Actually, they became dull fairly quickly, and if used on bone, would only last a while. Rocks for smashing the bones were useful in getting the marrow meat.
I've left a geo-cache of Legos behind so that future civilizations can ponder how we hunted robots using only plastic totems made to trick the robots into thinking we had their baby robots hostage, before we bashed their heads in with routers.
I am personally of the opinion that once we solved the challenges of hunting various species of animals, by eating meat we grew our brains, we than had to solve the challanges of self species predation. I believe that is ultimately how our brains grew past any other species prior to us.
@3, I think I speak for anyone fashioned to push out an infant--an infant so underdeveloped that it requires years of constant attention and feeding even to start walking but still has a big enough head to get stuck or split a mother's perineum a hefty fraction of the many times she gives birth--when I say fuck our fat brains.
I'm not sure self species predation would have made a lot of sense, even for early hominids, unless it were a situation where other, easier to catch game was so scarce that there simply was no alternative. I can't think of any other species, particularly mammals, where such forms of cannibalism are exhibited under any other than conditions of the most extreme deprivation.
Now, if we're talking about killing fellow hominids competing for game or other resources, given our natures, that would probably make more sense to me.
I don't see anything in that article about the tools only being used once or twice - did you get that info from another article? Am I just missing that bit?
@5 Whatever the reasons, you can see it today. I think that is the reason true crime fascinates us so. You have rapists, murders, robbers, etc., and you have their victims who sometimes outwit their attackers. Then you have the police using a wealth of knowledge and smarts to solve crimes. I think it goes to the core of who we are.
But, these actions don't necessarily involve predation for the sake of sustenance (although I can imagine some of our lazier ancestors may have found it preferable to steal some other hominid's kill than to kill their own), which is where I saw your comment leading. That's more akin to establishing dominance within a social group, which of course does occur all the time.
Good Morning Charles,
Well, my understanding of eternity is the end of the "constant" i.e. time. While time and eternity aren't necessarily opposite they certainly are different entities.
Last night, I read and viewed my most recent issue of National Geographic magazine. It's cover story featured the research concering the DNA of Pharoah Tut's family. It displayed a photo of his mummy and others as well (last year while visting Egypt, I beheld his Gold Mask for the second time. Wow, what a glorious piece of art as memorial). While gazing at his mummy (not his mask), I felt a sense of eternity. I saw myself like that in 5000-6000 years if mummfied and as skeleton if not. It didn't make me uncomfortable. I believe the Egyptians wanted to preserve eternity. What a great goal.
I just don't think it was a regular occurrence, although it may have happened in times when other game was extremely scarce. Again, SFAIA, there is little evidence of inherent cannibalism in other species (if one defines it as: deliberately killing and consuming a member of one's own species), so it doesn't seem like a reasonable assumption in my mind that early hominids would have engaged in the practice unless they absolute had to in order to stay alive.
What makes you think they were "dumbly discarded and forgotten," Charles? Wouldn't you expect what was basically the sole, labor-intensive tool an individual owned to be precious, and kept until or even long after it became useless? These weren't chimps we're talking about.
Actually, these findings are very controversial, as the evidence for the tool use is not very strong. Good conversation about it on last week's "Science Friday" on "Talk of the Nation."
@11 I think if early hominids were in any way vulnerable, they were probably an easy meal for other hominids. But then, what do I know? Not much really.
I've left a geo-cache of Legos behind so that future civilizations can ponder how we hunted robots using only plastic totems made to trick the robots into thinking we had their baby robots hostage, before we bashed their heads in with routers.
I'm not sure self species predation would have made a lot of sense, even for early hominids, unless it were a situation where other, easier to catch game was so scarce that there simply was no alternative. I can't think of any other species, particularly mammals, where such forms of cannibalism are exhibited under any other than conditions of the most extreme deprivation.
Now, if we're talking about killing fellow hominids competing for game or other resources, given our natures, that would probably make more sense to me.
Sorry if I misread that...
Well, my understanding of eternity is the end of the "constant" i.e. time. While time and eternity aren't necessarily opposite they certainly are different entities.
Last night, I read and viewed my most recent issue of National Geographic magazine. It's cover story featured the research concering the DNA of Pharoah Tut's family. It displayed a photo of his mummy and others as well (last year while visting Egypt, I beheld his Gold Mask for the second time. Wow, what a glorious piece of art as memorial). While gazing at his mummy (not his mask), I felt a sense of eternity. I saw myself like that in 5000-6000 years if mummfied and as skeleton if not. It didn't make me uncomfortable. I believe the Egyptians wanted to preserve eternity. What a great goal.
I just don't think it was a regular occurrence, although it may have happened in times when other game was extremely scarce. Again, SFAIA, there is little evidence of inherent cannibalism in other species (if one defines it as: deliberately killing and consuming a member of one's own species), so it doesn't seem like a reasonable assumption in my mind that early hominids would have engaged in the practice unless they absolute had to in order to stay alive.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story…