ger brain, excellent vision, and limbs and hips fully adapted to an upright posture. Paleoanthropologists call this hominid Homo Erectus, a human much taller than its diminutive predecessors, standing on average five feet six inches tall, with hands capable of precision gripping and many kinds of tool making. The skull is more rounded than those of earlier hominids, but still had a sloping forehead and retreating brow ridges. Homo Erectus was more numerous and more adaptable than Homo habilis, and, on present evidence, was a much longer-lived species. Archaeological sites for this species appear at higher, cooler elevations in southern, eastern, and northern Africa. Homo erectus may have been a skilled big game hunter, capable of organizing quite elaborate hunting and foraging expeditions, and using multipurpose Snell 5axes and cleaving tools. Like all hunters and foragers, Homo Erectus had probably learned to live with natural fires and was not afraid of them. In time, the new hominid may have made a habit of conserving fire, taking advantage of smoldering tree stumps ignited by lightning strikes and other natural causes to light dry bush. Then came the biggest step of all, the making of fire. Perhaps as early as 1.5 million years ago, Homo erectus may have learned to create fire in East Africa, but scientists still debate the issue. Fire offers not only warmth, but also protection against predators and an easy way of hunting game, even insects and rodents. The toxins from many common vegetable foods can be roasted or parched out in hot ashes, allowing people to use a wider range of foods in their diet. Homo erectus was a much larger species than its predecessors meaning that the newcomers needed larger quantities of food to satisfy higher metabolic rates. This meant they had to range over much larger hunting territories perhaps moving into more open country, where trees were rare. Perhaps, the bands now carried firebrands with them as...
