littor...@gmail.com wrote:
We propose:
the regular exploitation of large-animal resources (the “human predatory pattern”) began with an emphasis on percussion-based scavenging of inside-bone
nutrients, independent of the emergence of flaked stone tool use.
This leads to a series of empirical test implications that differ from previous
“meat-eating” origins scenarios.
So they went from not eating meat or animal protein to smashing open bones
to get at the marrow, and this explains why they walked across the globe?
Look: "They picked up stuff & ate it."
That's it. That sparked "Aquatic Ape." They got easy, virtually limitless protein
by just standing on a beach, picking stuff up & eating it.
Done.
And that just so happens to have supplied everything they needed to grow
their brains just as big as genetics would allow.
And as soon as the pickings grew slim, or their numbers grew too large,
they moved along to a new stretch of beach where they stopped, picked
stuff up & ate it.
Again, done.
Just doing that they were going to reach everywhere from Oceania to
southern Africa.
Just from that, if a genetic mutation cropped up, allowed them to grow
bigger or smarter brains, they had the Omega-3s to do it.
Again, done.
The more upright they got, the deeper the water they could handle.
Shells were a great precursor to things like hand axes. They even
support more than a passing similarity in looks with some early
hand axes...
Spears were allowed a "Research & Development" stage. As a stick,
crooked or not, you could find shellfish with them. As a kid, digging
for Quahogs, I remember using a little hand rakes, for gardening. I
recall just scraping the sand just below the water line, feeling for
the shells underneath...
Anyway, I spear was useful for that even if it was crooked and not
useful for anything else. And that crooked, unperfected spear was
harmless. So you didn't get the fish? So what? You dug up more
shellfish...
Aquatic Ape allows you all the "Re4search & Development" time
you need to figure out the spear. And once you do, it's PERFECT
as a throwing spear.
Seriously, a spear perfect for cutting through the water, getting
that fish, is perfect for fighting air resistance!
Fire?
Did you know you can attract fish with fire?
Did you know that cooking shellfish with fire opens them? And
if they don't open that means they're bad?
Speaking of fire: Set that savanna on fire while you're living on
the savanna and you die.
"Oo! I know! Climb up into a tree! They're safe from fire."
(Guess again)
On a beach though, fire isn't that much of an issue. Nobody ever
set the sand on fire, burning their tribe alive...
So they had time. They had opportunity for "Research and
development." They didn't have to get any of these things right
the first time, or the 10 millionth time... they could take as long
as they needed.
Try doing that on a savanna, with a spear, facing a hyena
the size of a Volkswagen... or what seemed like the size of a
Volkswagon to something no bigger than a Lucy...
You needed that spear to work perfectly.
And try "Taking your time" to figure out the nuances of fire
on a savanna if you and the next generation are living on
that savanna.
Not. Pretty.
AND ALL THIS, the fire, the bigger brains, the spears, the
crossing the globe... all this just from being on a beach,
picking up stuff & eating it.
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