The Paleolithic man; cavemen?

Question

Hey there,

Would someone please give me some ideas about how early cave men were agressive, territorial, or involved themselves in conflict, and how that effects how we are today?

thank you so much; any ideas are taken.

~kiki!~

Answer 1

We honeslty dont know how early "cave-men" acted, our knowledge of past hunting and gathering societies is based off of studies done on modern day hunter gatherers. Anyhow to the best of our knowledge hunter gatherers tend to be very xenophobic (fear of strangers) and also have boundries which are considered theirs for hunting/gathering in. Conflicts over these boundries probably existed just like they do today but probably were not a large part of life, as populations in those times would have been very sparse. Also we do know that some sort of figthing took place becasue we have found bodies with arrows in them, blows to the head from objects, etc. However, there is nothing to say that they were in any way MORE violent than we are today. oh and Cavemen were not soley dependant on meat for their diet like some suggest, by most accounts most hunter gatherers diets consisted of mostly non-animal material, normaly about 70-90% of their diet was gathererd not hunted. We are who those cavemen were.

Answer 2

Paleolithic represents the earliest period of the Stone Age, which is when early Man is characterized by his use of stone tools!

Because Paleolithic "cavemen" were Hunter/Gatherer, meat eaters, this required them to take the lives of other animals, by FORCE, for their meat. They were NOT simply scavengers!

During this period, there is also some evidence of cannibalism, although it's not known if humans were killed for their meat, or if they were simply eaten after they died, however, human bones have been found with stone cuts to the bone, indicating that their flesh was harvested!

The genetic makeup of those who survived to produce offspring, represents part of the human physiology/psychology that comprises who we are today!

Answer 3

By "Caveman" you are suggesting the stereotype of a brutish, club swinging semi-animal that wears fur and lives in a cave. The humans that were the basis for the term have received a disservice by it.

The keyword "dictionary" defines the term as:

"cave*man (noun) First appeared 1865. 1 : a cave dweller esp. of the Stone Age

2 : a man who acts in a rough or crude manner

The date is important. Neandertal Man, Homo sapiens neanderthalenis was first discovered in Germany's Neander Valley. The find was made in 1859. The bones were at various times claimed to be that of a caveman, and ape, a deformed human, and even a Russian Cossack from Napoleon's Army!

With a short, stocky body, bowed legs and a large jutting ridge over his eyes, Neandertal quickly be came portrayed as a brutish, dimwitted, and not acceptable in polite Company. In short the stereotypical caveman of bad movies.

Much of the problem that when the remains were fitted together, the scientists got it wrong. Modern reconstruction's, while keeping the stocky build, have changed the image. One display even has a Neandertal in evening clothes!

The Neandertals existed between 30,000 and 200,000 years ago. Their physical stature is similar to the Inuit of the far north (Eskimos) The body form conserves heat in a cold environment. Their bones were thicker, nasal passages larger, and their brains were of greater size then those of present-day humans.

The Neandertals used a limited tool kit to survive. The developed the Mousterian   system to chip stone and make their axes, scrapers, and points. Almost 3/4 of the game remains found at Neandertal sites is that if reindeer. Most Neandertal remains show injuries such as broken bones and dislocations. It has been suggested that their hunting methods exposed them to great danger and involved close contact with their prey.



The Neandertals were the first to express a religion. They buried their dead. Graves goods, food, tools and even flowers were interred with the body. One body found in Iraq was that of an old man that could only have lived based on the care of others. He had arthritis, a head injury that left him blind in one eye, and an amputed arm.

Recent testing of Neandertal DNA show that present day humans are not descended from the Neandertals. This has placed them outside the human line of descent. However, it should be remembered that this has happened before, Neandertals were out, only to be put back in.

Neandertals lived during the height of the last ice age. They were well adapted to the climate and were well able to survive. When the climate changed it appears that they were incapable of changing with it.