Herto Man

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/herto-man

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the age of herto man fossils?Dated to between 154,000 and 160,000 years before present
2. What is the archaeological association?Associated with stone tools classified as 'Transitional Acheulean' and Middle Stone Age
3. What are the Herto Man fossils and why are they important?They are the oldest known fossils of Homo sapiens, found in Ethiopia and dated to about 154,000–160,000 years ago. They show that early humans lived much earlier than many other fossils suggest.
4. Where were the Herto Man fossils discovered?They were found in the Upper Herto member of the Bouri Formation in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia, near a lakeside area.

Chronospecies: A species that is defined by its position in a lineage of evolutionary change over time.
Excarnation: A mortuary practice involving the removal of soft tissues from a corpse, often before burial.
Acheulean: A prehistoric stone tool industry characterized by handaxes, associated with archaic hominins.
Middle Stone Age (MSA): A period in African prehistory characterized by more advanced stone tool technologies used by early modern humans.