In his formation, man has gone through several basic evolutionary steps, ranging from the most ancient man and ending with the intelligent man. Each species had its own characteristics, expressed both in the external appearance of people and in their way of life.
Instructions
Step 1
Scientists divide the evolutionary development of a person into four stages. The very first people - Australopithecines - differed little from the great apes. They lived in South Africa and South Asia from 5 million to 400 thousand years ago. Australopithecus already used primitive tools - stones and sticks.
Step 2
Many scientists do not consider Australopithecus ancestors of man, considering them a dead-end branch of evolution. The reason for this was the discovery in 1959 in East Africa of the remains of people closer to humans than Australopithecines. These people began to be called Homo habilis - Homo habilis. The age of the finds reaches 12 million years. Some scientists attribute the Homo habilis to the Australopithecines, others consider him an independent branch. Nevertheless, most agree that this particular species should be considered the ancestor of modern humans.
Step 3
The next step in human evolution was the earliest people who appeared about 1, 9 million years ago and disappeared about 300 thousand years ago. These include Pithecanthropus, Sinanthropus and Heidelberg man. All ancient people are classified as Homo erectus.
Step 4
Very little is known about how the most ancient people lived. The remains and primitive tools found suggest that the earliest people lived in groups called primitive herds. Food was obtained by gathering and hunting. Caves and other suitable shelters were used as dwellings. It is assumed that they communicated using gestures and primitive sounds that were not yet articulate.
Step 5
The most ancient people were replaced by the ancients, or Neanderthals. The period of their habitation is from 200 to 30 thousand years ago. Compared to their predecessors, they were already much more skillful, using fire. In warm regions, Neanderthals settled along the banks of rivers, in cold regions - in caves. The main type of food production was hunting. Not only the meat of killed animals was used, but also the skins from which the clothes were made. They did not know how to sew it yet, so the clothes were very rough, from pieces of skins.
Step 6
Social relations have also undergone changes. Neanderthals took care of those who, for some reason, could not get food on their own. It was at them that the burials of the dead were first encountered, which also testifies to progress in relations with each other. Collective actions began to be of great importance - in particular, in hunting, protecting their villages, caring for children. Due to the complication of social relations, Neanderthals developed articulate speech.
Step 7
People of the modern type - Homo sapiens (Homo sapiens) - appeared about 50 thousand years ago. At the place where their remains were found in the French grotto of Cro-Magnon, people of this type began to be called Cro-Magnons. In appearance, they already practically did not differ from modern man.
