Dave Taylor's African Safari: The Missing Factor: Human Beings - 800,000 Years Ago

The Missing Factor: Human Beings
800,000 Years Ago
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Bed III was laid down at a time 1.2 million years ago when the climate had become hotter and drier. Few fossils or tools are found in this layer.

By 800,000 years ago the climate was once again suitable for life in the Olduvai region. Bed IV fossils indicate a land where savanna-like conditions prevailed. Rivers once again flowed through the environment. H. erectus was still present. Catfish, crocodiles, hippos and a variety of horses were present.

At one site in the Gorge, H. erectus butchered a hippo. The sight is littered with fossil bones of the hippos that show clearly where tools were used to smash bones and to cut off meat. Surrounding the site and mixed in with the bones are the hand axes used to carve up the hippo. Some of these axes were made from rocks found some distance from the site.

A living site of H. erectus was also discovered. Piles of rocks, arranged in a circular pattern were probably used to anchor skins draped over branches that formed a shelter. No bones or tools littered the living space but these things were found in abundance just outside the marked off area.

Studies of H. erectus are important because it was the first Homo species to migrate from Africa to Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene glacial period. It increased its range between 1.8 to 1 million years ago. This species survived a long time and as recently as 300,000 years ago it still inhabited the regions of southeastern and eastern Asia.

H. erectus had a much greater brain capacity (800 - 1300 cc) than any of the other species that pre-dated him. The males, especially, had a large face and thick skull. Brow ridges protruded above its eyes and it had a receding forehead. Richard Leakey, son of Louis and Mary, discovered an almost complete skeleton he named "Turkana Boy" in northern Kenya. This discovery showed that H. erectus had a body size much like that of modern humans (H. sapiens). Turkana Boy lived 1.6 million years ago.

H. erectus constructed tools, such as hand axes and according to some studies, made use of fire and occupied caves.

Between 600,000 and 400,000 years ago, the volcano Kerimasi erupted and laid down the bed of ash known by geologists as the Masek bed. Quartzite hand axes were made during this period. Only the volcano Lengai has erupted since then.

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