Human Evolution Evidence
Primate Behavior
GS104 INTRO to Environmental science Abstract
Early human behavior from ancient footprints to stone tools and the earliest symbols and art along with similarities and differences in the behavior of other primate species. Humans are part of the biological group known as primates. Stone tools provide evidence about the technologies, dexterity, particular kinds of mental skills, and innovations that were within the grasp of early human toolmakers. Early humans may have made bags from skin long ago. About 18,000 years ago, modern humans began making pottery. Our ancestors often buried the dead together with beads and other symbolic objects. Awls and perforators were used to pierce holes in clothing. Later, humans used bone and ivory needles to sew warm, closely fitted garments. Evidence for some of the ways that early humans were able to get food. Over time, early humans began to gather at hearths and shelters to eat and socialize. These objects have marks that may have been used to count or store information. From simple beginnings like these came our ability to store enormous amounts of information. By 40,000 years ago, humans were creating musical instruments and two- and three-dimensional images of the world around them.
Discussion
Behavior: Humans is a large, bipedal, diurnal primate closely related to the living great Apes. Human behavior is based on a rich social heritage made possible by a tool dependent culture and unique properties of language. However, in most of the fundamental features of his social life, such as prolonged care of immature offspring and lifelong association between related adults, Humans are typical old world primates. Humans are most closely related to the old monkeys and apes. There are six hundred varieties of living Non-human primates, divided in to some fifty genera and two hundred species. Because of this extraordinary diversity, ranging from such forms as the small insectivore like tree shews and mouse lemurs to the great apes and humans, it is sometimes assumed that behavior of living primates can be arranged along an evolutionary scale of increasing behavioral similarity to humans. However no living primate is the ancestor of any other, and many varieties have had separate evolutionary histories for tens of millions of year. Every living species has survived by specialized adaptation, and while it is possible to make some broad generalizations about the physical characteristics of prosimians, monkeys and apes behavioral comparison are more difficult.
Footprints: About 1.5 million years ago, human ancestors walked upright with a spring in their steps just as modern humans do today. Footprints are a kind of evidence of behavior often called a trace fossil-geological evidence of biological activity. This is in contrast to 'body fossils', fossilized remains from organisms' bodies. Scientists can learn a lot from sites where human footprints have been found, including: estimates of height, weight, and gait of the humans who made the footprints - which also tells us how many people made the footprints. Several human footprints sites have been discovered; you can explore the evidence from some of them here.
Stone tools: most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric, particularly Stone Age cultures that have become extinct. Archaeologists often study such prehistoric societies, and refer to the study of stone tools as lithicanalysis. Stone has been used to make a wide variety of different tools throughout history, including arrow heads, spear points and querns. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or chipped stone, and a person who creates tools out of the latter is known as a flintknapper. Ground stone tools became important during the
