Ap Human Geography Chapter 1 Summary

Chapter 1

Describe the first humans.

In East Africa, archaeologists have unearthed bones and tools of human ancestors called hominids that go back about five million years ago. Australopithecus, known as “the southern ape”, were an example of hominid creatures whom were short, hairy, and limited in intelligence. They walked upright, had some ability to communicate verbally, and could travel over long distances to obtain particular stone to fashion tools. These tools included choppers, scrapers, and more for food preparations. About one million years later, a new species of hominids that belong to the genus Homo evolved called Homo erectus. Homo erectus possessed a larger brain than the australopithecines and fashioned more advanced tools such as cleavers and handaxes, which were useful in hunting and

as an effect of the great migration out of Africa. The neighborhood of the Yellow River gave birth to two Neolithic societies known as the Yangshao and the Longshan cultures. In addition, similar communities began to appear in the Yangtze valley, but was based on rice rather than dry crops. The Yellow and Yangtze Rivers are considered the core regions in the development of Chinese civilization as they spread to other lowland areas. With China’s 12 percent of total land area arable, much of the remainder consists of mountains and deserts that ring the country north and west. The geographical barriers served to isolate China from advanced agrarian societies. When China was unified with capable rulers, it kept the nomadic intruders at bay. But in times of internal weakness, China was vulnerable to attack from the north, and sometimes nomadic people succeeded in overthrowing native Chinese rulers. The other directions of China was little to fear. The east laid the China Sea and a lair for pirates, but was not a source of concern. The south was a hilly region inhabited by a mixture of varied