Illustrated History of China B

Author: None
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: The "archaic humans" from 500,000 to 100,000 years ago
The development from archaic humans to modern humans went through four stages: early Homo habilis, late Homo habilis, early Homo sapiens, and late Homo sapiens.
The "1470" human is currently recognized as a typical representative of early Homo habilis, with a survival period of 3.8 million to 1.8 million years ago, representing the early stage of human evolution.
Late Homo habilis, also known as "Homo erectus," includes the Javanese Homo erectus of Indonesia, the Heidelberg Homo erectus of Germany, the Lantian Homo erectus of China, and the Beijing Homo erectus, all of which are typical examples of late Homo habilis in the process of human evolution.
The discovery of the Beijing Homo erectus, in particular, more clearly revealed the intermediate stage between apes and modern humans. The Beijing Homo erectus was discovered in 1929 at Longgushan in Zhoukoudian, Beijing, and now includes more than 40 individuals of different ages (both male and female), as well as numerous stone tools, bone tools, and evidence of fire use.
The body of the Beijing Homo erectus was slightly shorter than that of modern humans, with males averaging about 1.62 meters tall and females about 1.52 meters tall. Their limbs already had a modern human form, and their average brain capacity was 1075 milliliters. All of this proves that the Beijing Homo erectus had long moved away from apes and was much closer to modern humans. More importantly, they may have already had their own language.
Neanderthals were the earliest discovered early Homo sapiens, often referred to as "Neanderthals." The survival period of early Homo sapiens was from 300,000 to 200,000 years ago to 50,000 to 40,000 years ago. The Maba, Changyang, and Dingcun humans in China all belong to the Neanderthal fossil group. The average brain capacity of Neanderthals was 1350 milliliters, and their physical and intellectual development was significantly greater than that of earlier humans.
Late Homo sapiens, also known as "modern humans," lived from 50,000 to 10,000 years ago. Because the earliest fossil of modern humans was discovered in the Cro-Magnon cave in France, they are also known as "Cro-Magnons." Cro-Magnons showed changes in body shape, height, and cranial proportions, with an average brain capacity of over 1400 milliliters, similar to that of modern humans. Modern humans were widely distributed, with fossils found not only in Asia, Africa, and Europe but also in Oceania and the Americas. Anthropological research has proven that humans migrated from Asia across the Bering Strait to the Americas 50,000 years ago, and that Asians reached Australia from Southeast Asia 40,000 years ago.
Modern races emerged alongside late Homo sapiens. Anthropologists classify people in the world into three races based on their physical features: the Mongoloid (or Asian race), the Caucasian (or European race), and the Negro (or African race).