Historical Events: Yearwise

500,000: The Peking Man Site, excavations in the early revealed evidence of human habitation from 500,000 to perhaps 680,000 years ago. The cave was excavated from 1927-37 yielding 200 human fossils (from 40 individuals) Homo erectus, more than 10,000 pieces of stoneware, several cinder layers indicating fire use in early man, as well as animal fossils from 200 separate species.

👳

Homo ergaster: an extinct species (or subspecies) of hominids that lived in eastern and southern Africa from the end of the Pliocene epoch to the early Pleistocene, about 1.8-1.3 million years ago. There is still disagreement on the subject of the classification, ancestry, and progeny of H. Ergaster, but it is now widely thought (though not agreed) to be the direct ancestor of later hominids such as Homo heidelbergensis, Homo sapiens, and Homo Neanderthalensis rather than Asian Erectus. It is one of the earliest members of the genus Homo, possibly descended from, or sharing a common ancestor with, Homo habilis.

Homo heidelbergensis: (“Heidelberg Man”), is an extinct species of the genus Homo which may be the direct ancestor of both Homo Neanderthalensis in Europe and Homo sapiens. The best evidence found for these hominids dates between 600,000 and 400,000 years ago. H. Heidelbergensis stone tool technology was very close to that of the Acheulean tools used by Homo erectus.

Homo Erectus: is an extinct species of hominid that originated in Africa—and spread as far as China and Java—from the end of the Pliocene epoch to the later Pleistocene: about 1.8-.3 million years ago. There is still disagreement on the subject of the classification, ancestry, and progeny of H. Erectus, with two major alternative hypotheses: Erectus may be another name for Homo ergaster, and therefore the direct ancestor of later hominids such as Homo heidelbergensis, Homo Neanderthalensis, and Homo sapiens; or it may be an Asian species distinct from African Ergaster.

Originally migrated from Africa during the Early Pleistocene, possibly as a result of the operation of the Saharan pump, around 2.0 million years ago, and dispersed throughout much of the Old World. Fossilized remains 1.8 and 1.0 million years old have been found in Africa (e.g., Lake Turkana and Olduvai Gorge), Europe (Georgia, Spain), Indonesia (e.g., Sangiran and Trinil), Vietnam, and China (e.g., Shaanxi).

Neanderthal: Also spelled Neandertal, is an extinct member of the Homo genus that is known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia. Neanderthals are either classified as a subspecies of humans (Homo sapiens Neanderthalensis) or as a separate species (Homo Neanderthalensis). The first proto-Neanderthal traits appeared in Europe as early as 600,000–350,000 years ago. Proto-Neanderthal traits are occasionally grouped with another phenetic ‘species’, Homo heidelbergensis, or a migrant form, Homo rhodesiensis. By 130,000 years ago, complete Neanderthal characteristics had appeared. These characteristics then disappeared in Asia 50,000 +- years ago, and in Europe 25,000 to 30,000 years ago.

Neanderthal

Humans/Homo sapiens: are bipedal primates (Latin: “wise man” or “knowing man”) in Hominidae, the great ape family. They are the only surviving members of the genus Homo. Humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and problem-solving. This mental capability, combined with an erect body carriage that frees the arms for manipulating objects, has allowed humans to make far greater use of tools than any other species. Mitochondrial DNA and fossil evidence indicate that modern humans originated in Africa about 200,000 years ago.