INTRODUCTION TO UNIT TWO: HUMAN BEGINNINGS
IMAGES OF THE GREAT RIFT VALLEY in AFRICA
THE OLDEST FINDS…
LUCYAustralopithecu
s afarensis Found in 19743.2 million
years old Named after
the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
"Lucy's Baby" -- World's Oldest Child -- Found by Fossil Hunters on September 20, 2006
• 3.3-million-year-old • Found along the Great Rift Valley.• Nicknamed "Lucy's baby" because it was found near
Lucy.• The baby is tens of thousands of years older. • The child was probably female and about three years
old when she died.• The remains include a well preserved skull, milk teeth,
tiny fingers, a torso, a foot, and a kneecap no bigger than a dried pea.
• It has the complete skull, the mandible, and the whole brain case.
• The most impressive difference between Lucy is that this baby has a face
SO WHAT DOES “LUCY’S BABY LOOK LIKE?
LUCY’S BABY
“One of the most important discoveries for the study of human evolution.“
• ARDI was found in 1994 in Ethiopia (GREAT RIFT VALLEY)
• Findings were not announced until 2009 (15 years later)
• Ardi lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia.
• Ardi walked upright. She stood about 47 inches tall and weighed about 110 pounds.
• Able to climb trees.• Biped on the ground, but a quadruped in the
trees.
Ardipithecus ramidus
THE EARLIEST HUMAN ANCESTORS WERE ALL FOUND IN THE GREAT RIFT
VALLEY OF AFRICA!!!
“THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION”