Early Man

Syllabus tag: KCSE | History and Government | Form 1 | Topic 3 Early Man

Lesson objectives

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

• Describe the theories explaining the origin of man.
• Trace the stages in the evolution of man and name the key fossil finds.
• Describe the Stone Age periods and the tools of each.
• Explain the cultural development of early man and the significance of East Africa.

Summary

Two theories explain man's origin: the mythical or creation theory and the evolution theory. The evolutionary sequence runs from Aegyptopithecus through Kenyapithecus and the australopithecines to Homo habilis, Homo erectus and Homo sapiens. East Africa is called the cradle of mankind because so many of these fossils were found there.