Anthropology › Section D · Evolution, primates, and early hominins › Topic D.7
The earliest hominins
The human lineage began in Africa roughly 7 million years ago, and walking upright came long before large brains or stone tools. The early hominin record is a branching bush that new finds, some from the last two years, keep reshaping.
In this topic
- Hominins and hominids
- Reading bipedalism from bones
- Why walk upright?
- The oldest candidates
- Worked example: weighing the Sahelanthropus debate
- Ardipithecus ramidus
- Australopithecus and Lucy
- Worked example: did Lucy walk upright?
- More australopiths
- Robust hominins and the first tools
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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