The Hunting-Gathering Mode

The evolution of a (or parallel) primate ancestor(s) to a proto-hominid(s) and subsequent radiation of that (those) ancestral line(s) to the human varieties which now exist on Earth has taken many millions of years to happen. The eating patterns of these early humans was much the same as any other large primate of the time. The result of the field work studying the Mountain Gorilla, the Chimpanzee varieties, the Bonobo and the Orangutan has given us a reliable picture of the probable mode of the feeding behavior of our early ancestors and human progenitors up to the time of the domestication of animals and the start of agriculture.

The diets of each of the large primate species differs as to content of animal and plant material consumed. For example, whereas the Gorilla is vegetarian (with some insect larvae consumed once in a while), the Chimpanzee is omnivorous and consumes both animal and plant foods. As the difference in the DNA (basic hereditary elements) between Humans and Chimpanzees is less than 2%, I will focus on the diets of Chimpanzees in their natural habitat as an example. In any case, all food is sought after and consumed on the spot from whatever is discovered while foraging in the environment as a group. Areas of fruit trees, root crop species, leafy plants and the like are gleaned, abandoned and returned to after sufficient time for development of a harvestable commodity by the group moving as a whole, even though individuals may forage alone, with a friend or as a member of a small family unit within hearing distance of the main group. As all primate species are territorial and have frequent rounds of challenges to their territory from other large primate groups, the area of circulation for food is defined by the interactions with other groups of large primates. The area is limited to what may be defended, and the territory under conquest is forever changing to what may be defended adequately by member strengths and weaknesses.

The source of drinking water, salt licks, herbaceous plants and other desired commodities such as plants which aid in illness recovery remains within the consciousness of group members. This is passed on by example to siblings and the young due to close proximity to the plants within the groups area of conquest and frequent encounter thereby whilst foraging under all manner of living conditions.

Man has evolved within the macroevolution of the plant and animal kingdoms inhabiting the Earth at any one era in time. This includes microorganisms found within specific niches in the environment as a whole where any primate group will find itself. Microorganisms have adapted to an amazing variety of different niches with a complex array of overlapping and sometimes exclusive elements such as temperature, moisture, salinity, pH and oxygen. Sometimes, these conditions include the space within the alimentary tracts of animals. It is these organisms which interest us.

The alimentary tract starts with the lips of your mouth and ends with the lips of your nether part, meanwhile traversing the stomach, the intestines and the colon. This "Space Within" is a very special part of you. Most think of it as inside the body and in one sense it is. However, it is in actual physical reality also outside of your body. The reason for this fact is that your body is that which is comprised of muscle, tissue and bone in the middle of two tubes, one tube within the other. The outer tube being your skin and the inner tube being the mucosal lining of your alimentary tract. Thus, whatever is contained within the alimentary tract is actually outside of your body! If this were not so, you would be like a giant amoeba, so to speak. This means then that the microorganisms inside of your alimentary tract live outside of your body. Thank goodness!

It is easy to imagine, that in the process of foraging and gathering plant food items and drinking water from whatever source, that microorganisms move into and out of multicellular animal life in a constant cycle. The microorganisms which habitually inhabit alimentary tracts of various animals have also evolved within this backdrop of macroevolution and hence developed relationships which have yielded a wide array of survival strategies on both the part of the animal and the tiny inhabitants. As the evolution of animate life yielded more complex forms and a diversified array of "hosts" for the microorganisms which came to be adapted for life inside them, there have been sufficient eons of time for the various relationships which now exist and as we speak to develop even further. The most obvious examples are the microorganisms which live in the various stomachs of ruminants (such as cows) and carnivores (such as tigers). Each type has a completely different set of tiny inhabitants. This leads us to the topic of later chapters which deals with the relationships between microorganisms and their hosts, as we know them. For now, we go to the mode of living for humans to be discussed as Hunters.

Hunting is an extension of foraging and gathering which involves complex behavioral strategies on the part of the participants. Finding an insect or small reptile such as a lizard is much a part of foraging. However, the stalking and killing of larger animals requires certain skills not usually associated with non-carnivore species. Chimpanzees will gang up on a smaller monkey species for instance and tear them limb from limb. Each partner in the killing will take their portion off by themselves or to their family unit for consumption. The meat, fat and soft tissues will be picked apart or torn apart with aid of the teeth and eaten raw. Chimpanzees always eat meat with various plant leaves at the same time. This is to enable the solution of fat soluble vitamins in the plant material consumed. Hunting for animal flesh is done usually no more than once or twice a month in order to satisfy the craving for fat soluble vitamins and the need for oil in the diet.

This behavior is a rudimentary form of stalking and hunting. In humans, this process was furthered by the use of tools (club and hand spear) fashioned to aid in the killing process. Old Stone Age archeological sites yield flint axes and scrapers used for hunting, chopping meat and scraping skins as they last almost forever. Items used during foraging (such as collecting berries, fruit, grubs and shellfish) require leather bags or woven baskets which decompose much more rapidly. The targeting for food of animals not easily ganged up upon required the development of group cooperation until such weapons as the boomerang, the atlatal (spear throwing stick) and spear or the bow and arrow allowed a single individual to successfully slay the food animal from a distance instead of running the animal down. The oldest boomerang found to date is 28 inches long, from Poland and is dated about 21,000 BC. The boomerang is found all over the world but now used only in Australia for hunting. The bow and arrow is approximately the same age. Flint arrowheads have been found in Spain dating 18,000 BC. Fishhooks date from 14,000 BC in Southern Europe and South Africa.

The dynamics of population growth within a proscribed territorial limit can not explain the reason for the adoption of hunting and the eating of flesh as the main component of diet. The lifestyles of the plains peoples all over the world, such as the Lakota in what is now the Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana in the continental U.S.A., however testifies to the success of this strategy. Movement into new territories due to population pressure and displacement by stronger groups may account for the eventual habitation of the entire Earth by humans. But, if indeed man evolved in the region of Africa which encompasses the Serengeti Plain, ample opportunity to mimic resident carnivores and hone hunting skills was abundant due to the great variety of herbivores which live there. Here is a dry and arid landscape rather than a lush and verdant garden. It may be that human development was from the beginnings dependent upon hunting skills. The finding of rudimentary weaponry with proto-hominid ancestors of Man testifies to the very early and successful adoption of hunting as a food gathering strategy as well as for making war. The consumption of plant foods by plains peoples is limited to what may be gathered along stream and river courses, by lakes, in mountain meadows and other areas of sufficient water runoff. Plant materials plays a secondary role of supplement and healing rather than the main course.

Thus, if Man's early ancestors were typical to the present day Chimpanzee varieties in eating habits, the change in diet to primarily flesh eating probably meant a shift in alimentary tract microflora and occurred over a period of many hundreds (and perhaps thousands) of years as mankind shifted their eating habits. The hominid fossil remains being unearthed in the Olduvai Gorge in Africa include crude implements and weapons. Thus, eating flesh must have been an early evolutionary development for ancestral humans since the geological age being investigated is some 1 to 3 million years old. In fact, it might be that a switch to a more carnivorous diet was what aided the growth of the human brain. Which came first, is up in the air. In any case, our present day omnivorous diet includes various meats, vegetables, leafy greens and fruit in the industrial nations. The societies in India and Southeast Asia have a very large component of vegetarianism to the exclusion of any flesh. These people have thus adapted to the Gorilla type of eating behavior and have made modifications in their diet to obtain the vitamins, effectors and cofactors which they need. By and large, cultural and religious bias has played a significant role in justifying the niche specialization which occurs in the present day diet of man among various peoples.