-797x638.jpg "Homo ergaster")
Homo ergaster
2029020290Homo ergaster (†Homo ergaster (Groves and Mazák, 1975))
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Dimensions: height - 140-180 сm, weight - 45-65 kg
Temporal range: Early Pleistocene of East and Southern Africa (2.04/1.95–1.4/0.87 million years ago)
Homo ergaster was one of the first ancient humans to have a body that would look surprisingly familiar to us today. Living in Africa roughly 1.9-1.4 million years ago, it had longer legs, shorter arms and more human-like body proportions than earlier hominins, making it an efficient long-distance walker and possibly a capable runner across open landscapes. Yet its brain averaged around 850 cm³, roughly two-thirds the size of a modern human brain. Homo ergaster is also associated with increasingly sophisticated stone technology, including the beautifully symmetrical Acheulean handaxes that required planning and skill to produce. Its more modern physique, expanding brain and technological abilities marked an important transition between earlier hominins such as Homo habilis and the later human populations that spread far beyond Africa.
The most famous Homo ergaster is Turkana Boy, an exceptionally complete skeleton
discovered near Lake Turkana in Kenya in 1984. He died about 1.5 million years
ago at roughly 8-11 years of age, yet was already around 1.6 metres tall. His
remarkable height for such a young age surprised scientists and revealed just
how human-like the body proportions of Homo
ergaster had already become. Scientists still debate whether Homo ergaster was a separate species or
an African form of Homo erectus.
Either way, it was closely related to the early humans who later spread beyond
Africa and gave rise to new branches of the human family. Unlike Neanderthals or
Cro-Magnons, Homo ergaster has
inspired few legends or fictional heroes, but Turkana Boy has become a
scientific celebrity, appearing in museums, books, paleoart and documentaries
such as the BBC’s Walking with Cavemen
(2003). Perhaps the most striking thing about Homo ergaster is that, more than a million and a half years ago,
the human body was beginning to look remarkably like our own, long before the
human brain did.
-70x56.jpg "2")
Homo ergaster (†Homo ergaster (Groves and Mazák, 1975))
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Dimensions: height - 140-180 сm, weight - 45-65 kg
Temporal range: Early Pleistocene of East and Southern Africa (2.04/1.95–1.4/0.87 million years ago)
Homo ergaster was one of the first ancient humans to have a body that would look surprisingly familiar to us today. Living in Africa roughly 1.9-1.4 million years ago, it had longer legs, shorter arms and more human-like body proportions than earlier hominins, making it an efficient long-distance walker and possibly a capable runner across open landscapes. Yet its brain averaged around 850 cm³, roughly two-thirds the size of a modern human brain. Homo ergaster is also associated with increasingly sophisticated stone technology, including the beautifully symmetrical Acheulean handaxes that required planning and skill to produce. Its more modern physique, expanding brain and technological abilities marked an important transition between earlier hominins such as Homo habilis and the later human populations that spread far beyond Africa.
The most famous Homo ergaster is Turkana Boy, an exceptionally complete skeleton
discovered near Lake Turkana in Kenya in 1984. He died about 1.5 million years
ago at roughly 8-11 years of age, yet was already around 1.6 metres tall. His
remarkable height for such a young age surprised scientists and revealed just
how human-like the body proportions of Homo
ergaster had already become. Scientists still debate whether Homo ergaster was a separate species or
an African form of Homo erectus.
Either way, it was closely related to the early humans who later spread beyond
Africa and gave rise to new branches of the human family. Unlike Neanderthals or
Cro-Magnons, Homo ergaster has
inspired few legends or fictional heroes, but Turkana Boy has become a
scientific celebrity, appearing in museums, books, paleoart and documentaries
such as the BBC’s Walking with Cavemen
(2003). Perhaps the most striking thing about Homo ergaster is that, more than a million and a half years ago,
the human body was beginning to look remarkably like our own, long before the
human brain did.
-346x277.jpg "Gigantopithecus blacki")
