Hunter， Prey and the Scavenger？

Zhao+Shugang

Abstract：Everybody has seen images of primitive people， wrapping themselves up in animal skins， with a simple club in hand， fighting various kinds of animals， sometimes even dinosaurs which never even existed in their time. It seems that our ancestors， since the early periods of history， possessed the wisdom and courage to survive in wild lands and become the greatest hunters in the natural world. Actually， during the Period of the PlioPleistocene， our ancestors were not necessarily hunters. On the contrary， they might have been the prey of other carnivores， or perhaps， they were just like the African hyena， or a vulture that lives on the rotten meat just like other animals.

With their beautiful writing style and scientific vision， the prize winning science writer， Roger Lewin， and Professor Robert A. Foley of Cambridge University together published a book called Principles of Human Evolution in which they gave a perfect picture of the lonely journey of early human beings to modern culture. They gave an example of how the archeological documents should be interpreted. At the same time， through rigorous academic accomplishments and debate， using the style of a detective， they gave a remarkable image of development and showed the readers how our hominid ancestors maintained their livelihood and social activities.

There are still many debates among anthropologists and archaeologists regarding the livelihoods and daily activities of our ancestors. However， there is one indisputable fact： our ancestors were carnivorous—the traces of stone tools notched on the fossil skeletons of animals clearly prove this point.

One of the key points here is whether the remains found in Africa resemble human residences， or animal nests？ To a certain extent， it depends on the imagination of the individual anthropologist.

No matter， whether， according to the description of Roger Lewin， as well as that of Robert A. Foley， our ancestors were the “great hunter” or， more conservatively speaking， hunting was only a small portion of their livelihood， if we observe them ecologically， or technologically， our ancestors most probably had lived off of rotten food.

As a matter of fact， there has not been sufficient evidence to prove that our ancestors lived off rotten food， and it was certain that they could not have gotten enough meat by simply scavenging rotten food. More importantly， from some fossils excavated from the remains， it seems that those primitive people had first come into contact with the skeletons of the animals， rather than picking up the remnants left by them. Therefore， the hunting hypothesis has not been completely overthrown either.

Because they lacked “long distance weapons”， ancient hunters could not have practiced large scale hunting operations. If our ancestors depended only on hunting， they could never have satisfied their food needs. Besides， it is also difficult to infer from modern hunting practices how hunting operations took place one hundred million to two hundred million years ago. More importantly， although the arguments of Roger Lewin and Robert A. Foley are very solid， there is one question which cannot be ignored. So far， the only possible hunting tools excavated from archeological sites are all stone tools which are easily preserved. However， this does not prove that our ancestors did not use more effective hunting tools. For example， through observation using a microscope， we can see that the stone tools were also used for cutting trees. This， at least could explain that， in addition to hunting， stone tools were also used for other natural resources.

There is still a debate among scholars as to whether our ancestors were more apelike or manlike during PlioPleistocene Period. Without the archaeology discovery of the notches from the stone tools found on the animal bones， this kind of dispute will go on forever. This could be an eternal mystery. Our deepest concern， however， is， when will the Chinesespeaking world provide this kind of exciting and educational book for youth and children？ All over the Chinese speaking world， this field still feels like a desert. It seems that our scientists lack this kind of literary ability ； and， on the other hand， our writers seem to lack scientific literacy. Therefore， it is difficult for us to have works which combine scientific observation with literary skills as Roger Lewin and Robert A. Foley did. Roger Lewin not only collaborated with anthropologist Robert A. Foley， but he also collaborated with the famous archaeologist Richard Leakey， and published books which combined the popularization of science together with academic purpose. Roger Lewin is prize winning writer， as well as a freelance writer， and his accomplishments derive not only from his literary ability， but also from his devotion to science throughout his life. His professional knowledge is not second to that of academics.

When are we going to have such kind of talent in Chinese speaking society？ We are waiting for it eagerly.

Key Words：human ancestors； Principles of Human Evolution； food sharing hypothesis； scavenger hypothesis

References：

Roger Lewin and Robert A. Foley，Principles of Human Evolution， Malden， Mass. Blackwell Science，2003.