AP World: Chapter 1 Before History
Homo sapiens
"Consciously thinking human," which first appeared around two hundred fifty thousand years ago and used sophisticated tools.
Austrolopithecus
"Southern ape," oldest known ancestor of humans; it lived from around four million down to around one million years ago, and it could walk on hind legs, freeing up hands for use of simple tools.
Homo erectus
"Upright-walking human," which existed from 1.5 million to two hundred thousand years ago; Homo erectus used cleavers and hand axes and learned how to control fire.
Hominids
A creature belonging to the family Hominidae, which includes human and humanlike species.
Jericho
Earliest known Neolithic village.
Neanderthal
Early humans (100,000 to 35,000 years ago) who were prevalent during the Paleolithic period.
History
Era after the invention of writing
Homo sapiens sapiens
First human being of the modern type, which appeared roughly one hundred thousand years ago; Cro-Magnon falls into this category.
Cro-Magnon
Homo sapiens sapiens, who appeared forty thousand years ago during the Paleolithic age and were the first human beings of the modern type.
Catal Huyuk
Important Neolithic settlement in Anatolia (7250--6150 B.C.E.).
Paleolithic
Old Stone Age, a long period of human development before the development of agriculture.
Jomon
Paleolithic settlement located in central Japan.
Chinook
Permanent Paleolithic settlement in the Pacific Northwest region of North America.
Natufians
Permanent Paleolithic settlement in the eastern Mediterranean.
Venus figurines
Small Paleolithic statues of women with exaggerated sexual features.
Prehistory
The period before the invention of writing.