Re: Savannah and Grassland

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H. M. Hubey (hubey@pegasus.montclair.edu) wrote:
: herwin@gmu.edu (Harry Erwin) writes:

: >correct are far-ranging. For example, the ancestor of whatever hominid
: >species first ventured out on the open savannah had to have fire and was
: >using it habitually to keep his environment cleared.

: >Other comments?

: Does he contend that this was a sort of an early hunting
: tecnique perhaps? They set fire simultaneously to a section
: of a forest at different places and live off the baked animals :-).

Professor Talbot identified a number of purposes for burning, ranging from
clearing brush and maintaining sight-lines to honey-hunting.

: What other advantage would it have? It could have provided
: land for grass eaters to roam and make their hunting easier
: and also expose them to the other predators. Could they
: have erected primitive walls or barriers to fend off predators
: this early?

Probably. I suspect H. ergaster showed a good deal of 'human' behavior.

--

Harry Erwin

Internet: herwin@gmu.edu 

Home Page: http://osf1.gmu.edu/~herwin (try a couple of times)

PhD student in comp neurosci: "Glitches happen" & "Meaning is emotional"

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