The oldest remains of

Homo erectus have been

found in AFRICA.
One of the most complete
finds, known as the
Turkana boy, was
recovered at the
Nariokotome site near Lake
Turkana in Kenya.

 The populations of H. erectus

differed from modern
humans in that they had low,
sloping forehead and thick,
massive jaws with large
teeth. From the neck down,
their skeletal features are
similar to those of modern
humans, but their bones are
much heavier.

Migration of Homo erectus

The major hypothesis of how
the Homo erectus migrated is
that as populations increased,
a certain percentage migrated
into new territories following
game animals as they move
out of Africa. If each group
moved 15 miles in each
generation (25 years), then
Homo erectus could have
migrated from Africa to Europe
in 5000 years and to China in
15,000 years

Pleistocene epoch
Ice Ages
At intervals, during this
time , huge masses of ice ,
called glaciers, spread over
the northern continents ,
producing colder climates
in the temperate zones
such as Europe and
northern Asia and increased
rainfall in tropical areas,
creating grasslands and
new lakes.

Fire
Homo erectus probably could
not have survived in the
colder climates without the
use of fire.
The earliest use of fire,
appears to be in Africa. Later,
fire was also associated with
Homo erectus sites in both
Europe and Asia.

Acheulian Technology
Named after the town of St. Acheul, France, where
some of the first finds were made.
Acheulian tools were produced by percussion
flaking, but they exhibit more complexity.

 Most characteristics of the

Acheulian technology is the
hand ax, a sharp, bifaciallyflaked stone tool shaped like
a large almond.
Late Acheulian tools were
produced through a more
refined form of percussion
flaking, the baton method.