Hunter-gatherer children in the past: An archaeological review

Milks, Annemieke; Lew‐Levy, Sheina; Lavi, Noa; Friesem, David E.; Reckin, Rachel

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101369

Cited by 14 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 149 publications

(250 reference statements)

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“…Suggestions that children are put in danger by accompanying hunts [ 74 ] can be mediated with current literature on the numerous ways in which infants and children are carried during expeditions by parents and alloparents. The importance of infants remaining with adults (versus being parked) is an important part of our lineage [ 87 , 88 ], with children accompanying the wide range of expeditions consistently evidenced in the archaeological [ 89 ], as well as the ethnographic record [ 90 ]. Data explicitly mentioning that infants are carried while hunting exist for the Aka [ 91 ] and the Awa [ 92 ], as well as for foraging bouts that might result in opportunistic hunting (e.g., among the Batek [ 93 ] and Nukak [ 94 ]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Myth of Man the Hunter: Women’s contribution to the hunt across ethnographic contexts

Anderson,

Chilczuk,

Nelson

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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The sexual division of labor among human foraging populations has typically been recognized as involving males as hunters and females as gatherers. Recent archeological research has questioned this paradigm with evidence that females hunted (and went to war) throughout the Homo sapiens lineage, though many of these authors assert the pattern of women hunting may only have occurred in the past. The current project gleans data from across the ethnographic literature to investigate the prevalence of women hunting in foraging societies in more recent times. Evidence from the past one hundred years supports archaeological finds from the Holocene that women from a broad range of cultures intentionally hunt for subsistence. These results aim to shift the male-hunter female-gatherer paradigm to account for the significant role females have in hunting, thus dramatically shifting stereotypes of labor, as well as mobility.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Myth of Man the Hunter: Women’s contribution to the hunt across ethnographic contexts

Anderson,

Chilczuk,

Nelson

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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show abstract

“…The possibility of it functioning as a child’s weapon is intriguing. Archaeological and ethnographic evidence from hunter-gatherer societies suggests children are provisioned with miniature versions of adult weapons that can be intended as toys for pretence play, learning tools, or as finely-made scaled-down weapons enabling them to participate in hunting [see 88 for a review]. However, while (like the spears) the maximum diameter is off-centre, unlike the spears it is naturally curved.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A double-pointed wooden throwing stick from Schöningen, Germany: Results and new insights from a multianalytical study

et al. 2023

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The site of Schöningen (Germany), dated to ca. 300,000 years ago, yielded the earliest large-scale record of humanly-made wooden tools. These include wooden spears and shorter double-pointed sticks, discovered in association with herbivores that were hunted and butchered along a lakeshore. Wooden tools have not been systematically analysed to the same standard as other Palaeolithic technologies, such as lithic or bone tools. Our multianalytical study includes micro-CT scanning, 3-dimensional microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, supporting a systematic technological and taphonomic analysis, thus setting a new standard for wooden tool analysis. In illustrating the biography of one of Schöningen’s double-pointed sticks, we demonstrate new human behaviours for this time period, including sophisticated woodworking techniques. The hominins selected a spruce branch which they then debarked and shaped into an aerodynamic and ergonomic tool. They likely seasoned the wood to avoid cracking and warping. After a long period of use, it was probably lost while hunting, and was then rapidly buried in mud. Taphonomic alterations include damage from trampling, fungal attack, root damage and compression. Through our detailed analysis we show that Middle Pleistocene humans had a rich awareness of raw material properties, and possessed sophisticated woodworking skills. Alongside new detailed morphometrics of the object, an ethnographic review supports a primary function as a throwing stick for hunting, indicating potential hunting strategies and social contexts including for communal hunts involving children. The Schöningen throwing sticks may have been used to strategically disadvantage larger ungulates, potentially from distances of up to 30 metres. They also demonstrate that the hominins were technologically capable of capturing smaller fast prey and avian fauna, a behaviour evidenced at contemporaneous Middle Pleistocene archaeological sites.

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Pleistocene Weaponry

Milks

2024

The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology

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Weaponry coevolved with the genus Homo , providing a means with which to actively hunt. This review of the evidence of the use of weapons in the Pleistocene traces the development from one‐piece wooden spears and throwing sticks through to innovative technologies such as harpoons and the bow. While hunting tools provide pathways for understanding subsistence strategies, they also are significant for mapping shifts in cognitive evolution, technological adaptions, social structures, and cultural learning.

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Hunter-gatherer children in the past: An archaeological review

Cited by 14 publications

References 149 publications

The Myth of Man the Hunter: Women’s contribution to the hunt across ethnographic contexts

The Myth of Man the Hunter: Women’s contribution to the hunt across ethnographic contexts

A double-pointed wooden throwing stick from Schöningen, Germany: Results and new insights from a multianalytical study

Pleistocene Weaponry

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