Two chapters, the same questions asked of both
Put two Deep Time chapters next to each other — their evidence base, the dating methods behind them, the live debates, and the questions still open.
Homo Habilis
The first toolmakers, and the ongoing argument about where the genus Homo begins.
Open full chapter →Homo Erectus
The first long-distance migrants — fire, hand axes, and a two-million-year run.
Open full chapter →Cranial and dental fragments alongside early flaked stone assemblages and cut-marked animal bone.
A comparatively rich fossil sample across Africa and Asia, Acheulean handaxe assemblages, and site-level evidence of fire.
| Method | What it constrains |
|---|---|
| Lithic analysis and refittingOldowan cores, flakes and debitage | Demonstrates intentional knapping and sometimes reconstructs the sequence of blows. It does not identify the knapper's species. |
| TaphonomyCut marks, percussion marks and carnivore tooth marks on bone | Distinguishes hominin from carnivore modification. Order of access is argued case by case. |
| Endocast measurementCranial interiors | Gives volume. It says little on its own about cognitive organisation. |
| Method | What it constrains |
|---|---|
| Palaeomagnetic and radiometric site datingSediments and volcanic layers at Eurasian and African sites | Establishes presence at a place and time; it does not trace a migration route. |
| Postcranial morphologyLimb bones and reconstructed skeletons | Indicates stature and locomotor efficiency. Behaviour is inferred. |
| Microstratigraphy of combustion featuresAsh, burnt bone and heated sediment in hearth-like deposits | Can show fire in a place. Distinguishing controlled fire from natural burn requires context. |
Is Homo habilis a coherent species or a wastebasket taxon?
The referred specimens show variation some researchers read as multiple species.
Hunting or confrontational scavenging?
Both leave overlapping bone-surface signatures.
When did habitual control of fire begin?
Claims range across hundreds of thousands of years depending on how strictly evidence is defined.
One widespread species or several regional ones?
Asian and African samples differ enough that some researchers split them.
- Who made the earliest flaked tools?
- Was meat a driver of encephalisation or a consequence of other changes?
- How should the early Homo specimens be sorted taxonomically?
- What drove the first sustained dispersals out of Africa?
- Why did the Acheulean remain stable for so long?
- How is the Asian material best classified?