Chapter 9 - The End of Myths and Legends About the Biological and Cultural Evolution

Summary

The best method to fight myths and legends about biological and cultural evolution of primate species is through interdisciplinary studies and discussions. One of the myths the author can find in archaeology and paleoanthropology manuals is the one related to the Homo faber concept. It would be strange that, facing similar ecological conditions, forest hominids had renounced the advantages of the instrumental behavior only because of being pre-humans. This instrumental behavior could have been even more frequent than in the case of chimpanzees, given the advantages of bipedalism (in the forest as in savannah) for manipulating and transporting tools. He thinks that the generalization about the first lithic industries as being a consequence of a higher intelligence in the human genus should be qualified and contrasted with the paleoecological conditions of East Africa during the Plio-Pleistocene. This chapter talks about when hominids started making camps at ground level.