readx;? The advent of Homo erectus marked another dramatic change in the prehistoric era of mankind 2 million years ago. The adaptability of Homo erectus was greatly expanded by a series www.biquge.info of progressive characteristics of Homo erectus. Thus, Homo erectus no longer wandered the African wilderness, as the Homo before them, but stubbornly moved out of Africa in the years that followed, spreading over a wide area of Asia as well as much of Europe.

At this time, the Sahara Desert had not yet been fully formed, so Homo erectus soon migrated from the north to the south of the Sahara, bringing with them the Auduwe and Acheuri cultures.

Roughly speaking, Homo erectus left East Africa 1.8 million years ago and spread to Eurasia, starting with the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. The Arabian Peninsula was originally part of Africa, but at the end of the Pliocene, it separated from Africa and became part of Asia, separating the Mediterranean Sea from the Indian Ocean, so it was the closest to Africa and became the most important transportation hub of Europe, Asia and Africa.

West Asia is the transportation hub of Europe, Asia and Africa, and its geographical location is very important. Early Homo erectus migrated across continents via Western Asia. The migratory Homo erectus brought with them the Auduvi culture and the Acheuri culture in Africa. Therefore, the early Paleolithic culture of West Asia was also characterized by gravel chopping tools and hand axes.

A large number of Homo erectus stayed in the area, but some continued to migrate. One group migrated to Europe and became the Georgian Homo erectus in the Caucasus. One group continued its migration to East Asia, and in the course of their migration they continued to settle, some of whom continued to migrate after a short stay. So a lot of relics have been left in East Asia. Including the Xihoudu culture, the Yuanmou people, the Lantian people, and the Beijing Homo erectus people in Zhoukoudian about 500,000 years ago. Much later, about 200,000 years ago, some Homo erectus migrated along the Indonesian corridor to the island of Java and became Homo erectus.

Europe was the western destination of migration, mainly between Homo erectus in Georgia and Homo erectus in Heidelberg. Its early Paleolithic culture can be divided into two major systems, one is the hand axe culture system, including the Abweli culture site and the Acheuri culture site, which basically inherited the African Acheuli culture, and the other is the stone flake stone tool culture system without hand axe, such as the Clarkedam culture. The two have developed in much parallel.

The eastern destinations of Homo erectus migration were East and Southeast Asia. The Paleolithic culture in Southeast Asia, known as the "chopping tradition", belongs to the Acheulian cultural system.

Within this tradition, a number of local types can be distinguished. For example, the Anyasin culture distributed in the Irrawaddy River basin of Myanmar, the Fennoi culture distributed in the Fenno River basin in western Thailand, the tambian culture found in the Kota Tamtam, Perak River basin in northwest Malaysia, the Bajidan culture distributed in the Basoka River valley on the southern coast of Central Java, Indonesia, and the Tabang culture distributed in the southwest coast of Palawan in the Philippines. ”

"Georgians, who lived in Georgia 1.8 million years ago, are considered to be a transitional type between Homo sapiens and Homo erectus.

The Georgian human brain has a capacity of 600 milliliters, and the skull is the smallest and most primitive of all races outside Africa. The Georgians were the first human race to settle in Europe and belonged to Homo erectus.

Early Homo erectus, also known as craftsmen, was more advanced than the Georgians and lived 10,000 years ago. With a brain size of about milliliters and a height of 1.9 meters, the craftsman had the same body proportions as today's humans. Craftsmen are able to make stone tools. In addition, charred animal bones and traces of camps were found, suggesting that they also used fire. The use of fire here means that natural fire can be used, and it is necessary to preserve the fire, rather than drilling wood to make fire. So it tends to leave a huge fire.

The craftsman directly evolved into the Middle Homo erectus (also known as the Pioneers), who lived about 10,000 years ago. The precursor human brain has a capacity of about 1000 ml. The pioneers were probably the earliest cannibals.

About 1 million years ago, the pioneers spread from Africa to northern Eurasia, adapting to the local environment and developing various late Homo erectus.

The brain of Homo erectus has increased significantly, reaching about 800 milliliters in the early members and about 1200 milliliters in the late members. Moreover, not only has the brain increased in size, but its structure has also become more complex and reorganized, showing that Homo erectus has developed quite complex cultural behaviors. Asymmetry appeared in the left and right hemispheres of the brain, suggesting that Homo erectus had developed the ability to master spoken language.

Homo erectus has a flat face and a noticeably larger stature, with an average height of 160 cm and a weight of about 60 kg. Homo erectus was the first human species to use fire, and they were the first to be able to make stone tools according to the pattern they had in mind.

It is likely that Homo erectus had a habit of eating people (probably all for the sake of knocking bones and sucking the marrow). There are many human skull fossils in the Zhoukoudian sediment, which scholars believe is evidence of the head-hunting custom of Homo erectus.

The early Paleolithic culture of China was basically synchronized with that of Europe, and there was both the stone flake stone tool culture system and the Acheulian culture system (with chopping tools, no hand axes).

Xihoudu Culture: Xihoudu Village, Ruicheng, Shanxi. Time: About 1.8 million years ago. The site is located on a terrace about 170 meters above the surface of the Yellow River.

The cultural relics include 32 pieces of stone artifacts and deer antlers with burnt bones and cutting marks.

The number of stone tools excavated is small, and the main types are stone cores, stone flakes (stone flake stone tool culture system), chopping tools (Acheuli culture system), scraping tools and triangular large pointed tools.

The astonishing discovery of burnt bones shows that humans were able to use natural fire in the stage of craftsmen (early Homo erectus) about 1.8 million years ago, and it was necessary to use fires to preserve fire, and there were huge ash heaps for preservation.

Early Homo erectus was able to learn to use fire and start cooking, thus reducing dependence on nature and promoting the progress and healthy development of the physique.

About 1.8 million years ago, here is the bank of the Yellow River, the Yellow River is dozens of meters higher than now, millions of years ago the two provinces of Jin and Qin were only narrow but the valley is deeper than the Yellow River separated, millions of years have passed, the Yellow River continues to fall, the loose Loess Plateau washed out of a wide and deep river valley, at the same time, the Yellow River and the Loess Plateau shape the North China Plain. The Loess Plateau of the Qin and Jin dynasties on both sides of the Yellow River used to be the same whole, but it was only blocked by the continuous erosion of the Yellow River, a thin river that formed a wide and deep river valley. Today's wide and deep river valley is the result of the rushing Yellow River.

Yuanmou Homo erectus: Shangnabang Village, Yuanmou County, Yunnan. Time: About 1.7 million years ago. The site is located on a hill in the northwest.

The cultural relics include two teeth, seven pieces of stonework, and two burnt bones.

The stone artifacts are small in size, with stone cores, stone chips, pointed tools, scrapers, and chopping tools (similar to the hand axes of the Acheulian cultural system).

The Yuanmou people used the hammering method to make and repair stone tools, and the tools were not large. The Yuanmou people not only used their own tools to hunt and gather, but also used fire to roast the prey they obtained, freeing themselves from the era of drinking blood.

The next chapter introduces Homo erectus in Heidelberg.