| “ | These people are Homo Ergaster, the people who had taken the next step on the journey to becoming human. | „ |
| — Allen Johnson, about Homo Ergaster in New Arrivals | ||
Homo Ergaster (name meaning "Workman") is a genus or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Africa in the Early Pleistocene. Whether H. ergaster constitutes a species of its own or if it should be subsumed into H. Erectus is an ongoing and unresolved dispute within palaeoanthropology.
In the Series 4 episode "New Arrivals", a family of Homo Ergaster were seen hunting a Wildebeest which they killed and took meat back to other individuals of their group in Early Pleistocene Africa, 1½ million years ago. Later while a male got injured during a brutal fight with another male who bit his ear and Allen and the team took him and his group to the park where Rebecca uses treatments on his injury. The team eventually allows the Ergaster to visit the park much like some later species of hominids.
Facts[]
Era & Discovery[]
Homo Ergaster lived in Africa during the Early Pleistocene from 1.9 to 1.4 million years ago. They were among the first human hunters and the one of the first hominids to use fire.
Homo Ergaster skeleton
Physical Attributes[]
Homo Ergaster stood 6.1 ft tall and weighed about 106 pounds.
Homo Ergaster would cover distance in hot conditions at quite a speed, because they had the most sophicated cooling of any animals on Earth during their era. They had long modern looking noses that cooled and moistened the air as they breathed. Homo Ergaster also had hairless bodies that allowed heat to escape and millions of tiny glands in their skin mean they didn't pant to control their temperture but rather sweat. So while other animals of these hominids' environment sitted out in the shade, Homo Ergaster could stride out in the sun.
Homo Ergaster also had another adaptation, something we can see: an enormous brain. They were the creature that we got the skill of tracking animals and looking at their prints in the mud from, and yet for these hominids it was the key to unlock nature's secrets. Homo Ergaster understood with a particular cloud that would signal rain, the arrival of a new type of bird which would mean a changing season and new opportunities. Even if Homo Ergaster had never seen particular kind of animal before, they would still place it within the jigsaw of their world.
Bigger brains allowed Homo Ergaster to make an extra ordinary technological breakthrough. They created the rolls-royce of stone axes which were heavy and powerful yet precise enough for delicate cuts. A million and half years before our time, Homo Ergaster's axes was the most sophicated object on the planet.
Homo Ergaster were the first of our ancestors to have what we would recognize as a human voice and using it communicate to each other had became crucial to their way of life. We think that they were also the first of our ancestors to have very notable whites to their eyes like our. Like us, Homo Ergaster could see into each other's minds and communited at a glance hidden depths of meaning. However, their brains along with brains of their Asian cousins Homo Erectus didn't work like ours do.
Behavior & Traits[]
Homo Ergaster lived in groups made up of several individuals of different ages. These hominids didn't have permanent home base, instead they drifted from place to place depending where they would find food. Homo Ergaster often hunted as a family and worked together to find their prey, stalk it, and eventually kill them.
Homo Ergaster were simply a group of animals held together not by safety in number nor by an individual male, but ties family and friends. However, a primitive eruption of violent when they fight was both sudden and shocking to these hominids, yet it was part of their complex lives together.
Journal Entry[]
| “ | One of the first humans to hunt and the first to use and control fire, Homo Ergaster had the most sophisticated cooling system of any animal on Earth. Their long modern looking noses cooled and moistened the air when they breathed. They had hairless bodies which allowed heat to escape and millions of tiny glands in their skin meant Homo Ergaster didn't pant to control their pant, but sweat, that meant while other animals sat it out in the shade during hot days, Homo Ergaster could stride out in the sun.
It showed Homo Ergaster planning and vision, and because they were found all over Africa, it showed that these hominids could have learned from each other the secret of how to make them. A million and half years before the present handaxes were the most sophisticated object on the planet. Their bigger brains had completely changed the way Homo Ergaster lived. They worked together to find their prey, stalk it, and kill. Homo Ergaster were the first hominids to have what modern humans could have recognise as a human voice, and using it to communicate with each other had became crucial to the way they lived. Homo Ergaster didn't have any permanent home bases, instead they drifted from place to place depending on where they could find food. Scientists think that Homo Ergaster were the first hominids to have noticeable whites of their eyes, like modern humans. Like modern humans, Homo Ergaster could see into each other's minds and communicated, at a glance, hidden depths of meaning. |
„ |
| — Allen Johnson, in his journal about Homo Ergaster | ||
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