Homo Habilis“Handy Man”

By: Jerry, Rose, and Taylor S.

Introduction

We are going to take you on a ride through time to meet the Homo Habilis species. You will learn a lot of interesting information about this species. They were also called the Handy Man.

Dates and Places of Existence

They were alive about two to three million years ago. [1] They lived in east and south Africa. They also lived in southeast Asia, near the Pacific Ocean. [2]

Physical Appearance

Homo Habilis had more human-looking faces than earlier groups of early humans. They had smaller teeth than Australopithecus. [3] Most females were three to four and a half feet tall and weighed around seventy pounds. Men weighed slightly more than the females and were a bit taller than them. [4]

Shelter

Homo Habilis made small huts out of branches and small stones. The stones kept the branches in place. They used mud to keep the rocks in place. These huts were dome-shaped structures. [5]

Food

The Homo Habilis were hunters. They would work together to creep up and pounce on their prey.[6] They used branches and stones to kill their prey. After the prey was dead, they chipped sharp flakes of stone to create a knife to cut the meat. They smashed heavy stones on the animal’s bones and ate the marrow inside of it.[7] They ate berries, birds and their eggs, nuts, leaves, and roots. [8]

Daily Life

Homo Habilis were gatherers and hunters. Their main diet was fruits, vegetables, roots, and nuts. They used basic tools, such as rocks, to hunt. You might think Homo Habilis would look for caves to spend the night in, but caves quite often had dangerous predators living within them, just as they do today.[9]

Tools

Homo Habilis made tools out of stones. A tool they used often was the hammerstone, which they used to break stones into smaller pieces. Homo Habilis were somewhat intelligent so they could make tools out of stones. [10]

Fire

Since this group of early humans wasn’t able to make fires, Homo Habilis had to wait until they found something burning from a natural cause.[11] They found land with plants that had been struck by lightning.[12] A camp fire had to be carefully watched because if the fire went out, Homo Habilis did not know how to start it again.[13]

Religion

Homo Habilis was so busy fighting for their survival that they didn’t have time to make a religion. Their entire lives were spent looking for food and trying to stay alive. [14] As a result, they didn’t have a religion of which we are aware.

Language

Scientists do not believe that this early species of humans was capable of speech.[15] Therefore, Homo Habilis probably communicated using some gestures and simple sounds.[16]

Clothing

Homo Habilis didn’t wear clothing, because they were very hairy. Therefore, they did not need clothing. Eventually, as hunters, they may have used animal skins to drape over themselves like blankets. [17]

Paintings and Carvings

• Since Homo Habilis was one of the first species of human, they didn’t have time to paint and carve because they were too busy adapting to Earth and trying to survive. [18]

Interesting Information

• Louis and Mary Leakey discovered remains of Homo Habilis in Olduvai Gorge in eastern Africa. [19]

• Homo Habilis means Handy Man. They have that name because they are good at making tools. [20]

Questions

1. How did Homo Habilis get meat?2. Did Homo Habilis use tools? If not, why not?

If so, what materials did they use for tools?3. Did Homo Habilis wear clothing? If not, why

not? If so, what was the clothing?

Answers

1. Homo Habilis followed their prey, and then pounced on it, often hitting the prey with a stone or a branch.

2. Homo Habilis had tools, and they made their tools out of stone. The most common tool was the hammerstone.

3. Homo Habilis didn’t wear any clothing because they had thick hair all over their bodies.

Conclusion

We hoped you enjoyed our ride back in time to meet the Homo Habilis species. Now you know that the Homo Habilis were great at making tools, building huts, and hunting animals with stones or branches. This is why scientists gave this species the name “Handy Man.”

Endnotes1. Kearns, Marsha, “Homo Habilis,” Early Humans, Creative Teaching Press, CA, 1993, p. 4.2. Ibid.3. Ibid.4. “Early Humans PowerPoints, Homo Habilis,” http://msmcclure.com, 2002.5. Kearns, “Homo Habilis,” p. 4.6. Ibid.7. Ibid.8. Ibid.9. Ibid.10. “Early Humans,” www.earlyhumans.mrdonn.org/tools.html.11. Ibid.12. Ibid.13. Ibid.14. Ms. McClure’s Brain.15. Kearns, “Homo Habilis,” p. 4.16. Ibid.17. Facchini, Fiorenzo, “A Day with Homo Habilis, Twenty-First Century Books, CT, 2003, p. 24.18. Ibid, p. 23 & 27.19. Kearns, “Homo Habilis,” p. 4.20. Ibid.

Bibliography

California Visits Ancient Civilizations. Macmillan/MacGraw Hill: New York, NY, 2007.

Facchini, Fiorenzo. “A Day with Homo Habilis.Twenty-First Century Books: CT, 2003.

“Homo habilis.” Homo habilis. http://www.earlyhumans.mrdonn.org/.

Kearns, Marsha.“Homo Habilis.” Early Humans. Creative Teaching Press: CA, 1993.

A big thanks to Heather’s Animations!