Who Were the Hobbits?

Who were the hobbits?
The hobbits were a species of human known as Homo floresiensis that lived on the Island of Flores, Indonesia. They were about as tall as a modern 4-year old, which is where their nickname came from. They lived from 38,000-12,000 years ago, and were discovered in 2003. They had the brain size of a modern chimp, yet they had intelligent behavior. There is no confirmed theory as to why they are so small, but one theory to their diminutive size is that they shrank through an ecological process known as "island dwarfing", where a species that lives on an island gradually becomes smaller, because there are less or no predators,and/or resources are not plentiful, so there would be no real advantage to a larger size.their ancestors are also unclear. They could have descended from Homo erectus, but Homo erectus were more bodily advanced, and further in evolution than the hobbits, so they would have had to un-evolve a lot to become they way they were. They could have come from Homo habilis, which was an earlier and more primitive species than Homo erectus, but there is no evidence of Homo habilis ever leaving Africa. Hobbits are a controversial topic among anthropologists, because some experts argue that the hobbits are not a new species, and are only a mutation from another species. They also argue that not enough fossils have been found of Homo foresiensis to prove that it was an independent species, and they could have just been the odd ones out of a normal group.

Why Tool-Making and Language were Important for the Development of Human Culture

Why were tool-making and language important for the development of human culture?
Tool-making and language were important for the development of human culture because tool making helped develop eating patterns, and language is a large part of culture. Culture is defined as "The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought". Speech is especially important in this definition because culture involves a human's thoughts and sharing them. With the development of language, humans had a way to share their thoughts and ideas. Also, the tools helped them to kill animals that they would eat (raw, and later in time, cooked), and how, what and when humans kill animals for eating all fall under the category "behavior patterns". All in all, the development of language and tools was important for the development of human culture because it helped them think and transmit ideas, and also it influenced their behavioral and eating patterns.

Why Early Humans Began to Walk on Two Feet

 Why did early humans begin to walk on two feet?
    Explore all the possible reasons and give concrete examples to support your thinking.
One possible theory is that about 5 million years ago, Africa was covered in forests, but then the forests started getting smaller, and where the forests used to be, there was grassland. The early humans needed to go through the grasslands to get to the forests, but the grass in the grassland was very tall, so they had to stand upright to over the grass to see where they were going. A very similar and closely linked theory is that the humans lived in the forest, but they had to leave the forest to get food, and when the food started to get further and further away, the humans had to walk longer distances, and they walked upright because it was more efficient and they didn't waste as much energy while walking the long distance to get to the food. As time went on and the humans developed more, the early humans developed longer legs that let them get further in each step with the same amount of energy. A different theory about food is that the humans had to stand upright to reach fruits on higher trees. While bent over, you cannot reach as high, so you can only reach lower fruits, ut while upright you can reach higher fruits.An additional theory related to food is that when a male had am mate and made her pregnant, he had to hunt for extra food for the baby, and walking upright allowed the male to carry more food, wood or other supplies for the whole family in his arms. This works because if he is walking on all fours, none of his hands are free for carrying, but if he is walking on 2 feet,, his arms can be used for carrying. A completely unrelated theory is that the early male humans stood upright to help attract a mate, or to show that he is more powerful/dominant than some other male. In other words, standing upright could be a show of force. This could be true because modern chimps also stand up when they are trying to show force. In all of these theories, the walking probably occurred only part time, though. For example in Lucy, the 3 million year old Australopithecus Afarensis, she had Long legs and a toes that were suited for walking. However, she also arms suited for climbing and swinging in trees.

How Fire demonstrates Prehistoric People's Ability to Adapt to Their Environment

The use of fire demonstrates prehistoric people's ability to adapt to their environment because it shows that when the prehistoric people have a need that isn't commonly or always fulfilled by their environment, they change their environment to provide them with that need. In the case of fire, they found cooked food better than raw food because it had benefits like easier digestibility, better taste and fewer diseases. However, cooked food wasn't commonly found in their environment. It was found only after a wildfire, when animals that couldn't escape the fire got cooked. They then brought fire into their home from elsewhere, so that they could use the fire to cook their food. Later, they developed the ability to create fire for themselves, and so they didn't have to find fire to bring it into their home. They are adapting to their environment, and adapting their environment to them, so that they can have better food which ensures better survival.