By:
Bridget, Julie,
Daniel V., and
Taylor
For our early humans project, we studied
Homo Habilis. Homo Habilis means “handy
man.” These great ancestors were called
“handy man” because they were the first
tool makers. Homo Habilis had very small
brains, but they could memorize much in
them. These creatures were one of the first
true humans. In this presentation, you will
learn about how Homo Habilis lived. We hope
you enjoy the show!
Homo Habilis lived all over Africa. They didn’t live
in one certain place because they traveled to find
food and shelter. One of the main places that you
could find them was in the Olduvai Gorge. They
lived during 1.8 to 1.6 million B.C. They are our
second oldest ancestors.
Homo Habilis were about 4.5 feet tall. They had a
more rounded skull than Australopithecus. They also
had a smaller, longer, and narrower face. They even
had a smaller jaw and teeth. Their jaw lines were
curved with a slope and sides making them look like
modern humans. They also had strong legs to help
them walk upright.
Homo Habilis constructed simple huts made from
branches and held in place by stones. These dome-
shaped houses were simple to make and protected
Homo Habilis from wind and animals. Homo Habilis
lived under cliffs whenever possible. These handy
men did not live in caves no matter what because
there were carnivores in the caves and they could
attack. Homo Habilis did not have great tools so they
couldn’t fight back. Their tools were good enough to
to dig and crack fresh bones, though.
Homo Habilis didn't use weapons that you throw
at animals to kill them for food. Instead, Homo
Habilis would sneak up on an animal. If an
animal did not notice, then Homo Habilis would
jump on the animal and kill it with stones or
sharp branches. They would cut them up and
then open and strip all the meat off the bones.
After they would take big rocks and drop them on
the bones to get to the marrow, which was inside
the bones.
Homo Habilis is Latin for “handy man,” which fits well
because they were very good at making stone tools.
Homo Habilis probably spent most of their day
scavenging for food such as marrow, fresh
meat, eggs, small game, and plants. They migrated
from Africa to Israel. They made their huts out of
branches that then were held in place by stones. Their
huts protected them from animals and bad weather.
About two million to ten thousand years ago, men had to
be smart to survive. Homo Habilis were the first tool
makers. Although this group made stone tools and
weapons, these weapons were still very basic. They hit
rocks together and that was one weapon. Homo Habilis
probably did not stay in one place very long, but were
always on the move in search of food.
Homo Habilis could not make fire. The only way food
could be cooked was if a traveling group of Homo Habilis
was lucky enough to find a natural fire made by lightning
or heat. Homo Habilis would camp next to the fire to
keep away wild animals because these animals were
afraid of fire. When they broke camp, Homo Habilis
probably tried to take fire with them by setting sticks and
long, grass reeds aflame. Scientists have also found
broken bones in tools at old camp sights, meaning Homo
Habilis scavenged for fresh kill, broke the bones, and ate
the fresh marrow, but did not cook their food.
Homo Habilis did not have any type of religion or
ceremonial content. They were not smart enough to
remember anything else except for how to survive.
They also did not have any cave paintings or
carvings. The closest thing to art they had was
them making their weapons.
Early humans were not capable of speech.
Instead, primitive gestures and simple sounds such
as grunts and yelps were all the sounds those early
humans could produce. Though not many sounds
could be made, Homo Habilis were very
communicative. They could work together to solve
complicated problems such as how to control wild
fire. Even with this small amount of communication
made life much easier and safer.
We found out that Homo Habilis did not wear any
clothes. They would walk around naked. If they wore
clothes at all, they would probably wear animal skins
or something they found in nature and drape it around
themselves for warmth.
Something that we thought was interesting was that Homo
Habilis means handy man. We also learned that they were
the first true humans because Australopithecus weren’t as
smart. We also learned that these handy men could
memorize things. They were also the first tool makers, and
they knew how to control fire, even though they didn't
know how to make fire. We thought many other things
were interesting, but it would take too long to write
everything.
To conclude, the Homo Habilis were very interesting
creatures. When you think about it, they lived much like
us. We really enjoyed learning about the Homo Habilis for
our early humans report. We hope you enjoyed our
presentation and learned something about the
Homo Habilis. Let’s see if you did!
1. What did the Homo Habilis use fire for and how did
they get it?
2. What does Homo Habilis mean and why do you
think they were given this name?
3. Did Homo Habilis use caves for shelter? Why or
why not?