Africa:
Human Evolution
Early
Man
The
evidence of these species were also found in Lake Turkana
in Kenya in the form of the famous "KNM-ER 1470" skull which
is 1.88 millions years old.
As
the evolutionary cycle continues, 1.6 million years later,
Homo habilis gave way to Homo erectus. With a larger and more
complex brain and a more erect and easier walking posture,
these creatures were the more advanced of the two, and were
mostly likely the ones who learned to use fire and the more
sophisticated tools such as hand-axes.
The
earliest examples of these species and their tools came from
ancient lakeside sites in eastern Africa. Such stone-age tools
were also found in other areas in the continent, usually near
water, seldom in rainforests where there was little food.
A
An
excellent example of Homo erectus was found in a swamp, near
the west shore of present-day Lake Turkana in Kenya. A skeleton
of a young boy was found; less than twelve years old, his
body was entombed in mud about 1.6 million years ago.
This
skeleton was the most complete specimen of an ancestral hominid
ever found. At an early age, Homo erectus began spreading
to Europe and Asia, thus setting the stage for world evolution.
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