Homo erectus was an accomplished tool maker and tool user; hand-axes like the one above were widely used in addition to sharp-edged flakes. The tools of Homo erectus are the first in the fossil record to show conscious design of any complexity. Wooden tools and weapons are also assumed to be present in the tool kit of this species, but none has been preserved in the fossil record. H. erectus may have been the first species to use and control fire. This milestone in human development occurred 1 to l.5 million years ago. Control of fire may have enabled humans to move out of Africa and into colder climates in Europe and Asia.
The earliest specimens of Homo erectus are found in Africa, but, sometime after 1 million years ago, Homo erectus apparently migrated out of Arica. Tools and remains of this species have been found widely distributed in Europe and Asia. Homo erectus is thus the first human species to migrate out of Africa and adapt to a variety of Old World environments. The painting below left depicts a small band of Homo erectus foraging for food in the tropical forests of Java; the painting below right shows the same species adapted to the terrain and climate of northern China.
Some Homo erectus sites in China preserve evidence of cannibalism, though it has been speculated that perhaps these acts were ritual rather than predatory behavior. One H. erectus skull at Bodo in Africa shows signs of having been scalped. The meaning of such behavior is difficult to reconstruct from limited evidence.
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