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”