The sexual dimorphism between males and females was slightly greater than modern man, with males being about 25% larger than females. The discovery of the skeleton KNM-WT 15000, "Turkana boy" ("Homo ergaster"), made near Lake Turkana, Kenya by Richard Leakey and Kamoya Kimeu in 1984, is one of the most complete hominid-skeletons discovered, and has contributed greatly to the interpretation of human physiological evolution.
The most distinctive tool of erectus was the Acheulean hand axe, first invented 1.8 million years ago (mya). This hand axe was made by chipping a suitable stone with a hammer stone. Later, the neanderthals used a soft hammer made of deer antler bone to make better tools. The Acheulean hand axe lasted for over a million years as the main tool. Its main use was for butchering meat. This we know because different uses leave different micro-wear on the hand axe surfaces.
"Homo erectus" remains one of the most successful and long-lived species of the "Homo" genus. It is generally considered to have given rise to a number of descendant species and subspecies. The oldest known specimen of the ancient human was found in southern Africa.
"Homo ergaster",
"Homo erectus pekinensis",
"Homo antecessor",
"Homo cepranensis",
"Homo floresiensis",
"Homo georgicus"
"Homo heidelbergensis",
"Homo neanderthalensis",
"Homo rhodesiensis",
"Homo sapiens",
Some of the major "Homo erectus" fossils:
Fossil "H. erectus" skulls found in Java in the 1930s have recently been redated. There are 12 skullcaps (top part of skull) and two lower leg bones. The recent research shows that on Java, "H. erectus" survived to about 100,000 years ago. The research gives a definitive age of between 117,000 and 108,000 years ago. That is much a much longer survival than in any other part of the world, so far as is known. This means, says the report, that "H. erectus" was still around when our own species was [elsewhere] walking the Earth. Java is an island, and presumably it had not yet been discovered by Neanderthals or our own species. Remains suggest that our own species did not reach Java until about 39,000 years ago.
Paramilitary
Paramilitary (quasi-military in some cases) is a way to describe forces that are organised like military forces, but not part of the Armed Forces. Examples for such forces would be police forces guarding the borders of a country. There are paramilitary groups that are run by a country, and others that are not.
The name comes from Greek "para" (which means "beside") and Latin "miles" (which means "soldier").
Though a paramilitary is not a military force, it is usually equivalent to a military's light infantry force in terms of intensity, firepower, and organizational structure. A paramilitary may also commonly fall under the command of a military, even despite not being part of the military or play an assisting role for the military in times of war. Paramilitary forces can also include private military company missions.
Champagne, Ardèche
Champagne is a town and commune of the Ardèche "département", in the southern part of France.
Champis, Ardèche
Champis is a commune in the Ardèche "département" in southeast France.
Chandolas
Chandolas is a town and commune of the Ardèche "département", in the southern part of France.
Chanéac
Chanéac is a town and commune of the Ardèche "département", in the southern part of France.
Charmes-sur-Rhône
Charmes-sur-Rhône is a town and commune of the Ardèche "département", in the southern part of France.
Charnas
Charnas is a town and commune of the Ardèche "département", in the southern part of France. About 715 or 722 people lived there in 2008.
Palaeolithic
The Palaeolithic, (or Paleolithic), refers to the prehistoric period when stone tools were made by humans. They are found in the Great Rift Valley of Africa from about 3.3 million years ago. They were probably made by Australopithecines. They are found in Europe somewhat later, from about 1 mya (0.7mya for Britain). The Palaeolithic is by far the longest period of humanity's time, about 99% of human history. The geological period which corresponds to the Palaeolithic is the Pleistocene.
Stone tools were not only made by our own species, "Homo sapiens". They were made by all previous members of the genus, starting with relatively crude tools made by "Homo habilis" and "Homo erectus". In Europe, the large-brained Neanderthal Man ("Homo neanderthalensis") made tools of high quality, and was in turn outshone by the many tools made by our own species. These tools are the first cultural products which have survived.
The Palaeolithic dates from about 2.6 million years ago and ended around 15,000 with the Mesolithic in Western Europe, and with the Epipaleolithic in warmer climates such as Africa. The Palaeolithic age began when hominids (early humans) started to use stones as tools for bashing, cutting and scraping. The age ended when humans began to make small, fine tools (Mesolithic) and finally when humans began to plant crops and have other types of agriculture (Neolithic). In some areas, such as Western Europe, the way that people lived was affected by the Ice age. The move towards agriculture started in the Middle East.
During the Palaeolithic Age humans grouped together in small bands. They lived by gathering plants and hunting wild animals. As well as using stone tools, they used tools of wood and bone. They probably also used leather and vegetable fibers but these have not lasted from that time.
The Oldowan is the archaeological term used to refer to the stone tool industry that was used by hominids during the earliest Palaeolithic period. For a long time it was thought that the Oldowan was the earliest stone tool industry in prehistory, from 2.6 million years ago up until 1.7 million years ago. It was followed by the more sophisticated Acheulean industry. Oldowan tools were therefore the earliest tools in human history, and mark the beginning of the archaeological record. The term "Oldowan" is taken from the site of Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, where the first Oldowan tools were discovered by the archaeologist Louis Leakey in the 1930s. Now it is realised that stone tools were used much earlier (3.3 million years ago) and that was definitely before the genus "Homo" had evolved.
It is not known for sure which species actually created and used Oldowan tools. It reached its peak with early species of "Homo" such as "H. habilis" and "H. ergaster". Early "Homo erectus" appears to inherit Oldowan technology and refines it into the Acheulean industry beginning 1.7 million years ago. Oldowan tools are sometimes called "pebble tools", so named because the blanks chosen for their production already resemble, in pebble form, the final product. Oldowan tools are sometimes subdivided into types, such as chopper, scrapers and pounders, as these seem to be their main uses.
Acheulean is the industry of stone tool manufacture by early humans of the Lower Palaeolithic era in Africa and much of West Asia and Europe. Acheulean tools are typically found with "Homo erectus" remains. They are first developed out of the more primitive Oldowan technology some 1.8 million years ago, by "Homo habilis".
It was the dominant technology for most of human history. More than a million years ago Acheulean tool users left Africa to colonize Eurasia. Their oval and pear-shaped hand axes have been found over a wide area. Some examples were finely made. Although it developed in Africa, the industry is named after the type site of Saint-Acheul, now a suburb of Amiens in northern France where some of the first examples were found in the 19th century.