It took man another 200,000 years to grow up. Homo erectus man was about the same size as modern humans, although they only had two-thirds the size of our brains. Their tool-making skills were considerably improved. Their weapons included stone axes and knives. Homo erectus man was probably the first hunter. 

These early people learned to make fire! 

They were probably a bit startled when they saw what they had created, little knowing that the invention of fire would change life dramatically! 

Why was the ability to able to make fire so important? 

Location: They could choose where they camped. They no longer had to shelter out of the wind, unless they chose to do so. If their fire went out, they could relight it. On a hot night, if they could find a relatively safe place, a breeze might feel good. 

Movement: Control of fire made moving into colder regions possible, as fire they could count on would provide them with warmth.

Protection from Animals: As man had already discovered, most animals were afraid of fire, so a roaring campfire gave protection to the group or tribe. 

Protection from Disease: It also changed the way they prepared food. These people began to cook their food consistently. Food that is cooked is more secure from disease and much softer to eat. As a result, it would have been easier for the young and the old to survive.

Social Life: Thanks to their fire-making skills, a nightly campfire became a possibility and a routine. What was once comfort and safety, was now also a social occasion. People collected around the fire each night to share stories of the day's hunt and activities, to laugh, and to relax. 

Appearance: The Homo erectus species was the first to look like....people, because their teeth and jaws were shaped somewhat like ours our today. 

You might think this change in appearance happened over time because they cooked their food. 

But, according to Anthropologist, Dr. John J. Shea, that's not true at all. Dr. Shea told us: "The reduction of teeth and jaws due to cooking is a popular idea, but not evolutionarily plausible. If you relax selective pressure for massive jaws--say by cooking food--you get greater variability, not reduced robusticity. Jaw reduction probably had something to do with changes in respiration, maybe speech." (In other words, they looked far more like people do today because that's just how they looked!)

Migration: About one million years ago, these people began to slowly leave Africa and travel to other continents. They did not need a boat. The Ice Age was here! For a very long time, the earth was frozen, creating giant walkways, which were natural bridges of solid, frozen ice and land. These "walkways" allowed them to travel over what would later be vast rivers and seas.  Some of the walkways were a hundred miles wide! These early people wandered from Africa to Europe and Asia, and from Asia to America, probably in search of food.

How do we know so much about Homo Erectus?  

Like the discovery of Lucy, scientists found another skeleton near Peking, China, that dates to this period. This skeleton is referred to as the "Peking Man".

Artifacts have also been found of their tools and weapons, which help us to understand how they lived, where they went, and how they got there.