1. The Evolution of Humans
By Dean Berry, Ed. D.

2. Could this be your great, great, great, great
grandpa? Or your great, great, great, grandma?

3. Hello, Mama!! Are you still
hanging around?

4. Access More Great Classroom Lessons
Over a hundred similar lessons
are available on YouTube or
slideshare.com by typing dean r
berry on either website.

5. What do you think this chart is suggesting about
where humans came from?

6. Use the next slide and construct a small chart
showing the time and name of each creature.

7. 1st 3.5 million, 2nd 2.3 million, 3rd 1.9 million, 4th 1.5 million, 5th 40,000

8. Forest primates became human beings over
the last 5 million years.

9. The history of primitive humans began in the
northeastern region of Africa that is known today as
Ethiopia.

10. From Tanzania
north to Ethiopia
human ancestors’
remains have been
found that are over
5 million years old.

11. The Awash Valley has been the location of most of the
very ancient bones and artifacts found to establish the
evolutionary history of prehistoric early humans. Are
early humans related to chimpanzees?

12. 4 Million Years BCE to 1 Million Years BCE
Hominids Roamed Africa
Hominids --> any
member of the family
of two-legged
primates that includes
all humans.
Australopithecines
An Apposable Thumb

13. Scientists recently discovered a possible link between primates such
as chimpanzees and Homo Sapiens. The bones of an Ardipithecus
female was discovered in Ethiopia, Africa.

14. Hominids were the first primates to walk with two legs.
The oldest such primate was called Ardipithecus.
Evidence of this ancient primate indicates they existed
4 to 5 million years ago in Africa.

15. Ardi lived about 4.5 million years ago and had very
primitive methods for getting meals.
Ardipithecus were woodland omnivores. They were hunter-
gatherers. Unfortunately, they did not have tools so hunting was
harder than it was in later times. Additionally, they did not have
baskets so they had to carry the food they gathered in their hands.

16. The remains of ARDI and Lucy, hominids who lived
several million years ago, were discovered in Africa.

17. Ardi is over one million years older than the other famous hominid known as
Lucy, an Australopithecus. Australopithecus hominids are considered direct
descendants of chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans.

18. Ardi and her relatives were quadrupeds in trees and bipeds
on the ground. They had small brains and had lots of hair.
They were a combination of apes and humans.

19. The discovery of Ardipithecus, Ardi, was a very important find because it tells
us even more about human related hominids who lived millions of years ago.
Ardipithecus could not do many things that we can do today, but they still
managed to survive for many years. Though they had small brains, they could
hunt animals without tools and could gather fruits and plants. They are the
oldest hominids found so far, but who knows, maybe there were hominids
that existed even earlier.

20. Class Discussion
Since Ardipithecus had not yet created
shelters to live in, where do you think
they slept in order to be safe?

21. Ardi, scientifically known as Ardipithecus, and her relatives lived in trees and
slept on branches. Without regular shelter they needed their fur to keep them
warm on the coldest of nights. They used trees for beds because they did not
have time to build shelters, and even if they did, they had small brains and were
probably quite obtuse and not able to figure out how to construct primitive
housing.

22.  HOMO ERECTUS
( “Upright Human Being” )
 Larger and more varied
tools --> primitive technology
First hominid to migrate and leave
Africa for Europe and Asia.
 First to use fire
 BIPEDALISM

23. Between 200,000 BCE – 10,000 BCE
HOMO SAPIENS
( “Wise Human Being” )
Neanderthals
( 200,000 BCE –
30,000 BCE )
Cro-Magnons
( 40,000 BCE –
10,000 BCE )

24. Class Discussion
Where do you think the first
humans evolved?
How did early humans end up
in Europe?

25. NEANDERTHALS:
 Neander Valley, Germany
 First humans to bury
their dead.
 Made clothes from
animal skins.
 Lived in caves and
tents.

26. Neanderthals evolved from homo sapiens and
populated Europe living in caves. They were hunters
who relied primarily on eating meat.

27. How do we know so much about ancient humans if
there are no written records?
What proof do we have?

28. Thanks to the time consuming work performed by
archaeologists and physical anthropologists, the discovery of
artifacts and fossils have provided valuable evidence to
support the link between apes and humans. What are
artifacts?

29. The study of past societies through an analysis
of what people have left behind.
Artifacts are those things that people left behind,
they can include:
Tools and Weapons Art and Sculpture Pottery
Jewelry Human Remains Ancient Buildings
and Monuments

30. Archaeologists comb through dirt and rocks in areas where
other artifacts have been previously found. Bones of ancient
creatures and rocks that have been chiseled and scraped to
create tools and weapons are valuable evidence of prehistoric
humans. Carbon dating methods can determine how old some
bones or organic fossils are.

31. The remains of ancient plants and animals.
By studying fossils archaeologists and anthropologists can learn about
what people ate, what animals they had around, and their way of life.
Carbon dating can be used to date organic artifacts, or things that
were once alive
If we know how much Carbon 14 something has left we can count
back to how much is had to begin with to determine the age of the
artifact. Is limited to things 50,000 years old or less.

32. The search for the origin of humans takes us to areas in
Africa where the earliest humans evolved. Does this
mean that all people came from dark skinned Africans?

33. Since pithecus means ape like, the first hominid that seems like a link
between humans and apes is called Australopithecus. If habilis means
manageable and skillful and homo means human, what kind of hominid
do you think homo habilis was? What does erect mean? What does the
name homo erectus tell us about these types of hominids?

34. What changed as humans evolved from
austrolopithecus to homo sapiens?

35. Humans and other creatures that walk upright on two feet.
The first Hominids are thought to have emerged in East
Africa in the Great Rift Valley between 4-5 million years ago.
Homo habilis,meaning handy human, was a phase between
Australopithecus and Homo Erectus that emerged between
2.5-1.6 million years ago.
The second stage in early human development was Homo
Erectus, which means upright human being. Homo Erictus
emerged about 1.8 million years ago.
These were the first hominids to leave Africa and moved
into Europe and Asia.They also used more complex tools.

36. Early humans were nomadic and wandered from place to place in
search of food and shelter. They eventually invented primitive tools
and weapons including simple stone tools.
They lived in groups called clans of with 20-30 people and used caves
for shelter. Homo Erectus discovered how to create and use fire
about 1.5 million years ago.
.

37. Ancient humans were able to adapt to their harsh environment
by their creativity and innovation.
Use of Fire
Early man probably learned to use fire to protect themselves from predators
and to prepare cooked foods that could be stored and eaten later. It was
probably discovered from friction, lightning, or accidentally hitting two rocks
together. Fire was very important during the ice ages. Without fire, humans
would not have been able to survive.

38. Class Discussion
Why do you think early
man began to cook food?

39. Cooking food made food much easier to chew and digest.

40. What do these illustrations tell us
about early man?

41. Class Discussion
How do you think the roles of
men and women were different
during this period of time?

42. The role of men was to do the hunting and to protect the clan.
The role of women was gathering roots and fruits, preparing
food, and caring for children.

43. Homo Habilis, using a somewhat larger brain, began
to innovate by creating very primitive tools.

44. HOMO HABILIS( “Man of Skills” )
Lived in East Africa.
Created stone tools.

45. If homo means human and sapien means wise, what
do we call the most recent humans who are the
smartest and have been around about 250,000 yeas?

46. About 250,000 years ago Homo sapiens emerged.
Homo Sapiens means “Wise Person.”
Homo Sapiens split into two distinct groups:
Neanderthals and the original Homo Sapiens.
Original
Homo Sapiens
Neanderthals
These smaller brained Homo Sapiens were discovered in the Neander
Valley in Germany.
They lived between 100,000 and 30,000 years ago in Europe and
Turkey and evidence shows that they used stone tools and buried
their dead.
Evidence has recently emerged that shows that there was some
genetic mixing between the two groups that may have resulted in the
eventual disappearance of the smaller brained Neanderthals.

47. NEANDERTHALS
Early Hut/Tent

48. Homo sapiens existed for a couple of hundred thousand years and
evolved into two separate branches. In Europe, they became
Neanderthals who were primarily meat eaters and not as clever as
the homo sapien sapien branch that was in Africa and the Middle
East. Homo sapiens sapiens means wise-wise humans.
By 30,000 BCE homo sapien sapien replaced the Neanderthals.

49. Modern Human Beings
Believed to have evolved in Africa between 150,000-200,000 years ago
Began to migrate outside of Africa 100,000 years ago.
Believed by many to have replaced the Neanderthals by 30,000 B.C..
By 10,000 B.C. Homo Sapiens Sapiens could be found throughout the world due to
migration.

50. When did humans first acquire language?
Experts disagree about the precise period in time when humans
began using primitive language skills to communicate. The
general consensus places the development of human language at
about 200,000 years ago.
“Hey Babe, wanna go
out to dinner and get
some bear meat and
berries?”

51. Human language requires special brain functions and
vocal cords. As a result, it is believed that the first simple
language probably occurred about 200,000 years ago.

53. “Paleo” means old and “Lithic” means stone
Paleolithic= Old Stone Age. This era was called the stone age
because early man used stone to make his tools and weapons.
Paleolithic man lived in groups called clans.
These clans got their food by Hunting and Gathering
Once the food supply ran out they would move to a different area.
Because they moved from place to place they were Nomadic.

54. Humans during this period found shelter in caves.
They left behind many
Cave paintings

55. What does this illustration tell us
about early human culture?

56. Class Discussion?
How do you think early man got
to the Americas from Africa,
Asia, and Europe?

57. During the last ice age between 100,000 B.C. and 8000 B.C. the water
level in the oceans dropped revealing a land bridge over the Bering Strait
connecting Asia and North America. About 30,000 years ago, ancient
humans crossed over from Europe into Alaska and down through North and
South America.

58. The earliest humans came from Eastern Africa 2-3 million years ago and
after 60,000 years spread across the Middle East and India. Humans
came across the Bering Straits through Alaska 30,000 yeas ago and
migrated south to South America.

59. As agriculture spread different areas began to grow different crops
that were suited to their environment.
These places where people began to settle down, grow crops, and start
villages became known as the Cradles of Civilization.
Most of these areas were in river valleys. This first was
Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys.
Other river valleys include The Nile in Egypt, the Indus in India, and
the Huang He in China.
These villages spread throughout Europe and the rest of the world.

60. Class Discussion
Why do you think that most
cradles of civilization developed
in river valleys?

61. “Neo” means new
“Lithic” means stone
Neolithic means new stone age.
The Neolithic Agricultural Revolution was the change from the Paleolithic period to the Neolithic Period.
The thing that allowed for this change was the discovery of agriculture.
It is thought that women discovered agriculture.
Systematic Agriculture was the consistent growing of crops on a continuing basis.
Domestication of Animals: In addition to growing crops Neolithic man also tamed animals for hunting
(dogs) and other animals for their food such as sheep, cows, etc. . .
Developed Agriculture
Domesticated Animals
Used Advanced Stone Tools
Developed Weaving (better clothing)
Made Pottery (for food storage)

62. Quick Write
•1. What is the definition of “Neolithic”?
•2. Make a list of the five new activities that showed
advanced knowledge for humans.

63. About 10,000 years ago people began collecting seeds and planting their
own crops in areas with rich soil and available water sources. Before that,
people were nomads who had to follow herds of wild animals or keep
moving to areas with ripe fruits and seeds. With the invention of
agriculture, people began to create permanent villages. Historical
evidence suggests that agriculture was first developed in the Middle East
and spread to other areas of the world.

64. Class Discussion
•What describes the agricultural
revolution?
•How did it change the way people
lived?

65.  Growing crops on a regular basis made it possible for people
to settle down in small communities and work together. As a
result, permanent, settled communities emerged for the first
time in human history.
 More permanent, settled communities emerged.
 About 10,000 years ago small villages and communities
settled in areas where agriculture could provide food
without searching for food by moving from place to place.
Settlement at

66.  8,000 BCE – 5,000 BCE
Agriculture developed independently in different parts of the world.
Middle East India Central America China Southeast Asia
8,000 BCE 7,000 BCE 6,500 BCE 6,000 BCE 5,000 BCE

67. Growing their own crops and using domesticated animals made life
easier and far more predictable for people. Using new ideas and
innovations became possible.

68. Çatal Hüyük( in modern day Turkey)

69.  8,000 BCE  Largest Early Settlement at Çatal Hüyük
( Modern Turkey )  6,000 inhabitants
Division of labor
Engaged in trade
Organized religion
Small military
 12 cultivated crops

70. Return to the last slide and review the four
characteristics of early settled communities.
Write a description of what
early settled communities
were like.

71. Advanced
Cities
Specialized
Workers Complex
Institutions
Record-
Keeping
Advanced
Technology

72. Class Discussion
•Return to the last slide and review
the characteristics of a civilization.
•Write a paragraph describing the
important characteristics of a
civilization.

73. The first civilizations to lead the way for the development of
humans on earth began in the fertile crescent area of the
Middle East. This area, known as Mesopotamia, spawned the
Sumerians, Assyrians, and Babylonians.

74. The oldest cities in the world were in
Mesopotamia over 6,000 years ago.

75. Jericho was the first walled city in history.
Why do you think the builders of Jericho put a wall around
the city? How do we know this about a city that was
destroyed thousands of years ago?

76. This ancient city was found in Palestine near the Dead sea. It
was in existence over 10,000 years ago.

77. The Ancient City of
Aleppo
It is one of the oldest inhabited cities in history.
Located in modern-day Syria, it has
been occupied for the last 7,000
years. Today, terrorists, rebels, and
major powers are battling in Syria for
control of the area.
In the past, it occupied a strategic
trading point midway between the
sea and the fertile valley of
Mesopotamia.

78. How long ago do you think people
developed and used the idea of
the wheel?
How do you think the earliest
wheels were used?

79. Adapting to the environment took millions of years for primitive
humans. Inventing the idea of using a “wheel” took homo sapiens
over 245,000 years to figure out. About 5,000 years ago North Eastern
Europeans developed the first wheels and used them for push carts.

80. Class Discussion
Which inventions do you think
were the most important in
human history? Explain why.

81. Quick Write
Describe your three choices for
the most important inventions in
history, and why you chose them.

82. Without the ability to write events down,
understanding the history of our ancestors is very
difficult, if not, impossible. In addition, new ideas
and innovations are lost and societies are not able
to build on the great ideas of previous cultures and
civilizations.

83. Throughout the last 8,000 years
many different ancient civilizations
have come and gone and, in most
cases, passed their special
contributions on to others.

84. How Do We Learn About the Past?
About 6,000 years ago, people began to record
their daily lives and create their own history.
Before this, customs and family stories were
passed down by word of mouth from generation
to generation. Unfortunately, as civilizations died
out, some of their histories were lost.

85. This PowerPoint lesson continues
with the PowerPoint titled…
“Ancient Civilizations: River Valley
Civilizations, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the
Israelites”
Go to YouTube and type this title or slideshare.com and
type in the PPT title for free PowerPoint Version

86. The History of the World: The History Channel
2 hours Excellent!! A Must view Best history film ever
View 10-12 min per day
•https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=c5AGF1Pl4R4

87. A New History of Humanity 7 min
In a Nutshell Animated Excellent!! A Must View
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=czgOWmtGVGs

88. BBC History of Man
59 min Excellent
•https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=XZcz1IMyF08

89. History of the World Since 1492 in Maps
7 min Good for stopping and discussing
•https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=HOQe_3teOpE

90. The History of Everything
In a Nutshell 9 min
•https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=hB437UP8bpc