1001-Ideas-That-Changed-the-Way-We-Think [Robert Arp] (fb2) читать постранично, страница - 3

The first exposure that early humans had to fire most likely came from wild fires and forest fires sparked by lightning. While destructive and potentially deadly, they provided early access to the tool, although it was not a force that people could control, much less create at will. There is evidence to show that as early as 1.6 million years ago Homo erectus groups had harnessed fire to some extent, and by 400,000 to 250,000 BCE there is clear evidence that Homo erectus could control and perhaps even create it. By 125,000 BCE, well after the emergence of modern Homo sapiens, human use, control, and creation of fire were widespread and common.

“Fire, though it may be quenched, will not become cool.”

Ovid, ancient Roman poet

Humanity’s mastery of fire had an immediate and profound impact on its evolution. Fire gave people protection from wild animals, allowed them to illuminate the darkness, gave warmth to fend off the cold, enhanced their ability to fashion tools, gave them the ability to cook food, and served as an effective deterrent against insects and pests. Fire was so useful in the preparation of food that humans became the only animal that could nutritionally thrive by eating cooked but not raw food. Fire’s importance in culture is so marked that the word itself became a ubiquitous metaphor used to describe ideas such as romantic love, conflict, destruction, and intense desire. MT

c. 800,000 BCE

Cannibalism

Unknown

The practice of humans eating the flesh of other humans

Markings on these human bones, which date to around 12,000 years ago, are thought to indicate cannibalism.

The earliest evidence of cannibalism comes from butchered bones found in the Grand Dolina cave in Spain, dating back to c. 800,000 BCE. These bones suggest that the practice existed among members of western Europe’s first known human species, Homo antecessor, and similar findings from later periods show that it continued with the emergence of Homo sapiens and other hominid species. There are several theories as to why cannibalism first arose: one hypothesis suggests that it may have been a result of food shortages; another that it may have functioned as a form of predator control, by limiting predators’ access to (and therefore taste for) human bodies.

Cannibalism persisted into modern times in West and Central Africa, the Pacific Islands, Australia, Sumatra, North America, and South America. In some cultures, human flesh was regarded as just another type of meat. In others, it was a delicacy for special occasions: the Maoris of New Zealand would feast on enemies slain in battle. In Africa, certain human organs were cooked in rites of sorcery because witch doctors believed that victims’ strengths and virtues could be transferred to those who ate their flesh. In Central America, the Aztecs are thought to have sacrificed prisoners of war to their gods and then eaten their flesh themselves. Australian Aborigines ate their deceased relatives (endocannibalism) as a mark of respect.

“I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.”

Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs (1988)

The colonization of these regions between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries by European Christians made cannibalism taboo. However, it occasionally still occurs in extreme circumstances. GL

c. 650,000 BCE

Clothing

Unknown

Garments, fabrics, or other coverings worn by humans over their bodies

The materials that early humans used to create the first clothing were probably those they found around them, such as pliable grasses, plant leaves, and animal skins. Because these materials decompose so easily it is difficult to determine when humans first created clothing. Researchers studying human lice have suggested that clothing could have become widespread as early as 650,000 years ago, while other studies suggest an origin of about 170,000 years ago. These time periods correspond to either the beginning or the end of an Ice Age, indicating that clothing may have first developed as a way of coping with colder climates.

The first items of clothing were most probably fairly crude in their construction, draped around the body and tied with sinew. The development of the needle around 35,000 years ago by Homo sapiens allowed the creation of more complex clothing—garments that could be layered and tailored to fit certain parts of the body. It has been hypothesized that this technology may have been what enabled Homo sapiens to flourish as a species over the Neanderthals, who were more adapted to the cold biologically and thus did not have the impetus to refine the cutting and sewing techniques that were needed for warmer clothes.

“Clothes can suggest, persuade, connote, insinuate, or indeed lie …”

Anne Hollander, Seeing Through Clothes (1975)

Although clothing may have been created out of necessity initially, it has since become far more than a means of adaptation to the environment. Throughout history it has been used to protect a wearer from the elements, but also as a way to convey nonverbal information, such as signaling differences in wealth, class, sex, or membership of a particular group. MT

c. 600,000 BCE

Honoring the Dead

Homo heidelbergensis

The practice of paying respect to a deceased person through specific rituals

The 60,000-year-old burial tomb of a Neanderthal man in the Chapelle aux Saints cave, France.

It is difficult to pinpoint when the idea of honoring the dead began. There is some evidence to show that Homo heidelbergensis (who existed between 600,000 and 400,000 years ago) were the first proto-humans to bury their dead. Whether they honored their dead or ascribed some kind of spiritual aspect to the burial process is unknown, however. There are human burial sites from about 130,000 years ago that show more convincing evidence that those performing the burial intended to remember or honor the deceased, through the position of the body, the inclusion of items such as tools and animal bones with the body, and the addition of decorative elements to the tomb. This suggestion of ritual in the burial process could indicate that it was one of the first forms of religious practice.

“Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.”

George Eliot, author

In some cultures or traditions, honoring the dead is an ongoing practice in which deceased relatives or ancestors are viewed as having a continued presence among, or influence over, the living. In others, the traditions that honor the dead occur immediately after someone’s death, or at various times throughout the year. Honoring the dead is not necessarily a religious tradition, though many religions have specific and extensive rituals for the practice.

Honoring the dead is a near-universal practice that exists across geographical, cultural, and religious boundaries. The shared rituals involved in the custom provide a social bond in societies, and a way to link the deceased with the living. These elements are strongly present in many religious rituals, often forming the basis of individual, and cultural, identities. MT

c. 400,000 BCE

Using Sharp Projectiles

Homo heidelbergensis

Creating tools and weapons with sharpened points or tips

Two examples of Solutrean Points. The Solutrean tool industry existed between c. 20,000 and c. 16,000 BCE, and was characterized by finely crafted, leaf-shaped blades.

Humanity’s first use of sharp projectiles predates history, as three wooden spears found in Schöningen, Germany, show that Homo heidelbergensis had used projectile weapons by at least 400,000 BCE, and perhaps as early as 500,000 BCE. The longest of the three spears measured 7 feet 7 inches (2.3 m) long and all of them had a thicker section toward the front in the style of a modern javelin, which suggests that they were specifically used for throwing rather than thrusting. By 300,000 BCE, Homo neanderthalensis had begun using shaped stone spear points, and by 64,000 BCE stone-tipped arrow heads first appeared in South Africa.

“It is easy to dodge a spear that comes in front of you, but hard to avoid an arrow shot