INTRODUCTION

Click, crunch, click, crunch; that is the sound of an Australopithecus roaming in the grass. Speaking of Australopithecus, today you will learn stuff about this group of hominids, like how they lived, what they ate, etc. Australopithecines are a group of early humans that lived 5-1 million B.C. Archaeologists found an Australopithecine, and they named her Lucy from the song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” (1)

WHEN THEY LIVED

Australopithecines lived from 5-1 Million B.C. They lived in south Africa and traveled to find food. (2)

WHAT THEY LOOKED LIKE

The average male was about 4 feet 5 inches tall and about 90 pounds.

For a females, they were about 3 feet 5 inches tall and 60 pounds.

Australopicenes had small heads, long arms, wide waists and chests, were hairy, had a small heel bone, a small hip, small knee and heel joints, and large cheek bones. (3)

TOOLS

Australopithecus used sticks and stones for tools and weapons. They did not make tools, but used what they found in nature.

They used sticks and stones for protection and to kill animals for food. (4) They didn’t use knives or axes because they had small brains and did not know how to make them. (5)

FOOD

Australopithecus ate insects, bugs, berries, and they hunted animals for meat, a.k.a. food. (6)

COMMUNICATION

Australopithecines did not speak. Instead they used, gestures, hand movements, and grunt-like noises to communicate. (7)

LUCY

Lucy had the full pelvis bone, which is very rare.

She was discovered by Donald Johanson. She was the first Australopithecus found by archaeologists. (8)

RELIGION

Australopithecus did not have religon or ceremonies because they were not smart enough and too busy trying to survive. (9)

FIRE

Australopithecus didn’t use fire because they had unusually small brains so they couldn’t make fire. (10) Since they were half ape, they were probably scared of fire. (11)

CAVE DRAWINGS

They did not have any art because they were too busy surviving. (12)

CONCLUSION

Now you know more about Australopithecus and how they lived.

We hope you now know more about Australopithecines than you did when we began. Have a great day.

QUESTIONS

1. Why didn’t they have fire? 2. What food did they eat? 3. What time period were they from?

ANSWERS

1. Austrolapithacines did not make fire because they had unusually small brains.

2. They ate fruits nuts and berries off the ground. They also ate animals that were killed by other animals.

3. The australopithecines lived from 5-1 million B.C.

END NOTES

1. Early humans packet, “Australopithecus,” p. 3. 2. Ibid.

3. Ibid. 4.

Ancient Civilizations

, Macmillan/McGraw-Hill , pp. 207, 65, 67, 71.

5. Skype with Donald Johanson.

6. Ibid.

7.

Margaret Hynes ,

The Best Book Of Early People, pp. 6-7

.

10. Ibid.

11. http://www.E-lucy.com.

12.Early Humans Packet , “Australopithecus,” p. 3.

IMAGE CREDITS

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

http://www.fotosvideosdibujos.blogspot.com

http://www.dailytelegraph.com

http://www.posterlounge.de

http://www.ritearu.com

http://www.wordpress.com

6.

7.

8.

http://www.edibleblog.com

http://www.wierdscience.com

http://www.australopithecus.com

9.

http://www.cutcaster.com

10.

http://earlyhumans.org

11. Ibid.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ancient Civilizations.

Margaret Hynes. Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, 2007.

Creative Teaching Press.“Australopithecus.” Early humans packet, 1997.

The Best Book Of Early People

. 2007.

http://www.E-Lucy.com.

Donald Johanson. Skype interview. October, 2012.