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Homo erectus

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Scientific reconstruction of Turkana Boy, an ancient Homo erectus fossil, displayed in a museum for educational purposes.

Who Were Homo erectus?

Homo erectus was an early kind of human that lived a very long time ago, during the Pleistocene time. They were the first humans to look a bit like us and to walk fully upright. They were also the first to leave Africa and live in places like Asia and Europe.

What Did They Look Like?

Homo erectus had strong brow ridges and big teeth. Their bones were thicker than ours. Some groups in East Asia had even stronger bones and bigger brains. They were about as tall as people today.

Tools and Fire

These early humans made large stone tools called the Acheulean tools. They used these tools to cut meat and prepare plants. An amazing fact is that they were the first humans known to use fire. Fire helped them cook food and stay warm in cold places.

Why Do We Know About Them?

Scientists found many fossils of Homo erectus in Africa, Asia, and Europe. These fossils helped us learn about their lives. They lived from about 2 million years ago until around 100,000 years ago. Homo erectus was an important step in the story of human history.

Images

An old map illustrating a historical theory about human migration patterns across the Earth.
A reconstructed fossil of an ancient human ancestor on display at the Beijing Museum of Natural History.
Fossil skull of Peking Man, an ancient human ancestor discovered by scientists.
Fossil skull of Homo ergaster, an ancient human ancestor from the Pleistocene era.
A reconstructed skull of Homo erectus, an ancient human ancestor, showing important features for learning about early human evolution.
A fossilized human skull and lower jaw from the Dmanisi site, used to study early human evolution.
Scientific reconstruction of an ancient human ancestor's skull, showing how scientists study early hominins.
A museum exhibit showcasing a Neanderthal skeleton, helping us learn about ancient human ancestors.
Scientific cross-section diagrams of ancient human ancestor skulls, showing how scientists study early hominins like Homo erectus.
An ancient stone hand axe from the Paleolithic period, discovered at Saint-Acheul and displayed at the National Museum of Archaeology.
Replica of an ancient human skull from Dmanisi, showing early human evolution.
An ancient shell with geometric markings discovered by scientists.

Related articles

Pleistocene

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Homo erectus, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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