When were the first humans on earth, just how far back does it go back?

Question

When were the first humans on earth, just how far back does it go back?

Answer 1

it depends on what you define as humans. i will assume that you mean modern humans like you an me a.k.a homo sapiens sapiens.  we came along about 200,000 years ago. if you want to know when exactly our lineage diverged from say gorillas, youll have to go back a few million years.

Answer 2

Human like activity goes back 2 million years but not humans.

Answer 3

We evolved from human/apelike creatures millions of years ago.

Answer 4

The simple answer is, that there were no pre humans as such.

No evidence in the fossil record as regards ( missing links) related species.  No one knows how long man has walked the earth. There is a lot of evidence to say that man has been on this earth for tens of millions of years but it has been supressed by the powers that be. If it were ever brought to the surface, all the books that were ever written on the subject would have to be rewritten, killing off the careers of all the big names in Archaeological and Anthropological fields. Now they wouldn't want that to happen , would they. Lylo Lil.

Answer 5

My vote goes to Homo Erectus. There are two others (see below)

Homo erectus ("Upright Man") was the first hominid to leave Africa. His existence dates from 1.6 million years ago to perhaps 200,000 years ago. However, recent discovers have suggested that isolated populations may have existed even later.

Early discoveries of Homo Eretus remains were variously named Peking Man, Java Man and Heidelberg Man. His range was all of Africa, most of Europe and as far East as China. Sites in California have been suggested as containing Homo erectus finds. No one had satisfactorily explained how the vast distance from China to California was crossed.

Homo eretus used stone tools made by the Acheuliam process. This mainly produced a hand ax, a fist sized piece of rock that tapered to a point. The hand ax was suitable to be used as an ax, a knife, scrapper, or to dig roots.

Camps are identified by the remains of the stone tools and the debitage (debris) left from their making. Bones, and stone circles also identify the camps. Inside the stone circles, believed to be the remains of huts made of hides or bush, are found hearths. Fire use is shown by the reddish color of the soil plus the remains of burned material (carbon products)

While Homo erectus used and controlled   fire it isn't certain that he was able to create it. Most likely he was able to collect fire from lighting strikes and other natural sources. He then would maintain the fire and develop ways to carry embers to start more campfires. Fire can be made from percussion, striking sparks, by friction, rubbing wood together or by pressure as used in the fire piston. Homo erectus left no remains to suggest that he used any of these methods.

The candidates for "Well they look human" are

Homo sapiens "Man who thinks" The archaic form is dated between 500,000 and 150,000 years ago. Brain size is about 1200cc. The species shows  links and the characteristic of Homo erectus.

Homo sapiens sapiens Modern man. The first known group appears some 40,000 years ago during the Neolithic period. However, new finds are pushing that date back.