Before becoming like us, a person went through a long evolution. The first people, according to scientists, appeared on the planet several million years ago. Then they looked more like primates than our contemporaries. Consider what the main difference between ancient people and animals consisted of.
The first steps of mankind
Higher primates - direct descendants of man - appeared about 38 million years ago in Africa. Gradually, evolution made them upright, this is one of the main differences between ancient people and animals. Researchers distinguish such stages of human development:
- protoanthropes are the forerunners of humans, including Australopithecus, the remains of which were first discovered in Africa;
- most ancient person;
- ancient man;
- modern man.
Each stage is separated from the other for thousands of years, because changes in the appearance and characteristics of behavior occurred gradually.
Description of an Ancient Man
Among the most ancient people, researchers attribute the so-called skilled man, whose remains were discovered for the first time in the late 50s of the last century. What are the main differences between ancient people and animals that this find helped to identify?
- First of all, structural features of the foot - the thumb is not set aside, like our contemporaries. This allowed researchers to conclude that these people had all the opportunities for upright posture.
- The volume of the cranium, and, accordingly, the brain of the most ancient man, was several times higher than that of Australopithecus. The parietal and frontal lobes were especially well developed.
- Developed brush adapted to grasping movements.
It was this structure of the brush that became the basis for the assumption that these human ancestors could create an ancestral equipment, primitively process stones and use them for food. Therefore, most scientists believe that the main difference between ancient people and animals was the ability and ability to create tools for themselves. While they did not differ in special grace, but in comparison with monkeys it was a significant step forward.
Ancient guns
The main difference between ancient people and animals is the ability to make an ancestral equipment. For this, our ancestors took pebbles - a stone that is convenient to hold in your hand. Then, with the help of stronger stones, they chipped off the edges from it. The result was a pointed chisel that could be used on a hunt. The resulting flakes were also actively used. Now, thanks to archaeological finds, 6 varieties of ancient weapons and tools have been identified.
Other differences
What is the main difference between the most ancient people from animals, we have already learned. This is the ability to make tools with a flexible developed brush and use them. Now consider what other differences the researchers found.
The specificity of the lower jaw of the most ancient people, namely its curvature, allows us to conclude that even at this early stage of development, people could have articulate, but so far primitive speech. It was the most ancient people who learned to use fire. They could not breed it, but these people, unlike the representatives of the fauna, could already get and maintain burning.
However, in the features of the appearance of these people, a lot of things brought them closer to primates rather than to our contemporaries. So, the skull remained low, with a sloping forehead and impressive under-eye rollers, powerful jaws and a chamfered chin.
So, the main difference between the most ancient people and animals was the creation and use in their activities of primitive tools. Despite the rather rude appearance by modern standards, our ancestors have already taken a big step forward along the path of evolutionary development. They began to walk on their feet, use a brush, learned how to use fire and communicated using primitive speech. All these features made such people more like our contemporaries than monkeys.