Christopher L. Bennett
African History to 1400
HUMAN ORIGINS
Beginning some five million years ago, East Africa began experiencing a climate shift, with forests thinning and grasslands increasing. The theory that this led directly to hominid bipedalism has been discredited, however (see Shreeve in the Bibliography). The early pithecines probably still resided in wooded areas, and may have developed bipedalism to free their hands for more efficient gathering. Ground-dwelling primates already possessed some capacity for tool use, as shown in the digging sticks used to this day by great apes, but the freeing of the hands enabled this potential to develop further.
Greater manipulative skill and hand-eye coordination drove an increase in neural complexity and intelligence. This increased the need for protein, and by the emergence of Homo habilis, a member of the family Hominidae (which arose from one branch of the Australopithecus family), the herbivorous lifestyle had been supplemented by scavenging. The use of stone tools to break open bones for their high-calorie marrow, after predators and other scavengers had taken all the meat, gave these weaker, unclawed, blunt-toothed scavengers a niche where they could thrive.
By one million years ago, the hominids' size and need for protein had risen to the point that Homo erectus had gone from scavengers to hunter-gatherers. Predators need greater territory to gather sufficient food, so H. erectus began to spread outward. Fire was harnessed, and used for cooking and hardening wooden spearpoints. It also facilitated hominid migrations, enabling survival in colder climates.
Hominid females' need to bear, nurse and transport young limited their mobility and muscle mass, so that males specialized in hunting while females specialized in gathering, which remained the primary food source. This division of labor meant that males and females had to share each other's food, so that hominid males developed stronger communal ties than in other primate species, and a capacity for strong emotional bonds between males and females evolved. Also, negotiation over the division of food promoted the development of language and social interaction. The first true language was probably sign language, a further adaptation of hominid dexterity. This laid down the neural structures which later shifted to producing spoken language, the development of which may have freed the hands for the more sophisticated tool use of the Upper Paleolithic era ("Later Stone Age").
This brings us to a typical H. sapiens sapiens society of the Upper Paleolithic, sometime between 10,000 and 40,000 years ago. The community is an extended family of some three dozen members. For the moment, they reside at a campsite consisting of several shelters of branches and grass around a central firepit. However, they will leave for another site once the food runs out, or in case of a death, illness or other bad omen.
The young, strong men are off tracking game. They have throwing-sticks to increase the power of their spears, along with bows and arrows, which have less power but greater range. However, as often as not they come back empty-handed. This need not be disastrous, since forage is abundant, but meat is still a welcome gift from the spirits. A hobbled shaman, too weak to hunt but respected for his wisdom, paints his vision of a successful hunt on a rock outcropping, his chants petitioning the animals' spirits to allow such an outcome.
The women of the community chuckle at the frivolity of their men, playing with sticks and stones and pigments when there's real work to be done: gathering sustenance; making clothes and foodbags by weaving grasses or by knitting skins together with bone needles; tending to the infants; and passing knowledge down to the older children while trying to keep them under control -- a far more challenging task than killing a stag. Still, the women are concerned at the growing scarcity of meat around this campsite. Some are near childbirth, and more mouths to feed could be fatal to the whole group. Tragically, it may be necessary to abort a fetus or kill a newborn so that an infant already at the breast may survive, or so that the mother may live to bear more young in more prosperous times.
Also, when the men's hunting drives go unsatisfied, they become rowdy and disruptive. The women can usually keep them under control with sexual persuasion, a power which few men can resist and which most men worship and fear. It balances the men's predatory aggression and strength, helping the sexes coexist harmoniously -- just as the balance of female gathering and male hunting provides a rich, shared diet. But when the hunters kill too much and anger the spirits, when meat does not come and bloodlust goes unsated, the balance is disturbed.
But now some males return, telling of a successful kill. It's a large buck, so it's easier to move the camp to it than the reverse. The rest of the hunters remain at the kill, holding off the scavengers. Perhaps this move is a good omen, a new beginning.
Certainly things are festive at the new campsite. The men use stone saws and axes to carve the meat and break the marrow-filled bones. The women bring fruits and vegetables in wooden bowls they've carved. The shaman boasts of how his prayers led to this result, hoping the others' gratitude will bring him more food, but the others don't take him too seriously. The women have more luck using their seductive charms to win more meat for the benefit of the babes at their teats and in their wombs. Changing tack, the shaman clutches a rotund fertility totem and prays for successful childbirths, hoping to win favor or food from the women.
The headman, mightiest of the hunters, makes a speech proclaiming rich eating and much happiness ahead. The others cheer, more out of good spirits than any particular reverence for the headman, and then his wives start quizzing him about who's going to clean up the bones and build shelters. The headman needs to do his share as much as anyone else, and pretty words won't cut it. Like men throughout time, the boastful headman acquiesces to the real authority in his family, knowing that without female practicality very little would ever get done. Still, he resolves to gripe about it to his hunting group over some fermented berry juice later on....
Partial bibliography
Lenski, Gerald and Jean Lenski, Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology, Fifth Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1987.
Shreeve, James, "Sunset on the Savanna" in Discover: The World of Science, Vol. 17, No. 7 (July 1996), pp. 116-125.
Shillington, Kevin, History of Africa, Revised Edition. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995.