[extropy-chat] random caveman thought

[BillK]

On 12/17/06, spike wrote:
>
> Is it not striking how deeply this term "cavemen" has penetrated our
> language?  We all know it refers to ancient people, but consider how few
> caves there are in this world.  There are surely not enough caves to shelter
> a sufficient population to be self sustaining.  Protohumans must have been
> capable of building shelters of some sort from the time they split from
> protochimps.  Only a fortunate few humans would have discovered caves.
> These fortunate few would be at least as civilized as their
> non-cave-dwelling cousins, for they would need to work out a system of
> living in cooperation with as many humans as the cave would hold.  They
> would need to band together in common defense of that cave, otherwise a
> larger group would attack and take that natural shelter.
>

Caves are good for preserving human remains. That's the main reason we
associate early humans with caves.

But cave-dwelling as a permanent habitation would not have been
possible before farming was invented. Hunter-gatherers and nomadic
tribes would possibly have used caves temporarily until the nearby
food sources were used up, then they would move on.

By the time farming was developed, there were usually many better
options for housing available.

BillK