The habitats and way of life of ancient man are very different from ours. In those distant times, both nature and climate were completely different. Man, a species new at that time, had to adapt in his own way to changing environmental conditions.
Homeland of mankind
Deciphering the human genome has allowed scientists to make an amazing conclusion. It turns out that all people are distant relatives. We all come from one small tribe. The place where the ancient man lived is in Africa, a little south of the Sahara.
Our oldest ancestral home is considered to be the environs of the Olduvai Gorge. It is the natural radiation that came out of the fault that scientists believe is the cause of the onset of the mutation. The oldest human remains are 5 million years old. Knowing the original habitats, it is easy to determine the countries where the most ancient people lived. These are Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya.
Another hearth where the oldest hominids are found is Tibet in the Himalayas. Here the age of the finds is 3.5 million years. Thus, the main territory where the ancient man lived was the continents of Africa and Eurasia.
Capture the world
From the original territory where the ancient man lived, he went to explore the whole earth. It was 40-45 thousand years BC. e. The first step was to develop the territory of the Arabian Peninsula. A man crossed the Strait of Gibr altar and first came to Europe. At the moment, resettlement inland was not possible. With the retreat of the glacier, Europe turned into one huge swamp.
Another group went to explore the East. Settlement took place along the narrow coastal strip of the Indian Ocean. It should be noted that the level of the ocean at that time was quite different. Where the waves of the sea are now splashing, it was possible to walk on land.
Part of the tribes turned back and later merged with the population of Europe. Another group continued to move along the ocean. The modern Aleutian Islands were then a single piece of land. Through it, people got to Australia.
America was also mastered without seafarers. Cape Providence and Alaska were connected by land. There was also a land isthmus between North and South America.
At first, only territories along the shores of the oceans were developed, the glacier and the swamps left by it prevented us from going further. The glacier retreated rapidly, the swamps dried up, giving people more and more space for life. So, even in the Stone Age, the territory where the ancient man lived, the continents covered everything.
What sent a man on his way?
The area where the ancient man lived was very favorable. Mild climate, large number of animalsand fruit trees. So what prompted a man to go to explore unknown lands?
The warming of the climate and the melting of the glacier in connection with this caused the migration of cattle. Mammoths - the main food source of the Neanderthal - cannot live in hot conditions. It turns out that the person had to follow the food. Perhaps all the resettlement took place in migration for herds of mammoths and other large animals.
Although theoretically the whole journey could be done in 2 years, the migration lasted as much as 50,000 years. People had nowhere to hurry, the glacier receded gradually. They built houses, settled territory and moved on, sometimes after several generations.
The retreat of the glacier gave more and more space to our ancestors. Gradually, not only coastal zones were mastered. Man continued his journey deep into the continents. Soon the entire planet was under the rule of the human tribe.
Dwelling of the Ancients
Earlier, it was unreasonably believed that people settled in spacious caves. But where the ancient man lived, traces of his activities always remained. Later it was concluded that the caves were used mainly for ritual purposes. This is evidenced by rock paintings and later temples.
People preferred to settle in open spaces along the banks of rivers. Branches, logs, animal bones were used for construction. From above they were covered with the skins of animals obtained by hunting. From below, the canopy was strengthened with stones or heavy skulls.
The sizes of buildings where ancient people lived differed from each other. Some preferred to build large familyhuts with several hearths. Others are small family semi-dugouts. The preferred shape was round or oval. The roof most often had a conical shape.
What did our distant ancestors look like?
Our oldest ancestor, although he had already learned to walk, looked more like a monkey in appearance. In the places where the ancient man lived, it was very dangerous, and large grasping hands often saved lives. The brain remained underdeveloped, which betrayed a small sloping forehead. The jaw and chin, on the contrary, were too developed in comparison with modern man. Humanization had just begun, the body was still covered in thick fur.
Gradually the proportions of the body changed. The arms were shortened as they lost their support function. The spine straightened, and the legs became longer. The brain developed very quickly, along with it, the cranium also increased. When man began to use fire for cooking, the need for a powerful jaw disappeared.
The only thing that has not been able to find a reasonable explanation is the loss of hair. But this is what prompted the man to create clothes.
Prehistoric Fashion
As long as the hairline was preserved and the places where the ancient people lived were in the territory of a hot climate, there was no need to hide oneself. Primitive man felt no shame in being naked: it was natural.
The need to dress arose in connection with the resettlement. In colderregions, people began to freeze and someone guessed to wrap himself in the skin of a dead animal. Such a robe was hardly comfortable and constantly fell off when worn. Another man made a hole in the middle and stuck his head in, and tied the belt with his tail.
More than one generation of people has contributed to the emergence of what we, modern people, can call clothes. Gradually sewing appeared. Several pieces of skins were sewn together with a bone needle and the veins of animals obtained during the hunt. In this way, they began to make not only clothes, but also canopies for the quick erection of tents.
The same skins were used to create shoes. Over time, the technique of leather dressing improved. More and more comfortable forms of clothing and footwear appeared. Later, vegetable fiber was also used. The oldest found linen thread is 35,000 years old.
In the course of evolution, man managed to achieve a lot on the path of perfection. People managed to adapt and survive in the most difficult natural conditions. They "tamed" the fire. They learned to make tools from the surrounding material: wood, stones, animal bones. Sewing clothes and more. The origins of our comfortable life lie there, in the ancient past of mankind.
