a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by ooli
ooli  ·  1653 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Persistent Myth of Human Persistence Hunting

I was trying to be lighthearted.

The point is : Without agriculture no massive carbs source. Without carbs, long distance running is a loosing proposition (you cant replenish the carbs needed even when catching the prey). Agriculture is 10k years old

Persistent hunting is supposed to be the factor leading to homo... basically from Erectus 2 millions years ago, to sapiens , 1 millions years ago.

Once a Sapiens, with sweat, hairlessness, plantar stuff, gait, and all, you're already the result of millennia of selection gained through persistent hunting (allegedly).

But you are right , actually (while using agriculture) the Tarahumara can complement their diet with some antelope by running after them. It was not an option for Erectus (who had not access to such carbs source)





ThurberMingus  ·  1653 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Forgive me if I'm unable to let a lighthearted thing go...

You are overestimating the carbs needed to run or underestimating the carbs available from gathering. We're not talking about olympic sprinting regimen, but trotting just fast enough to keep an animal from panting in the shade long enough to cool off. Its also possible to run with super low number of carbs, even if it feels like hell until you're used to it.