100th century BCE
North Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa
African populations attributed to Homo erectus, an early human species documented by fossil remains from the Maghrib, East Africa, and South Africa. The evidence includes mandibles, cranial fragments, teeth, and postcranial bones from localities such as Ternifine, Olduvai Gorge, Koobi Fora, the Shungura Formation, Melka Kunture, Bodo, and Swartkrans. The species is associated in many African localities with Acheulian stone industries and displays locomotor adaptations for habitual upright posture and efficient bipedal walking. Its African fossil record remains incomplete and chronologically uneven.
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The Story
Homo erectus is represented across several African regions by fossil remains that vary greatly in completeness and chronological precision. In the Maghrib, the earliest documented occurrences include Ternifine in Algeria and several Moroccan localities near Casablanca, Salé, Rabat, and Sidi Abderrahman. These finds include mandibles, cranial fragments, teeth, and portions of the upper jaw, and the Moroccan specimens are associated with Tensiftian or Amirian geological stages whose absolute ages remain difficult to establish.
Eastern Africa has yielded a much larger body of evidence. Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania produced remains attributed to ten individuals, while the upper Koobi Fora Formation at East Rudolf in Kenya includes parts of more than twenty individuals. The Koobi Fora sample spans approximately 1.6 to 1.2 million years, whereas most Olduvai remains are placed within the later Matuyama Reversed Epoch and are therefore older than 700,000 years. Additional fragmentary remains come from the Shungura Formation, Melka Kunture, and Bodo in Ethiopia.
Southern African evidence is more limited but includes a mandible, lower premolars, and a radius from a post-australopithecine infilling at Swartkrans. The associated fauna suggests a later Middle Pleistocene age, and the deposits also yielded stone artefacts resembling the Developed Oldowan Industry of eastern Africa. Across Africa, many Homo erectus occurrences are linked with Acheulian industries, although the exact cultural associations and chronological relationships remain unevenly documented.
The species combined a body plan adapted to habitual erect posture and efficient striding bipedal locomotion with cranial, facial, dental, and postcranial features distinct from those of Homo sapiens. Its lower limb included anatomical adaptations associated with powerful hip and knee action and a propulsive, arched foot. The African record suggests that Homo erectus endured for roughly a million years and that robust Australopithecus species persisted alongside it in Africa, sometimes at the same localities.
100th century BCE
North Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa
African populations attributed to Homo erectus, an early human species documented by fossil remains from the Maghrib, East Africa, and South Africa. The evidence includes mandibles, cranial fragments, teeth, and postcranial bones from localities such as Ternifine, Olduvai Gorge, Koobi Fora, the Shungura Formation, Melka Kunture, Bodo, and Swartkrans. The species is associated in many African localities with Acheulian stone industries and displays locomotor adaptations for habitual upright posture and efficient bipedal walking. Its African fossil record remains incomplete and chronologically uneven.
Continue exploring
The Story
Homo erectus is represented across several African regions by fossil remains that vary greatly in completeness and chronological precision. In the Maghrib, the earliest documented occurrences include Ternifine in Algeria and several Moroccan localities near Casablanca, Salé, Rabat, and Sidi Abderrahman. These finds include mandibles, cranial fragments, teeth, and portions of the upper jaw, and the Moroccan specimens are associated with Tensiftian or Amirian geological stages whose absolute ages remain difficult to establish.
Eastern Africa has yielded a much larger body of evidence. Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania produced remains attributed to ten individuals, while the upper Koobi Fora Formation at East Rudolf in Kenya includes parts of more than twenty individuals. The Koobi Fora sample spans approximately 1.6 to 1.2 million years, whereas most Olduvai remains are placed within the later Matuyama Reversed Epoch and are therefore older than 700,000 years. Additional fragmentary remains come from the Shungura Formation, Melka Kunture, and Bodo in Ethiopia.
Southern African evidence is more limited but includes a mandible, lower premolars, and a radius from a post-australopithecine infilling at Swartkrans. The associated fauna suggests a later Middle Pleistocene age, and the deposits also yielded stone artefacts resembling the Developed Oldowan Industry of eastern Africa. Across Africa, many Homo erectus occurrences are linked with Acheulian industries, although the exact cultural associations and chronological relationships remain unevenly documented.
The species combined a body plan adapted to habitual erect posture and efficient striding bipedal locomotion with cranial, facial, dental, and postcranial features distinct from those of Homo sapiens. Its lower limb included anatomical adaptations associated with powerful hip and knee action and a propulsive, arched foot. The African record suggests that Homo erectus endured for roughly a million years and that robust Australopithecus species persisted alongside it in Africa, sometimes at the same localities.
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