehard, S., Balasescu, A., Mashkour, M., et al. 2018. Dogs accompanied humans during the Neolithic expansion into Europe. Biol. Lett. 14:20180286. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0286

[17] ↑ Gerling, C., Doppler, T., Heyd, V., Knipper, C., Kuhn, T., Lehmann, M. F., et al. 2017. High-resolution isotopic evidence of specialised cattle herding in the European Neolithic. PLoS ONE 12:e0180164. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180164

[18] ↑ Revedin, A., Aranguren, B., Becattini, R., Longo, L., Marconi, E., Lippi, M. M., et al. 2010. Thirty thousand-year-old evidence of plant food processing. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A . 107:18815–9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1006993107

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The Prehistoric Ages: How Humans Lived Before Written Records

By: Lesley Kennedy

Updated: June 9, 2023 | Original: September 27, 2019

Earth’s beginnings can be traced back 4.5 billion years, but human evolution only counts for a tiny speck of its history. The Prehistoric Period—or when there was human life before records documented human activity—roughly dates from 2.5 million years ago to 1,200 B.C. It is generally categorized in three archaeological periods: the Stone Age , Bronze Age and Iron Age .

From the invention of tools made for hunting to advances in food production and agriculture to early examples of art and religion, this enormous time span—ending roughly 3,200 years ago (dates vary upon region)—was a period of great transformation. Here’s a closer look:

The Stone Age

Divided into three periods: Paleolithic (or Old Stone Age), Mesolithic (or Middle Stone Age), and Neolithic (or New Stone Age), this era is marked by the use of tools by our early human ancestors (who evolved around 300,000 B.C.) and the eventual transformation from a culture of hunting and gathering to farming and food production. During this era, early humans shared the planet with a number of now-extinct hominin relatives, including Neanderthals and Denisovans.

In the Paleolithic period (roughly 2.5 million years ago to 10,000 B.C.), early humans lived in caves or simple huts or tepees and were hunters and gatherers. They used basic stone and bone tools, as well as crude stone axes, for hunting birds and wild animals. They cooked their prey, including woolly mammoths, deer and bison, using controlled fire. They also fished and collected berries, fruit and nuts.

Ancient humans in the Paleolithic period were also the first to leave behind art. They used combinations of minerals, ochres, burnt bone meal and charcoal mixed into water, blood, animal fats and tree saps to etch humans, animals and signs. They also carved small figurines from stones, clay, bones and antlers.

The end of this period marked the end of the last Ice Age , which resulted in the extinction of many large mammals and rising sea levels and climate change that eventually caused man to migrate.

During the Mesolithic period (about 10,000 B.C. to 8,000 B.C.), humans used small stone tools, now also polished and sometimes crafted with points and attached to antlers, bone or wood to serve as spears and arrows. They often lived nomadically in camps near rivers and other bodies of water. Agriculture was introduced during this time, which led to more permanent settlements in villages.

Finally, during the Neolithic period (roughly 8,000 B.C. to 3,000 B.C.), ancient humans switched from hunter/gatherer mode to agriculture and food production. They domesticated animals and cultivated cereal grains. They used polished hand axes, adzes for plowing and tilling the land and started to settle in the plains. Advancements were made not only in tools but also in farming, home construction and art, including pottery, sewing and weaving.

The Bronze Age

During the Bronze Age (about 3,000 B.C. to 1,300 B.C.), metalworking advances were made, as bronze, a copper and tin alloy, was discovered. Now used for weapons and tools, the harder metal replaced its stone predecessors, and helped spark innovations including the ox-drawn plow and the wheel.

This time period also brought advances in architecture and art, including the invention of the potter’s wheel, and textiles—clothing consisted of mostly wool items such as skirts, kilts, tunics and cloaks. Home dwellings morphed to so-called roundhouses, consisting of a circular stone wall with a thatched or turf roof, complete with a fireplace or hearth, and more villages and cities began to form.

Organized government, law and warfare, as well as the beginnings of religion, also came into play during the Bronze Age, perhaps most notably relating to the ancient Egyptians who built the pyramids during this time. The earliest written accounts, including Egyptian hieroglyphs and petroglyphs (rock engravings), are also dated to this era.

The Iron Age

The discovery of ways to heat and forge iron kicked off the Iron Age (roughly 1,300 B.C. to 900 B.C.). At the time, metal was seen as more precious than gold, and wrought iron (which would be replaced by steel with the advent of smelting iron) was easier to manufacture than bronze.

Along with mass production of iron tools and weapons, the age saw even further advances in architecture, with four-room homes, some complete with stables for animals, joining more rudimentary hill forts, as well as royal palaces, temples and other religious structures. Early city planning also took place, with blocks of homes being erected along paved or cobblestone streets and water systems put into place.

Agriculture, art and religion all became more sophisticated, and writing systems and written documentation, including alphabets, began to emerge, ushering in the Early Historical Period.

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Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Introduction to prehistoric art, 20,000–8000 b.c..

Laura Anne Tedesco Independent Scholar

August 2007

To describe the global origins of humans’ artistic achievement, upon which the succeeding history of art may be laid, is an encyclopedic enterprise. The Metropolitan Museum’s Timeline of Art History , covering the period roughly from 20,000 to 8000 B.C., provides a series of introductory essays about particular archaeological sites and artworks that illustrate some of the earliest endeavors in human creativity. The account of the origins of art is a very long one marked less by change than consistency. The first human artistic representations, markings with ground red ocher, seem to have occurred about 100,000 B.C. in African rock art . This chronology may be more an artifact of the limitations of archaeological evidence than a true picture of when humans first created art. However, with new technologies, research methods, and archaeological discoveries, we are able to view the history of human artistic achievement in a greater focus than ever before.

Art, as the product of human creativity and imagination, includes poetry, music, dance, and the material arts such as painting, sculpture, drawing, pottery, and bodily adornment. The objects and archaeological sites presented in the Museum’s Timeline of Art History for the time period 20,000–8000 B.C. illustrate diverse examples of prehistoric art from across the globe. All were created in the period before the invention of formal writing, and when human populations were migrating and expanding across the world. By 20,000 B.C., humans had settled on every continent except Antarctica. The earliest human occupation occurs in Africa, and it is there that we assume art to have originated. African rock art from the Apollo 11 and Wonderwerk Caves contain examples of geometric and animal representations engraved and painted on stone. In Europe, the record of Paleolithic art is beautifully illustrated with the magnificent painted caves of Lascaux and Chauvet , both in France. Scores of painted caves exist in western Europe, mostly in France and Spain, and hundreds of sculptures and engravings depicting humans, animals, and fantastic creatures have been found across Europe and Asia alike. Rock art in Australia represents the longest continuously practiced artistic tradition in the world. The site of Ubirr in northern Australia contains exceptional examples of Aboriginal rock art repainted for millennia beginning perhaps as early as 40,000 B.C. The earliest known rock art in Australia predates European painted caves by as much as 10,000 years.

In Egypt, millennia before the advent of powerful dynasties and wealth-laden tombs, early settlements are known from modest scatters of stone tools and animal bones at such sites as Wadi Kubbaniya . In western Asia after 8,000 B.C., the earliest known writing , monumental art, cities , and complex social systems emerged. Prior to these far-reaching developments of civilization, this area was inhabited by early hunters and farmers. Eynan/Ain Mallaha , a settlement in the Levant along the Mediterranean, was occupied around 10,000–8000 B.C. by a culture named Natufian. This group of settled hunters and gatherers created a rich artistic record of sculpture made from stone and bodily adornment made from shell and bone.

The earliest art of the continent of South Asia is less well documented than that of Europe and western Asia, and some of the extant examples come from painted and engraved cave sites such as Pachmari Hills in India. The caves depict the region’s fauna and hunting practices of the Mesolithic period. In Central and East Asia, a territory almost twice the size of North America, there are outstanding examples of early artistic achievements, such as the expertly and delicately carved female figurine sculpture from Mal’ta . The superbly preserved bone flutes from the site of Jiahu in China, while dated to slightly later than 8000 B.C., are still playable. The tradition of music making may be among the earliest forms of human artistic endeavor. Because many musical instruments were crafted from easily degradable materials like leather, wood, and sinew, they are often lost to archaeologists, but flutes made of bone dating to the Paleolithic period in Europe (ca. 35,000–10,000 B.C.) are richly documented.

North and South America are the most recent continents to be explored and occupied by humans, who likely arrived from Asia. Blackwater Draw in North America and Fell’s Cave in Patagonia, the southernmost area of South America, are two contemporaneous sites where elegant stone tools that helped sustain the hunters who occupied these regions have been found.

Whether the prehistoric artworks illustrated here constitute demonstrations of a unified artistic idiom shared by humankind or, alternatively, are unique to the environments, cultures, and individuals who created them is a question open for consideration. Nonetheless, each work or site superbly characterizes some of the earliest examples of humans’ creative and artistic capacity.

Tedesco, Laura Anne. “Introduction to Prehistoric Art, 20,000–8000 B.C.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/preh/hd_preh.htm (August 2007)

Additional Essays by Laura Anne Tedesco

Tedesco, Laura Anne. “ Blackwater Draw (ca. 9500–3000 B.C.) .” (originally published October 2000, last revised September 2007)
Tedesco, Laura Anne. “ Wadi Kubbaniya (ca. 17,000–15,000 B.C.) .” (October 2000)
Tedesco, Laura Anne. “ Fell’s Cave (9000–8000 B.C.) .” (originally published October 2000, last revised September 2007)
Tedesco, Laura Anne. “ Jiahu (ca. 7000–5700 B.C.) .” (October 2000)
Tedesco, Laura Anne. “ Lascaux (ca. 15,000 B.C.) .” (October 2000)
Tedesco, Laura Anne. “ Mal’ta (ca. 20,000 B.C.) .” (October 2000)
Tedesco, Laura Anne. “ Pachmari Hills (ca. 9000–3000 B.C.) .” (October 2000)
Tedesco, Laura Anne. “ Hasanlu in the Iron Age .” (October 2004)
Tedesco, Laura Anne. “ Eynan/Ain Mallaha (12,500–10,000 B.C.) .” (October 2000; updated February 2024)

Related Essays

African Rock Art
Chauvet Cave (ca. 30,000 B.C.)
Lascaux (ca. 15,000 B.C.)
Neolithic Period in China
Prehistoric Stone Sculpture from New Guinea
African Rock Art: Game Pass
African Rock Art: Tassili-n-Ajjer (?8000 B.C.–?)
African Rock Art: The Coldstream Stone
Apollo 11 (ca. 25,500–23,500 B.C.) and Wonderwerk (ca. 8000 B.C.) Cave Stones
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Cerro Sechín
Cerro Sechín: Stone Sculpture
Eynan/Ain Mallaha (12,500–10,000 B.C.)
Fell’s Cave (9000–8000 B.C.)
Indian Knoll (3000–2000 B.C.)
Jiahu (ca. 7000–5700 B.C.)
Jōmon Culture (ca. 10,500–ca. 300 B.C.)
Mal’ta (ca. 20,000 B.C.)
Pachmari Hills (ca. 9000–3000 B.C.)
Ubirr (ca. 40,000?–present)
Valdivia Figurines
Wadi Kubbaniya (ca. 17,000–15,000 B.C.)
X-ray Style in Arnhem Land Rock Art
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Human Origins

Where did we come from? Humans continue to search for the answer to this fundamental question. Over the years, we've turned to both religion and science to explain where our species came from. Innovators of their time, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, used science to explain where humans came from, posing the theory of evolution. Then, paleoanthropologists Mary and Louis Leakey explored the fossil record to see if they could piece together the story of humans. Evolutionary science and archaeology continue today. Use these materials in your classroom to teach your students about the origins of the homo sapien .

Anthropology, Archaeology, Biology, Geology, Human Geography

Essay on Human Evolution

Students are often asked to write an essay on Human Evolution in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Human Evolution

Introduction.

Human evolution is the lengthy process of change by which people originated from apelike ancestors. It’s a fascinating journey that took millions of years.

The Beginning

Our story begins in Africa about 6 million years ago. The first humans were primates, similar to apes.

Walking Upright

Around 4 million years ago, early humans started walking upright. This trait, called bipedalism, set us apart from other apes.

Use of Tools

About 2.6 million years ago, humans started using tools. This was a major step in our evolution.

Development of Language

Language developed about 50,000 years ago. It allowed us to share knowledge and build societies.

Human evolution is a fascinating subject. It helps us understand where we come from and who we are.

250 Words Essay on Human Evolution

Introduction to human evolution.

Human evolution is an intriguing scientific concept that traces the progression of Homo sapiens from our early ancestors. It is a multidimensional process that has been shaped by natural selection, genetic drift, migration, and mutation over millions of years.

The Early Beginnings

The journey of human evolution began approximately 6 million years ago in Africa, with the emergence of the first hominins, our earliest ancestors. These hominins were distinguished from apes by their upright posture and bipedal locomotion.

The Genus Homo

Around 2 million years ago, the genus Homo appeared, characterized by a significant increase in brain size and the advent of tool use. Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and eventually Homo sapiens, our species, were part of this genus. Homo sapiens are unique in their capacity for complex language, abstract thought, and creativity.

The Role of Environment

Environmental changes played a critical role in human evolution. For instance, climate fluctuations led to the development of traits like bipedalism, which allowed early hominins to adapt to diverse habitats.

Modern Humans and Migration

Around 70,000 years ago, modern humans began migrating out of Africa, populating different parts of the world. This migration led to the development of diverse human populations with distinct genetic and cultural variations.

The story of human evolution is a testament to our species’ adaptability and resilience. It underscores the dynamic interplay between biology and environment, shaping our past and influencing our future. As we continue to unravel the mysteries of our evolution, we gain profound insights into what it means to be human.

500 Words Essay on Human Evolution

Human evolution is a fascinating and complex process that has shaped us into the beings we are today. It is a multidisciplinary field of science that encompasses biology, anthropology, archaeology, and genetics. The process of evolution involves a series of natural changes that cause species to arise, adapt to the environment, and eventually become extinct.

The Origins of Homo Sapiens

The journey of human evolution began approximately six million years ago in Africa, when the human lineage diverged from that of chimpanzees, our closest living relatives. The first species in the human lineage, known as hominins, were significantly different from modern humans. They had a combination of human-like traits such as upright walking, and traits we associate with other primates, such as a smaller brain size.

Over time, evolutionary pressures such as environmental changes and competition for resources led to the emergence of new hominin species. Around two million years ago, the genus Homo, which includes modern humans, emerged. The Homo species had larger brains and made sophisticated tools.

The Advent of Homo Sapiens

Approximately 300,000 years ago, Homo sapiens, our own species, appeared. Early Homo sapiens had a combination of physical traits from earlier hominin species and new traits that we still possess today, such as a high forehead and a chin. They also exhibited advanced behaviors, such as creating complex tools and engaging in symbolic behavior like art and burial rituals.

The Homo sapiens were not the only hominin species on Earth at that time. They coexisted, and sometimes interbred, with other species such as the Neanderthals. However, about 40,000 years ago, all other hominin species had become extinct, leaving Homo sapiens as the sole surviving species in the human lineage.

Migration and Modern Evolution

The Homo sapiens began to migrate out of Africa around 70,000 years ago, gradually populating the entire globe. They adapted to a variety of environments and developed diverse cultures. This migration and adaptation are reflected in the genetic diversity we see in modern humans.

Modern human evolution continues today. Humans are still evolving, with natural selection acting on traits such as resistance to diseases and the ability to digest certain foods. Furthermore, our cultural and technological advancements are now a significant driver of our evolution.

The journey of human evolution is a testament to the resilience and adaptability of our species. It is a complex process that has shaped our physical traits, behaviors, and cultures. As we continue to evolve and adapt to our changing world, we carry with us the legacy of millions of years of evolution. Understanding our evolutionary history not only helps us appreciate our place in the natural world but also sheds light on our future as a species.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Essay on Human Resources
Essay on Human Empowerment
Essay on Difference Between Humans and Animals

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Happy studying!

World history

Course: world history > unit 1.

The Neolithic Revolution and early agriculture
The dawn of agriculture
The spread of agriculture
Where did agriculture come from?

Early civilizations

Social, political, and environmental characteristics of early civilizations
Why did human societies get more complex?
Neolithic Revolution and the birth of agriculture
The term civilization refers to complex societies, but the specific definition is contested.
The advent of civilization depended on the ability of some agricultural settlements to consistently produce surplus food, which allowed some people to specialize in non-agricultural work, which in turn allowed for increased production, trade, population, and social stratification.
The first civilizations appeared in locations where the geography was favorable to intensive agriculture.
Governments and states emerged as rulers gained control over larger areas and more resources, often using writing and religion to maintain social hierarchies and consolidate power over larger areas and populations.
Writing allowed for the codification of laws, better methods of record-keeping, and the birth of literature, which fostered the spread of shared cultural practices among larger populations.

Degrees of complexity

First civilizations, what do civilizations have in common, what do you think.

When does a complex society become a civilization?
What factors were most important to establishing and maintaining a civilization?
Do you think that social hierarchies are necessary for civilization?
Are state-level political structures necessary for civilization? Or, can independent cities with a shared culture be a civilization?
See Christian, David: Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History (University of California Press, 2011).
See Christian, David: Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History .
See Spodek, Howard: The World's History (New Jersey, Pearson, 2006) 46-47.
See Fernández-Armesto, Felipe: Millennium: A History of the Last Thousand Years (Free Press, 1996) 78.
See Spodek, The World's History , 54-61.
See Bulliet, Richard W. et. al.: The Earth and its Peoples: A Global History (Boston, Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2011) 24-29; Spodek, The World's History , 51-54; and Strayer, Robert W. and Eric W. Nelson, Ways of the World: a Global History (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2016) 71-75.

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Early humans spread as far north as Siberia 400,000 years ago

A site in Siberia has evidence of human presence 417,000 years ago, raising the possibility that hominins could have reached North America much earlier than we thought

By Michael Le Page

19 April 2024

The archaeological site at Diring Yuriakh, Russia

Vasilij Lytkin

A site in Siberia where early humans lived has been dated to 417,000 years ago, making it by far the most ancient early human site found this far north.

“This site dramatically revises our understanding of when humans reached high latitudes,” John Jansen at the Czech Academy of Sciences told a press conference on 16 April. Other early human sites in the Arctic region are no more than 45,000 years old, he says.

The other humans: The emerging story of the mysterious Denisovans

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The Stone Age Period and Its Evolution Essay

Introduction.

Stone age is a term that is used in reference to the pre-historic times basically between 600,000 to 700,000 years and ending at around 6,0000 B.C, the time that human beings began to make their own weapons and tools from stones (Ignacio, 2011, p. 770). Therefore, the term is associated with the tools and the equipments that the ancient people made from the stones.

The Stone Age period was then followed by the bronze and iron ages respectively. Stone age period is clarified into three groups namely, Paleolithic period, Mesolithic period and Neolithic period. Every period of Stone Age is characterized by its own kind of tools and weapons that were used by these humans. The tools that were used by these humans were in tandem with the sophistication they inhabited.

Even though information about stone age is not available due to lack of records in those times, scanty information has been gathered by the archeologists through study of the items they made such as tools, weapons, their shelter, stone inscription and other objects that were discovered . Most stones and bones which have been used in the study had inscriptions of designs. Furthermore, caves and drawings on walls of caves also helped in stressing the human species during that time.

This category of human is classified as Homo sapiens. The Paleolithic period of the three periods is the oldest time stretching for approximate 2.5milion years BCE to around 10,000 years B.C and the human species during this time was Homo sapiens. The oldest tools which are estimated to be in existence from 2.6-2.5 million years ago was discovered in Africa at Gona near Ethiopia -a place that many stone artifacts were found.

Between 100,000 to 150,000 years ago, an early species of human, Homo erectus was found in Asian Africa, china, and Europe. From their study, these species used stone tools and even axes which were manufactured through chipping of the stones in order to form an edge cutting. Other countries that these flint tools were found is North Africa, Siberia and in the Middle East. During this Stone Age period, human lived in caves and cliff overhangs. They also created there shelters from the bones, animal skins.

For instance, the shelters that were inhabited by the Neanderthals were mainly huts, which were made of wood and had hearths for their fire. Other huts were made from animal hides which were interwoven over the wooden poles in their caves. A good example of this kind of huts was found in France at the place called Grotte du Lazaret. Furthermore, other caves that were interwoven with bones and hearths were found in France, Siberia, Ukraine and Russia (Herr, & Clark, 2009, p. 70).

Rock painting was also a common venture in the Stone Age period especially the Paleolithic times. During this period, animals were painted on rocks and caves.

Animals that were hunted and eaten and those that were deemed to be courageous represented strength. Such animals that were curved included rhinoceros/large cuts, lion, wild beast among many others There were also rare drawings of human handprints and half-human pictures/figures.

An example of a cave which has important cave paintings is the Chauvet cave in France which is dated back to 31,000 BCE. Other paintings include the Altamira caves in Spain painted in 14,000-12,000 BCE. Even though many paintings have been identified, some of the paintings meaning remains unknown.

The people in Stone Age, because of the nature of the environmental and high level of illiteracy, these human obtained their foods through hunting and gathering. The people were typical hunter-gatherers and this was the primary source of their livelihood. They also depended on items which were near to them and closely available. Animals and plants which grew around their place of residence were their source of food. Therefore, this enabled them to interact with their environment.

Due to low ability to engage in agriculture and cultivation of plant, and rearing of animals for food, they were forced to live and depend on what the surrounding was providing. Due to this nature of existence, the people in this age could not stay at one place for a long period since they exhausted their foods in their proximity.

Therefore, to ensure that they survive, they were obliged to search or relocate in areas where they could obtain edible plants and animals to feed on. Other factors which contributed to their relocation from place to place was competition for the available resources, stronger tribes competition for a specific area, inadequate water for drinking, and in the wake or discovery of fire due to unavailable materials to burn or light fire.

Fire was used or invented, over 500,000 years ago. The fire was light through rubbing of two sticks. The date of this happening is known as Peking man, the versions of the human species were Homo erectus. The traces of fire were found in North China which showed evidence of use of fire.

Furthermore, more fragments of burnt animals bones have been found in swartkrans caves in South Africa. This invention or claim on use of fire has received dispute from scholars claiming that it was not so but the consensus for locations of Asia and Europe affirms that probably the Homo erectus might have used fire in 400,000 years ago.

Due to the existence of nomadic life, the Stone Age humans had no permanent place or settlement that they could claim. This explains why their shelters were constructed in a primitive manner through materials available in their surroundings. During their exodus, they moved in groups with their possessions they pressured. Therefore, this halted the possibility of development of a more advanced community.

These humans could not develop as most of the day they were fully occupied in search of food and shelter. Therefore, this hampered any sort of thinking among them as they were obsessed with where they could find food and shelter. Their preoccupation hampered the opportunity to develop creativity hence they remained at their state of mind.

Mesolithic period began more than 10,000 years ago, and at this period humans were able to domestic their animals and plants. They also established and settled /in communities in most cases along the shorelines. This demonstrated that the Stone Age period at the Mesolithic stage, the humans had begun to develop a sense of unity and a sense of belonging. Their mental capability also advanced. Stones at this period was refined and shaped into smaller size at the same time, pottery and bow appeared.

In the Neolithic age, there was development of weaving, pottery and metal weapons and tools began to appear. These tools helped in their hunting. The rate of development began ushering in disparities in different regions demonstrating the development and evolving of humans to modernity.

In conclusion, the Stone Age period, although not clearly recorded, archeologists have tried to study how man evolved from primitiveness to a modern man. This evolution took very long period of time but it is worth appreciation because the early man has evolved to become the current complex current man. This history is interesting and should be appreciated.

Herr, L.G., & Clark, D.R. (2009). From the Stone Age to the Middle Ages in Jordan: Digging up Tall al-‘Umayri. Near Eastern Archaeology, 72 (2): 68-97.

Ignacio, D. (2011). The Early Stone Age lithic assemblages of Gadeb (Ethiopia) and the Developed Oldowan/early Acheulean in East Africa. Journal of Human Evolution, 60 (6 ): 768-812.

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In early days, human life was very hard. They spent their life in caves, wrap animal skin and tree leaves over their body and hunt animals for food. With time, they discovered many good things like fire, tools, farming etc. that made their life better than earlier. But these changes in early human's life had taken a very long time. Through 'Early Human's Life' educational series, we are trying to take some snapshots of efforts made by early humans to become civilized.

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Romantic Literature: the Romantic Period in English Literature

This essay about Romantic literature explores its profound impact on English literature during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It discusses how Romanticism, a response to societal upheavals, championed subjectivity, personal introspection, and a reverence for nature. Through the works of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, and Shelley, Romanticism embraced individualism, celebrated nature’s beauty, and grappled with existential themes. The era birthed the Romantic hero, delved into the Gothic genre, and reshaped the novel with emotional depth and social critique. It advocated for political liberalism and left a lasting legacy of profound inquiry into human consciousness and moral agency. Romantics urged a fresh perspective on the world, inspiring a pursuit of personal authenticity and liberty.

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The Romantic epoch, spanning from the latter part of the 18th century to the early 19th century, denotes a discernible shift in the annals of English literature, characterized by a bold departure from the Enlightenment’s constraints and a fervent embrace of subjectivity. In an era where Europe bore witness to radical upheavals spurred by revolution, industrialization, and radical ideological shifts, literature began mirroring a profound transition towards personal introspection, emotional depth, and an exaltation of the natural world. This epoch not only revolutionized literary style but also redefined the thematic contours of literature—turning inward to plumb the depths of the human psyche and outward to reclaim the allure of the natural and the supernatural.

During this epoch, the world bore witness to the seismic shifts wrought by the French and American revolutions, cataclysmic events that not only altered the geopolitical landscape but also left an indelible imprint on the collective European consciousness. Romantic writers, though often peripheral to these convulsions, were profoundly influenced by the revolutionary fervor, endeavoring to rupture the shackles of convention and extol the virtues of individualism. The Romantic movement transcended mere stylistic or technical uniformity; it embodied an ethos, a worldview, a paradigm shift in perception. It exalted spontaneity, imagination, and emotional fervor as essential components of an authentic human existence.

At the heart of Romanticism lay a profound faith in the inherent nobility of humankind, the sanctity of personal autonomy, and a quasi-spiritual reverence for the natural world. Poets such as William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, towering figures in the nascent Romantic movement, viewed nature not merely as a backdrop to human activity but as an indispensable, transformative force that offered solace, inspiration, and moral enlightenment. Wordsworth’s seminal preface to the second edition of “Lyrical Ballads,” a collaborative effort with Coleridge, served as a veritable manifesto for Romantic literature. He championed poetry emanating from the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings,” diametrically opposing the neoclassical poetry of the preceding century, which adhered to more restrained and decorous conventions.

In Wordsworth’s rugged landscapes or Coleridge’s eerie seascapes in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” one discerns an amalgam of awe at nature’s beauty and trepidation at its unfathomable grandeur and mystery. These works beckoned readers to embark on an inward journey, beseeching them to plumb the depths of their emotional landscapes. The solitary wanderer emerged as a recurrent motif—a symbol of existential quest, venturing into the wilderness to commune with nature and undergo spiritual metamorphosis.

The exploration of individualism also engendered the emergence of the “Romantic hero,” characterized by singular idiosyncrasy and often marked by psychological or social estrangement. Lord Byron’s protagonists, epitomized in “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” and “Manfred,” embodied this archetype—brooding, enigmatic figures tormented by latent guilt or melancholy, eschewing societal norms in pursuit of their moral code.

Moreover, the era witnessed an infatuation with the exotic, the antiquated, and the occult. The medieval and the mystical became wellsprings of inspiration, giving birth to the Gothic novel—a genre that plumbed the depths of horror, the grotesque, and the sublime. Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” a synthesis of Gothic tropes and nascent science fiction, interrogated the ethical boundaries of scientific inquiry and the ramifications of transgressing the natural order. It constituted a profound meditation on the essence of humanity—a quintessentially Romantic inquiry.

The Romantic epoch not only reshaped poetic form and content but also revolutionized the novel. Writers such as Jane Austen, while often perceived as aligned with Enlightenment rationalism, imbued their novels with a profound emotional acuity and a critique of societal mores that circumscribed the desires and aspirations of their characters. Austen’s incisive social commentary and exploration of personal morality within stratified social hierarchies exemplified a uniquely Romantic sensitivity to individual agency within the fabric of society.

Furthermore, Romanticism was inextricably linked to political liberalism, with poets and novelists advocating for social equity, individual liberty, and democratic ideals. Percy Bysshe Shelley, in works like “Queen Mab” and “Prometheus Unbound,” espoused revolutionary ideals and depicted tyranny and social inequity as inherently unnatural, necessitating their overthrow for humanity to progress.

In hindsight, the Romantic era emerged as a dynamic and transformative epoch that broadened the horizons of English literature. It posed profound inquiries into personal identity, societal norms, the natural world, and the enigmatic realm beyond. It afforded a platform for individual expression and laid the groundwork for subsequent literary movements that continued to plumb the depths of human consciousness and grapple with the complexities of moral agency. The Romantics exhorted us to perceive the world through fresh eyes, to cherish the untamed wilderness both within and without, and to exalt imagination as a potent catalyst for metamorphosis and enlightenment in an often inscrutable universe.

The enduring legacy of Romantic literature persists as a testament to the enduring power of the written word to foment change, challenge orthodoxy, and exalt the indomitable human spirit. Whether through the haunting verses of Keats or the stirring narratives of Scott, the literature of the Romantic epoch remains a beacon for those who prize emotional profundity, natural splendor, and the unyielding pursuit of personal authenticity and liberty.

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Excessive use of words like ‘commendable’ and ‘meticulous’ suggests ChatGPT has been used in thousands of scientific studies

A london librarian has analyzed millions of articles in search of uncommon terms abused by artificial intelligence programs.

Librarian Andrew Gray has made a “very surprising” discovery. He analyzed five million scientific studies published last year and detected a sudden rise in the use of certain words, such as meticulously (up 137%), intricate (117%), commendable (83%) and meticulous (59%). The librarian from the University College London can only find one explanation for this rise: tens of thousands of researchers are using ChatGPT — or other similar Large Language Model tools with artificial intelligence — to write their studies or at least “polish” them.

There are blatant examples. A team of Chinese scientists published a study on lithium batteries on February 17. The work — published in a specialized magazine from the Elsevier publishing house — begins like this: “Certainly, here is a possible introduction for your topic:Lithium-metal batteries are promising candidates for….” The authors apparently asked ChatGPT for an introduction and accidentally copied it as is. A separate article in a different Elsevier journal, published by Israeli researchers on March 8, includes the text: “In summary, the management of bilateral iatrogenic I’m very sorry, but I don’t have access to real-time information or patient-specific data, as I am an AI language model.” And, a couple of months ago, three Chinese scientists published a crazy drawing of a rat with a kind of giant penis, an image generated with artificial intelligence for a study on sperm precursor cells.

Andrew Gray estimates that at least 60,000 scientific studies (more than 1% of those analyzed in 2023) were written with the help of ChatGPT — a tool launched at the end of 2022 — or similar. “I think extreme cases of someone writing an entire study with ChatGPT are rare,” says Gray, a 41-year-old Scottish librarian. In his opinion, in most cases artificial intelligence is used appropriately to “polish” the text — identify typos or facilitate translation into English — but there is a large gray area, in which some scientists take the assistance of ChatGPT even further, without verifying the results. “Right now it is impossible to know how big this gray area is, because scientific journals do not require authors to declare the use of ChatGPT, there is very little transparency,” he laments.

Artificial intelligence language models use certain words disproportionately, as demonstrated by James Zou’s team at Stanford University. These tend to be terms with positive connotations, such as commendable, meticulous, intricate, innovative and versatile. Zou and his colleagues warned in March that the reviewers of scientific studies themselves are using these programs to write their evaluations, prior to the publication of the works. The Stanford group analyzed peer reviews of studies presented at two international artificial intelligence conferences and found that the probability of the word meticulous appearing had increased by 35-fold.

Zou’s team, on the other hand, did not detect significant traces of ChatGPT in the corrections made in the prestigious journals of the Nature group. The use of ChatGPT was associated with lower quality peer reviews. “I find it really worrying,” explains Gray. “If we know that using these tools to write reviews produces lower quality results, we must reflect on how they are being used to write studies and what that implies,” says the librarian at University College London. A year after the launch of ChatGPT, one in three scientists acknowledged that they used the tool to write their studies, according to a survey in the journal Nature .

Gray’s analysis shows that the word “intricate” appeared in 109,000 studies in 2023, more than double the average of 50,000 in previous years. The term “meticulously” went from appearing in about 12,300 studies in 2022 to more than 28,000 in 2023. While instances of “commendable“ rose from 6,500 to almost 12,000. The researcher jokes that his colleagues have congratulated him on the meticulousness of his report, still a draft pending publication in a specialized journal.

Very few studies report if they have used artificial intelligence. Gray warns of the danger of “a vicious circle,” in which subsequent versions of ChatGPT are trained with scientific articles written by the old versions, giving rise to increasingly commendable, intricate, meticulous and, above all, insubstantial studies.

Documentation professor Ángel María Delgado Vázquez highlights that the new analysis is focused on English-language studies. “Researchers who do not speak native English are using ChatGPT a lot, as an aid to writing and to improve the English language,” says Delgado Vázquez, a researcher from the Pablo de Olavide University, in Seville, Spain. “In my environment, people are using ChatGPT mainly for a first translation, or even to keep that translation directly,” he says. The Spanish professor says he would like to see an analysis on the origin of the authors who use the unusual terms.

Another one of AI’s favorite words is “delve.” Researcher Jeremy Nguyen, from the Swinburne University of Technology (Australia), has calculated that “delve” appears in more than 0.5% of medical studies , where before ChatGPT it was less than 0.04 %. Thousands of researchers are suddenly delving.

Librarian Andrew Gray warns there is a risk of broader society becoming infected with this meticulously artificial new language. Nguyen himself admitted on the social network X that it happens to him: “I actually find myself using “delve” lately in my own language—probably because I spend so much time talking to GPT.” On April 8, the official ChatGPT account on X chimed in : “I just love delving what can I say?”

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For the first time, the journal ‘Nature’ has chosen a non-human being — ChatGPT — as one of its scientists of the year

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Excessive use of words like 'commendable' and 'meticulous' suggests
Librarian Andrew Gray has made a "very surprising" discovery. He analyzed five million scientific studies published last year and detected a sudden rise in the use of certain words, such as meticulously (up 137%), intricate (117%), commendable (83%) and meticulous (59%). The librarian from the University College London can only find one explanation for this rise: tens of thousands of ...

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Excessive use of words like ‘commendable’ and ‘meticulous’ suggests ChatGPT has been used in thousands of scientific studies

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