Homo erectus skull.
Image by Kathy Schick, courtesy of The Stone Age Institute. All rights reserved.
Homo erectus is a hominin species ancestral to modern humans, dating from approximately 1.8 million years ago to less than 500,000 years ago. During this stage of evolution proto-humans expanded from Africa into Eurasia. Fossil remains are associated with stone tools from both the Oldowan chopper and Acheulean handaxe industries. In 1999, Nick Toth discovered the cranium of a Homo erectus at Busidima (Gona), Ethiopia in the Afar Rift.
1.
Upright creatures with Stone Age tool-kits,
Roam the highlands for plants and game,
Future fossils, ancestral spirits,
Leave behind their material remains.
Cinder cones billow ash,
Floodplains teeming with herds,
Streams with hippo and crocs,
Lakeshore dotted with birds.
Homo erectus survives
2.
Side-struck cleavers and crude handaxes,
Cut through flesh and dismember game,
Ostrich eggshell and tortoise baskets,
Wooden spear for a life to claim.
Zebras graze on the plain,
Waterbuck crossing stream,
Long-tusk elephants bathe,
Warthogs trotting in teams.
Homo erectus survives
"Homo erectus"
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Close-knit bands held by strong alliance,
Constant chatter in primal tongues,
Sounds of laughter and words of wisdom,
Passing knowledge from old to young.
Lions prowl in the grass,
Leopard feeds in a tree,
Hyaenas scavenge a kill,
Vultures soar in the breeze.
Homo erectus survives Homo erectus survives Homo erectus survives Homo erectus survives…
Homo erectus scene. Image by Henry Gilbert and Kathy Schick, copyright 2011. All rights reserved.
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