TOPIC 2: ORIGIN OF HUMAN BEINGS – HISTORY NOTES FORM ONE
Every living creature in the world undergoes development. Human beings, animals, plants, insects, and bacteria have undergone change overtime, Human beings originated from other creatures over millions of years.
Changes in succeeding generations made humans better in terms of appearance, mental ability and tool making.
In this chapter, you will learn about the theories of the origin of human beings, stages of human evolution and technological development. The competencies developed will enable you to trace and value your origin.
Think
Origin of the existence of human beings on the earth.
Theories of the origin of human beings
A theory is a well-established and generally accepted explanation used to guide the analysis of a phenomenon.
A good example of a theory is “Stoicism”, which believes in “accepting what you cannot control and focusing on what you can to live a happy life”
The two main theories of the origin of human beings are creation and evolution.
I. Theory of creation
The theory of creation is upheld in many religious groups, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam and African indigenous religions. According to the Bible, God created the world and all things within it, including human beings. God created human beings after creating the world, including land, plants, water, and birds.
The original human being was created on the sixth day when God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness ….” (Genesis 1:26 NIV). The Quran is written: “Who made all things good which He created, and He began the creation of man from clay” (Surah As-Sajdah-32:7).
Likewise, many African societies had similar concepts ofcreation: the Supreme Being created everything, including human beings. Those who support the theory of creation argue that God created the Earth and all the living and non-living things on it.
They say that after the creation of the first man and woman, the human population increased through biological reproduction. They further argue that people migrated to various places on earth.
II. Theory of evolution
Evolution is defined as the process of change in the heritable features of a species over numerous generations through natural selection.
The theory is based on the scientific explanation of the origin of humans, It states that humans and non-human primates, notably monkeys and apes, shared a common ancestor more than 13 million years ago. With time, humans split from non-human primates and underwent evolution until they became modem human beings.
A British scientist, Charles Darwin, advanced this theory in his book “On the Origin of Species,” published in 1859. In this book, Darwin described how evolution took place. He argued that only the strongest or the fittest would survive among the many bom individuals.
This implies that only species which are capable of adapting to the environment can live and reproduce. In contrast, the weak ones tend to die or perish. The survivors continue to produce more offspring of their type. In this way, new and stronger species keep appearing in every coming generation.
Evidence for human evolution
Two pieces of evidence support the theory of evolution. These are comparative studies of modem animals and fossil evidence. Comparative studies of human evolution: Evidence from comparative anatomy indicates that two groups of animals with similar features have the same ancestor.
Therefore, the anatomical similarity between humans and monkeys suggests that members of the two groups share a common ancestor.
Fossil evidence for human evolution: This evidence is based on animal bones that have survived for many years under the ground. They are used to give evidence of the gradual change in the shape of humans and technological development.
Early fossil evidence has been found at different sites in Tanzania, such as Laetoli, Olduvai Gorge, Lake Natron, Lake Ndutu and Lake Eyasi in Arusha Region. Olduvai Gorge is the most famous site in Africa concerning human evolution.
It produces evidence of physical and technological evolution of humankind. Therefore, Olduvai Gorge and other sites have made Tanzania famous as the cradle or original home of human beings.
Archaeologists like Louis Leakey and his wife Mary Leakey discovered fossils in East Africa. They then studied them to find out their human ancestors. Other human remains were discovered in various sites in eastern and southern Africa.
These include Koobi Fora in Kenya, Omo and Hadar in Ethiopia, and Sterkfontein and Swartkrans in South Africa. Therefore, eastern and southern Africa are considered the possible homes of human ancestors.
Exercise
Explain Charles Darwin’s contribution to the understanding human evolution.
Major Groups of Human Ancestors
Fossil evidence has shown three main groups of the ancestors of human beings. These are Ardipithecus, Australopithecus, and Homo.
I. Ardipithecus
Ardipithecus is the earliest evidence of a human ancestor who lived from about 5.8 to 4.4 million years ago.
Ardipithecus had more ape-like features, such as strong teeth with small enamel, strong arms, and bones, which suggest that it climbed trees and walked on two legs.
Ardipithecus was discovered at the Omo archaeological site in Ethiopia.
II. Australopithecus
Australopithecus is another evidence of human ancestor who lived from about
4.2 to 2.0 million years ago after the disappearance of Ardipithecus. The word
“Australopithecus” means the “southern ape”. It was first discovered by Raymond Dart in the Taung site, South Africa and named Australopithecus africanus.
Other Australopithecines were discovered in various sites in eastern and southern Africa.
These include Australopithecus afarensis, which was discovered in Laetoli, Tanzania and Afar, Ethiopia; Australopithecus robustus in Swartkrans, South Africa; and Australopithecus boisei (Zinjanthropus) in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania.
III. Homo
About 2.5 million years ago, acreature called Homo appeared. It was discovered and named Homo because it was believed to represent the first modern human being. Homo differed from Australopithecus by having a smaller body size, relying on meat, and having a bigger brain size. More importantly, Homo started making and using tools.
Genus Homo is divided into several species, including Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo sapiens and Homo sapiens sapiens.
The following are the descriptions of the stages in the evolution of human beings from Homo habilis to Homo sapiens sapiens.
i. Homo habilis: This lived approximately between 2.5 and 1.6 million years ago.
They were the first human beings able to make and use tools. That is why they were nicknamed the “handyman.” Fossil evidence for Homo habilis has been found at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, Koobi Fora in Kenya and Sterkfontein in South Africa.
ii. Homo erectus: This lived between 1.9 million and 300,000 years ago. They were the first to make advanced stone tools called hand axes due to their more advanced brain size than Homo habilis. Homo erectus was the first human to learn how to make and use fire for roasting meat and creating warmth.
Fire also enabled them to migrate from Africa and live in other parts of the world. In this case, Homo erectus was the first human to move out of Africa into Asia and Europe. That is why the fossils of
Homo erectus are also found in Europe and Asia. Fossil evidence for Homo erectus has been found at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, Koobi Fora in Kenya, Zhoukoudian in China and Dmanisi in Georgia.
iii. Homo sapiens: Homo sapiens lived approximately between 400,000 and 70,000 years ago.
Some of the sites in Africa where the fossils of Homo sapiens have been found include Laetoli, near Lake Eyasi and Lake Ndutu in Tanzania; Bodo in Ethiopia; Broken Hill in Zambia; Taung Cave in South Africa; Tangiers in Morocco; and Taramsa in Egypt.
Examples of sites outside Africa include the Tabun cave in Israel, Krapina in Croatia and Saccopastore in Italy.
iv. Homo sapiens sapiens: These were the immediate evolutionary ancestors of modern human beings. Their fossil remains are spread all over the world. They date approximately between 150,000 and 20,000 years ago.
They had relatively larger brain size than that of Homo sapiens. The fossils of these modern humans were found in Nasera and Mumba rock-shelter in Arusha, Tanzania; Middle Awash in Ethiopia; and Border Cave and Klasies River Mouth Cave in South Africa.
The Following Picture shows the stages of human evolution from Ardipithecus to Homo sapiens sapiens.
Activity
Read various reliable online and library sources on the origin of human beings from a religious point of view, then compare that knowledge with the evolution theory.
Human technology (Stone Age and Iron Age)
Early or Old Stone Age
Human Technology
The evolution of the human being went hand in hand with technological development.
This development passed through two common ages, which were determined by the type of materials used to make tools.
Thus, there were:-
- · The Stone Age
- · The Iron Age
A: Stone Age
Stone Age like bones, wood and plant fibres. However, such tools could not last long hence are difficult to trace.
The Stone Age refers to the period in human history when stone was the primary material for making tools and weapons.
Human beings used those tools to meet their needs.
This period is divided into three phases:
- The Early Stone Age or the Old Stone Age
- The Middle Stone Age
- The Late Stone Age or the New Stone Age
I. Early or Old Stone Age
The Early Stone Age lasted approximately from 3.0 million to 400,000 years ago. During this period, human ancestors made and used stone tools for hunting and gathering.
They hunted wild animals and gathered fruits, roots, and eggs from the surrounding environment. The Early Stone Age was characterised by the use of two types of tools, namely Oldowan and Acheulian tools.
Oldowan stone tools: Oldowan tools were named after Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, where they were first discovered. In addition, they have been found on the shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya and the Omo and Hadar valleys in Ethiopia. The tools were simple and crude, and they were obtained from hard natural rocks, sometimes with little modifications.
For the places where they did not modify tools, they used them to perform specific tasks as they picked them. The Oldowan tools included flakes, choppers, and cores used for simple activities such as killing, skinning animals and breaking bones to obtain marrow. They could also be used for breaking nuts and digging roots. The maker of Oldowan stone tools was Homo habilis.
The Following picture shows samples of Oldowan stone tools.
Acheulian stone tools: These tools were discovered first at St. Acheul in France. They were more advanced than the Oldowan tools because they were made by breaking small sharp pieces of stones from hard, bigger rocks. This process is called flaking.
The Acheulian stone tools included hand axes, cleavers, and picks. They were used for heavy-duty activities such as falling down trees, killing animals and processing meat.
The maker of Acheulian stone tools was Homo erectus. Acheulian stone tools are found in Isimila, Olduvai Gorge, Lake Natron and Laetoli in Tanzania and around Lake Turkana in Kenya. Apart from making stone tools, Homo erectus lived together in small camps, hunted animals, and shared food.
The Figure below shows samples of Acheulian stone tools.
Physical changes in human beings during the Old Stone Age
In the Early Stone Age, the physical changes in human beings involved three stages of evolution: Australopithecus, Homo habilis and Homo erectus.
Australopithecus
Australopithecus was characterised by a hairy body, which helped to protect them from cold; large jaws and teeth; and a small brain size but larger than that of chimpanzees, which was about 400 cranial capacity (cc). Their bodies were like those of chimpanzees. Their legs and pelvis were like those of human beings. In addition, the body size of women was smaller than that of men. This creature walked on two legs (bipedalism). Evidence for bipedalism is found at Laetoli in Arusha, where Australopithecus afarensis left their footprints on volcanic ashes about 3.5 million years ago.
Homo habilis
Homo habilis had a modern human shape with a large brain ranging from about 500cc to 800cc. This brain size was bigger than that of Australopithecus.
He also had a prolonged face and smaller jaws, smaller teeth, longer arms, and shorter legs than modern humans. Males were heavier and taller than females.
Homo erectus
During this age of evolution, Homo erectus became a complete upright creature and could communicate through speech. Homo erectus had a larger brain than that of Homo habilis. It ranged from about 700 cc to 1,250 cc.
They had a flat face, thicker skull bones, and smaller teeth than Homo habilis. In addition, their arms and legs were similar to those of modern humans.
Ways of obtaining food during the Old Stone Age
During this age, humans obtained food by hunting wild animals using simple and crude tools and gathering roots, tubers, eggs and fruits from the surrounding.
They hunted antelopes, buffaloes, and other animals. Animal bones hunted by human beings during this age have been found at Olduvai Gorge in East Africa.
Exercise
How did human beings manage life during the Early Stone Age?
II. Middle Stone Age
The Middle Stone Age covered approximately 500,000 and 50,000 years ago. The main difference between the Middle Stone Age and the Old Stone Age lies in the quality of tools made.
During this period, tools were better and more specialised than Old Stone Age tools. Tools were smaller, sharper and easier to handle.
Examples of Middle Stone Age tools included spears, arrowheads, knives, scrapers and stone picks as shown in the figure below. The makers of tools in this period were Homo erectus and Homo sapiens.
Middle Stone Age societies developed the culture of obtaining food by hunting and gathering. They also managed to live in different environments, such as grasslands, rock shelters, river valleys, riverine areas, and highlands. They also did rock painting and personal decoration. They also developed religions.
The major technological developments during this period was the discovery and use of fire. Fire was made by striking stones against each other.
Later on, they learnt how to make fire by hand drilling a stick on a dry wood, as illustrated in figure below.
With fire and relatively advanced tools, human beings controlled their environment better than before. They managed to clear bushes and forests.
This enabled them to live in thick woodland and mountainous regions. Evidence of the Middle Stone Age tools has been found at Koobi Fora and Chesowanja in Kenya and Swartkrans in South Africa.
Advantages of using fire
1. Using fire enabled human beings to roast food instead of eating it raw.
2. Human beings could also burn trees and bushes to drive out or kill wild animals.
3. In addition fire enabled human beings to move to and live in the cold regions of Europe and Asia. This was possible because man could warm his body by using fire.
4. Lastly, fire was used to turn gums into glue used to join spear and arrow points onto shafts.
Physical changes in human beings during the Middle Stone Age
During this period, human beings (that is, Homo sapiens) became more intelligent than before. This is because they had developed bigger brains ranging between 900cc and 1,300cc.
Homo sapiens contained features of both Homo erectus and modern human beings. Their physical features include large bodies and heavy muscles. They also had thick chests, well-rounded foreheads, and smaller teeth than the Old Stone Age people.
During this period, human beings could prepare better tools from stones and wood. These enabled them to hunt large animals such as buffaloes, rhinoceros and elephants.
They hunted animals that provided sufficient food for families and communities. Men also engaged in other activities like fishing and gathering.
Activity
Read various reliable online and library sources on Middle Stone Age, then identify the aspects of knowledge and skills that can be applied in the present life.
III. The Late Stone Age
Late Stone Age, also known as the New Stone Age, existed from approximately 50,000 to about 1500 years ago. Tools made in this period were better and more efficient than those made in the Middle Stone Age.
They included various types of blades, stone axes, barbed arrows, and spears. The makers of these tools were Homo sapiens sapiens. The tools produced during this time were smaller than those produced during the Early and Middle Stone Ages.
They were easier to use and more effective. Examples of these tools included spears and arrows.
The figure below shows samples of such tools.
The Late Stone Age witnessed major cultural and technological improvements. For example, fishing communities settled near Lakes Edward, Rudolf, Victoria and along River Nile by 6000BCE. Such fishermen used barbed bone points and harpoons for fishing.
Examples of the Late Stone Age sites in East Africa are Mumba rock shelter, Nasera rock shelter; Gambles Cave and Enkapune ya Muto in Kenya; and Magosi in Uganda.
The first evidence is the presence of large quantities of remains of tools in those areas and large quantities of fish, fowl and animal bones.
The second piece of evidence is drawings and paintings in caves and rocks that show hunting and other activities of settled communities. The paintings indicate that the Late Stone Age societies held religious beliefs, made religious symbols, and decorated their bodies.
Physical changes of human beings during the Late Stone Age
1. During the Late Stone Age, human beings had smaller teeth than it was during other stone ages, The teeth were adapted to eating softer food and had a large brain capacity of about 1300-1450cc.
2. The shape of the skull was similar to that of modern human beings. By this time, human beings walked upright on two legs and had less body hair.
3. In addition, they had smaller brows, high forehead, little facial projections, ight-built jaws, and smaller limb bones.
Major changes in human beings during the Late Stone Age
1. Late Stone Age societies depended on hunting, gathering, fishing, and farming. The most important hunting weapons were bows and arrows. Sometimes arrows were coated with poison to kill animals such as antelopes, buffaloes, elephants, and others.
2. They hunted a wide range of small and large animals. They processed skins and used them as clothes. They also engaged in fishing from rivers and lakes. In addition, women gathered fruits and nuts. They also dug up edible roots and tubers using digging sticks.
3. By the year 8000BCE, crop cultivation and animal husbandry had developed in some parts of Africa to supplement hunting and gathering. The cultivated crops included wheat, barley, finger millet, rice, yams, and palm oil. Pre-colonial African societies also domesticated animals such as cattle, goats, sheep, and dogs.
4. Evidence for earliest food production activities has been discovered in some parts of Africa. These areas are Nile Valley, Ethiopian Highlands, regions along the Congo River and some areas in west Africa.
5. Moreover, Homo sapiens sapiens practised arts like rock painting and carving. These represent various activities like hunting, gathering, farming, and ceremonies.
Exercise
1. What are the key innovations in tool making during the Late Stone Age when compared to Early Stone Age and Middle Stone Age?
2. How did the innovations in question (1) lay the foundation for present-day civilisations?
Iron Age
The Iron Age was a period when human beings used iron in making tools and weapons. Iron technology developed in Africa, south of the Sahara, between 500BCE and 600CE. Iron tools enabled humans to master the environment more efficiently than stone tools.
Therefore, iron production was an important technological innovation Iron production in Africa, particularly south of the Sahara, started in the basins of Rivers Niger and Congo from the first millennium BCE.
From there, the culture was spread to other parts of the continent by the Bantu-speaking people.
The main centres of ancient ironworks in Africa include Nsukka and Taruga in Nigeria, Meroe in Sudan, Axum in Ethiopia, Tunis in Tunisia, Cairo in Egypt and Buganda in the interlacustrine region.
The Figure below shows important Iron Age sites in Pre-colonial Africa.
Discovery of iron
It is believed that iron was discovered when human beings were using fire to burn bushes. The fire melted iron ore that was on the surface of the earth.
Later on, they discovered that iron ore could be smelted to get pure iron, which could be forged to make iron tools.
In addition iron smelting involved changing iron ore into pure iron through heating.
Iron forging, meant processing and shaping smelted iron into usable objects such as hoes, axes, knives, machetes, and others as indicated in the following figure.
Iron smelting and forging
The smelting of iron began with the collection of iron ore and charcoal. It also involved constructing furnaces and blowpipes (tuyere) and making bellows.
Iron smelting furnaces in African societies were of two basic types:
The first type was a bowl-like furnace dug below the ground.
The second type was a constructed ground furnace approximately a meter or two meters high.
Iron ore and charcoal were put in the furnace. Then the furnace was lit while air was pumped using the bellows. Air from the bellows entered the furnace through the tuyere.
Plenty of remains show that iron smelting and forging were widespread all across Africa. Such remains include furnaces, tuyere, bellows, blooms, slags, anvils, and iron objects.
Advantages of producing and using iron tools
The use of iron tools had various advantages. The following are some of them:
i. Expansion of agriculture
Agriculture expanded because people started to use better iron tools such as machetes, axes, and hoes for production. These tools enabled human beings to cultivate larger pieces of land than before.
ii. Settled life
Expansion of agricultural activities due to the use of iron tools led to the increase of food production. This encouraged the formation of large communities, which produced surplus food. In this regard, these developments called for a sedentary life.
iii. Population increase
Surplus food production due to the use of iron tools led population increase. This increase also resulted from immigration of people from different regions to the iron producing areas.
iv. Emergence of chiefdoms and kingdoms
The use of iron weapons encouraged not only increase in population but also wars among different groups. These situations needed permanent and centralised political organisations in the form of states to resolve problems and conflicts.
The need for a centralised political organisation led to the rise of chiefdoms and kingdoms. Examples of these are Buganda and Karagwe.
v. Increased efficiency in hunting
The use of iron weapons such as arrows and spears improved hunting and made the process more efficient. This is because iron tools were more effective than stone tools in hunting.
vi. Improvement of self-defence
The use of iron weapons such as anows and spears helped people to defend themselves against wild animals than during the time they were using stone tools.
vii. Emergence of specialisations
Since communities could produce sufficient and surplus food, not everybody had to engage in agriculture. Therefore, other people started specialising in other activities such as basketry, pottery, pastoralism, and fishing.
viii. Growth of commodity exchange (trade)
Iron-producing communities exchanged iron tools with other items produced by non-iron producers. In this way, the exchange of commodities increased between communities.
Activity
Read various reliable online and library sources to identify the relevance of the Iron Age to modem African societies.
General Characteristics of Evolution of Humans
- The skulls were smaller in size than that of the current man.
- The volume of the brain between 600-700 c.c.
- Human had higher brows than in chimps and the face had more prominent facial structure.
- Distinct edges of the forehead were clear and easily identifiable.
- The occipital condyles were ventrally positioned
- The back of the skull was round in shape.
- They have huge jaws with small incisors.
- It additionally had enormous and spatulate canines
Revision exercise
1. Write short notes on the following:
(a) Acheulian tools
(b) Oldowan tools
(c) Palaeolithic period
(d) Bipedalism
(e) Homo habilis
2. The discovery of fire during the Middle Stone Age had the same significance as the discovery of the computer in modern society. Explain.
3. Describe how pre-colonial African societies benefited from the use of iron.
4. Describe the physical characteristics of human beings during the following periods:
(a) Early Stone Age
(b) Middle Stone Age
