Homo erectus - Endurance Runner
Origins of Us - Brains
Within a million years of Home habilis' reign, a new species had evolved, Homo erectus, slender and tall, with a larger brain than his predecessors. And tat brain was being shaped by his tool-making technology.
Homo habilis wasn't much like you or me. He only had a brain half the size of ours. Yet, he's the first ancestor that we know had tools and that's why he's called Homo meaning human. He also had long legs built for agility and running. It is believed Homo erectus was the first long-distance, endurance runner. An ability he utilised for hunting on the savannah.
And these tools enabled him to overcome the challenges orf his environment, These tools allowed them to extend teir own biological capabilities. It was as though they were arming themselves with the tusks, the sharp teeth and the claws that they didn't naturally possess. And, crucially, those tools meant that they could get to a much wider range of food than you'd normally expect an ape to be eating. And, over time, these tools became more complex.
Here at Olorgesailie, you can see where Homo erectus people made their tools. Incredibly, they still lie scattered across the ground, where they were dropped by ancient habds a million years ago.
Doctor Rick Potts has been studying how they were made. It's a complex process, which starts with quarrying the rocks.
Dr Potts "We're here at a place where the hand axe makers came, almost a million years ago, and they quarried the volcanic rock to test which rocks were the best ones to take away as handaxes." So you're absolutely sure these rocks have been quarried by human hands, they're not just naturally broken?
Fashioning a Stone Axe
Dr Potts "Yeah, let me show you. What we found here were thousands and thousands of stone-flaking debris, and so we're pretty sure that, where you're sitting, a Homo erectus sat, making stone tools, testing the rock and seeing which hand axes to take away. I sat in a spot, just like you did. It's extraordinary, it's an intuitive connection to these ancestors, to the hands, the things that they were capable of. You can see on this rock, a large flake scar. Ad that was struck using an enormous hammer stone. They were very strong these hand axe makers. "
Once the rocks had been selected, they then needed to be shaped, and that's something that really needs to be taught, because it's far from straightforward. Learning to make a Homo erectus hand axe is surprisingly complex and it's only really possible if you understand your teacher's aims and intentions.
The toolmaking culture of Homo erectus was a turning point in human history, with tools to butcher meat and protect themselves, our ancestors were able to spread into new territory and find food and shelter.
For over a million years, the hand axe was the cutting edge of stone tool technology. A hand axe together qith the flakes that come off it, constitute an incredibly versatile tool kit.And all these ancient hand axes that are found across the Rift Valley wouln't be there, were it not for humans' abil;ity to copy from each other.
