{"id":5961,"date":"2015-06-14T17:25:10","date_gmt":"2015-06-14T21:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=5961"},"modified":"2018-08-24T15:14:27","modified_gmt":"2018-08-24T19:14:27","slug":"sunday-june-14-2015-yes-we-have-no-savannah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=5961","title":{"rendered":"Sunday, June 14, 2015 \u2014 Yes, We Have No Savannah"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did ear\u00adly hominins evolve on the savan\u00adnah? Almost any\u00adone who reads works on pale\u00adoan\u00adthro\u00adpol\u00ado\u00adgy would say \u201cyes.\u201d I would like to explain why I\u2019m tempt\u00aded to say \u201cno.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A long time ago, I was chat\u00adting with an ornithol\u00ado\u00adgist. We were dis\u00adcussing the Cana\u00addi\u00adan province of Saskatchewan, the south\u00adern third of which con\u00adsists of the clas\u00adsic North Amer\u00adi\u00adcan prairie land\u00adscape. I casu\u00adal\u00adly referred to some \u201cprairie birds\u201d, includ\u00ading among them the wil\u00adlett and the killdeer. My friend cor\u00adrect\u00aded me. \u201cThose aren\u2019t prairie birds at all,\u201d he said. \u201cThey live on the river\u00adbanks. That\u2019s a total\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent ecosys\u00adtem. It doesn\u2019t mat\u00adter that it\u2019s only a few hun\u00addred yards wide and six hun\u00addred miles long, it\u2019s not the prairie. Dif\u00adfer\u00adent plants and ani\u00admals, liv\u00ading a dif\u00adfer\u00adent lifestyle.\u201d This was some\u00adthing I hadn\u2019t grasped. The prairies of Saskatchewan sup\u00adport species like the lark bunting, the bobolink, the west\u00adern mead\u00adowlark, and the sharp-tailed grouse, which all nest, feed and frol\u00adic on the grass\u00adlands, and are all bona fide<\/em> \u201cprairie birds\u201d. Fur\u00adther to the north, in the great Cana\u00addi\u00adan for\u00adest, you will find wood\u00adland species like the black\u00adpoll and Ten\u00adnessee war\u00adbler, the pine siskin, and the nuthatch. But the wil\u00adlett and the killdeer live and work in a ripar\u00adi\u00adan niche, the com\u00adplex ecosys\u00adtem of river\u00adbanks and lake\u00adsides, which is fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent from the grass\u00adlands that sur\u00adround them. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the 1980\u2019s, when I read exten\u00adsive\u00adly on the sub\u00adject of human evo\u00adlu\u00adtion, I noticed that pale\u00adoan\u00adthro\u00adpol\u00ado\u00adgists did not make this dis\u00adtinc\u00adtion. Vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly every book and arti\u00adcle dis\u00adcussed some aspect of hominin evo\u00adlu\u00adtion \u201con the savan\u00adnah.\u201d Now, a savan\u00adnah is a grass\u00adland, much like the prairie of Saskatchewan, except that it is dot\u00adted with trees that are not suf\u00adfi\u00adcient\u00adly close togeth\u00ader to form a canopy. Like prairie, its ground cov\u00ader is grass, form\u00ading a tigh\u00adly woven matrix. It sup\u00adports a vari\u00adety of graz\u00ading ani\u00admals, and the preda\u00adtors that dine on them. Most of us have a men\u00adtal pic\u00adture of the African savan\u00adnah, formed by numer\u00adous tele\u00advi\u00adsion nature spe\u00adcials and old films like Born Free<\/em>. Almost every book or paper about hominin evo\u00adlu\u00adtion talks about the savan\u00adnah as the ecosys\u00adtem in which it took place. Yet, when\u00adev\u00ader I read par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar reports of hominin fos\u00adsil finds, it tran\u00adspired that the actu\u00adal site involved was, at the time the crea\u00adture was liv\u00ading, the banks of a riv\u00ader, a lake or a stream. In oth\u00ader words, from the point of view of any field nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adist, not on the savannah.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"One<\/a>

One of many rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtions of homonins plac\u00ading them in a savan\u00adnah landscape.<\/p><\/div>\n

Why is this dis\u00adtinc\u00adtion impor\u00adtant to the study of human evo\u00adlu\u00adtion? Well, in the books I con\u00adsumed in the 1980s, the men\u00adtal image of the savan\u00adnah as the cru\u00adcial envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal deter\u00admi\u00adnant of hominin evo\u00adlu\u00adtion was so pow\u00ader\u00adful that it gen\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded no end of dubi\u00adous spec\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion. Man the Mighty Hunter still dom\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded ideas of hominin evo\u00adlu\u00adtion, and vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly every\u00adthing about our pre\u00adde\u00adces\u00adsors\u2019 bod\u00adies, as inter\u00adpret\u00aded through fos\u00adsil remains, invit\u00aded expla\u00adna\u00adtion as an adap\u00adta\u00adtion to hunt\u00ading on the savan\u00adnah \u2014 despite the occa\u00adsion\u00adal sar\u00adcas\u00adtic remark from female pale\u00adoan\u00adthro\u00adpol\u00ado\u00adgists that, after all, the den\u00adti\u00adtion of hominins and oth\u00ader evi\u00addence point\u00aded to the impor\u00adtance of gath\u00adered veg\u00adetable food. But nobody was busy con\u00adcoct\u00ading sce\u00adnar\u00adios in which tuber-dig\u00adging drove mod\u00adi\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtions in skele\u00adtal struc\u00adture. Some of the ideas that float\u00aded about were down\u00adright absurd. Hominins sup\u00adpos\u00aded\u00adly lost their fur so they could sweat more effi\u00adcient\u00adly as they ran after game on the savan\u00adnah (despite the fact that no oth\u00ader savan\u00adnah hunter, such as any of the big cats, found any dis\u00adad\u00advan\u00adtage in pos\u00adsess\u00ading fur). The notion that lan\u00adguage evolved so that hunters could shout instruc\u00adtions at each oth\u00ader, and that upright pos\u00adture evolved to facil\u00adi\u00adtate run\u00adning after game still<\/em> have cur\u00adren\u00adcy. Even back in the 1980s, I found these inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtions far from plau\u00adsi\u00adble. I was pret\u00adty famil\u00adiar with hunters in var\u00adi\u00adous envi\u00adron\u00adments, and I knew per\u00adfect\u00adly well that any hunters who end\u00aded up doing a sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant amount of run\u00adning were pret\u00adty poor, and prob\u00ada\u00adbly unsuc\u00adcess\u00adful hunters. Suc\u00adcess\u00adful hunt\u00ading is done by pre\u00addict\u00ading where game is like\u00adly to be, spot\u00adting evi\u00addence of ani\u00admal pres\u00adence, track\u00ading the ani\u00admals down, and sur\u00adpris\u00ading them where they are, usu\u00adal\u00adly by main\u00adtain\u00ading silence and con\u00adceal\u00adment. Most tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal hunters have an elab\u00ado\u00adrate code of hand sig\u00adnals to use when they hunt in groups, because the last thing you want to do is make noise. If the game is on the run, pur\u00adsu\u00ading it in the same fash\u00adion is like\u00adly to fail. Most large game ani\u00admals can run faster than humans. Expend\u00ading a huge amount of calo\u00adries in run\u00adning, on the slim chance that you will catch up with prey, is a short\u00adcut to star\u00adva\u00adtion. Human beings have evolved to be pret\u00adty good run\u00adners, com\u00adpared to oth\u00ader pri\u00admates, but they are not in the league of dozens of game species that have remained res\u00adolute\u00adly quadrupedal. Links between bipedal\u00adism and hunt\u00ading, and between lan\u00adguage and hunt\u00ading struck me as an absurd Daffy Duck car\u00adtoon of hominins run\u00adning across the grass\u00adlands, wav\u00ading spears and shout\u00ading. Few seemed to notice that such an evo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary path\u00adway would per\u00adforce lead to greater sex\u00adu\u00adal dimor\u00adphism, rather than the steadi\u00adly decreas\u00ading dimor\u00adphism in the fos\u00adsil record. If male hunt\u00ading tac\u00adtics drove skele\u00adtal change, then there would be noth\u00ading dri\u00adving the same change in females.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

So it was that, strict\u00adly as a read\u00ading observ\u00ader, and not as any kind of pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal in the field, I began to look around for a more plau\u00adsi\u00adble sce\u00adnario. Now, the read\u00ader must not get my inten\u00adtions wrong. In some areas of sci\u00adence, such as ornithol\u00ado\u00adgy and opti\u00adcal astron\u00ado\u00admy, there is a strong tra\u00addi\u00adtion of \u201cama\u00adteur\u201d par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpa\u00adtion. Ornithol\u00ado\u00adgy depends on the obser\u00adva\u00adtions of many thou\u00adsands of non-pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adals, and their con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adtion to sci\u00adence is respect\u00aded. But archael\u00ado\u00adgy and pale\u00adoan\u00adthro\u00adpol\u00ado\u00adgy are fields that attract all sorts of non-pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal cranks, and most pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adals in these fields shud\u00adder when they hear the word \u201cama\u00adteur\u201d. I am not a sci\u00aden\u00adtist work\u00ading in any aspect of human evo\u00adlu\u00adtion. I am mere\u00adly some\u00adone who fol\u00adlows the sci\u00adence as it appears in pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtion, for my own edi\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion, and because my stud\u00adies of human soci\u00adety and his\u00adto\u00adry include human evo\u00adlu\u00adtion and pre\u00adhis\u00adto\u00adry as part of a com\u00adpre\u00adhen\u00adsive overview. My spec\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtions were then, and are now, mere\u00adly for my own entertainment. <\/span><\/p>\n

It struck me, back then, that con\u00adstant\u00adly call\u00ading upon the envi\u00adron\u00adment of the savan\u00adnah was a red her\u00adring. Remem\u00adber\u00ading the words of my ornithol\u00ado\u00adgist friend, I tried to keep in mind that ear\u00adly hominins were ripar\u00adi\u00adan crit\u00adters, inhab\u00adi\u00adtants of riv\u00ader banks and lakeshores. I sur\u00admised that they spent far more time near water than out on the grass\u00adlands, a pat\u00adtern that has been repli\u00adcat\u00aded by near\u00adly every human soci\u00adety in sub\u00adse\u00adquent his\u00adto\u00adry. Now, what are the out\u00adstand\u00ading fea\u00adtures of such an envi\u00adron\u00adment? Two come quick\u00adly to mind. One is that a river\u00adbank has a com\u00adplex ecol\u00ado\u00adgy with a wide vari\u00adety of food sources for any crea\u00adture that has the curios\u00adi\u00adty and dex\u00adter\u00adi\u00adty to poke and pry. The oth\u00ader is that it is an extreme\u00adly dan\u00adger\u00adous envi\u00adron\u00adment. The graz\u00ading ani\u00admals that live on the grass\u00adlands must come to lakes and rivers to get water. But they don\u2019t stick around. It is pre\u00adcise\u00adly there that they are most vul\u00adner\u00ada\u00adble to preda\u00adtors. In Africa, they rely on the safe\u00adty of num\u00adbers, with herds accept\u00ading loss\u00ades from big cats or croc\u00ado\u00addiles with each trip to the water source. Ear\u00adly hominins would have faced the same per\u00adil, though they would be a less desir\u00adable din\u00adner than a tasty gazelle or water buf\u00adfa\u00adlo. Being attacked by a preda\u00adtor when going to the riv\u00ader for water is actu\u00adal\u00adly still a sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant per\u00adil for humans in rur\u00adal Africa. But sup\u00adpose this dan\u00adger could be turned into an opportunity?<\/span><\/p>\n

The oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty I had in mind was theft. What if you could take advan\u00adtage of the fact that game ani\u00admals will come to the river\u00adside or lake\u00adside, and that preda\u00adtors would fol\u00adlow them and kill them? What would be need\u00aded would be some way of dri\u00adving the preda\u00adtors away after they made their kills, then steal\u00ading the fresh kills. There had been, even back then, some spec\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion about ear\u00adly hominins being scav\u00adengers rather than hunters, but I think those who were advanc\u00ading this idea were think\u00ading more of the kind of scav\u00adeng\u00ading that is done by minor car\u00adni\u00advores that \u201cclean up\u201d the kills of major preda\u00adtors, who usu\u00adal\u00adly leave sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant amounts of left\u00adovers after they have gorged them\u00adselves on the best bits. This is not what I had in mind. I was think\u00ading, rather, of hominins divid\u00ading their atten\u00adtion between gath\u00ader\u00ading the numer\u00adous tid\u00adbits that can be found on river\u00adbanks \u2014 birds\u2019 eggs, cray\u00adfish, nuts, tubers, small bur\u00adrow\u00ading ani\u00admals, fruit, berries, frogs, fish \u2014 and the theft of fresh kills from preda\u00adtors. How do you steal from a big cat? You let it make its kill, then you dri\u00adve it away. But, how do you dri\u00adve it away?<\/span><\/p>\n

You throw rocks.<\/span><\/p>\n

The more I looked at the phys\u00adi\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal changes that dis\u00adtin\u00adguished ear\u00adly hominins from their simi\u00adan rel\u00ada\u00adtives, the more they seemed to me to line up with throw\u00ading rocks. Chim\u00adpanzees reg\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly throw things (usu\u00adal\u00adly excre\u00adment, which they fling as a sign of hos\u00adtil\u00adi\u00adty), but they are not very good at it. Their wrists are not well-shaped for it, their fin\u00adgers are too long, and their arms and shoul\u00adders don\u2019t have the right con\u00adfig\u00adu\u00adra\u00adtion for pitch\u00ading things accu\u00adrate\u00adly. But it is pre\u00adcise\u00adly these fea\u00adtures that are dra\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly mod\u00adi\u00adfied in ear\u00adly hominins, and the changes are as dra\u00admat\u00adic as those in the low\u00ader body and spine that favour bipedal\u00adism. Human beings, the inher\u00adi\u00adtors of these changes, may not be able to run like a chee\u00adtah, or out\u00adper\u00adform oth\u00ader ani\u00admals in many tasks, but they are spec\u00adtac\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly good at throw\u00ading things. One has only to look at chil\u00addren play\u00ading base\u00adball or crick\u00adet to see that humans have evolved phe\u00adnom\u00ade\u00adnal throw\u00ading skills. Ear\u00adly hominins had all these fea\u00adtures \u2014 they have remained remark\u00adably sta\u00adble ever since. They prob\u00ada\u00adbly were as good at throw\u00ading rocks and hit\u00adting the mark as we are. <\/span><\/p>\n

This sce\u00adnario also plays into the riverside\/grasslands dichoto\u00admy. Walk around on a grass\u00adland and try to find a rock that will fit into your hand. You won\u2019t. It\u2019s along riv\u00ader banks that you find peb\u00adbles and rocks, and espe\u00adcial\u00adly rocks that have been round\u00aded by tum\u00adbling to make them fit in the hand, and deposit\u00aded in handy piles. A small group of hominins, able to col\u00adlect and stock\u00adpile throw\u00ading rocks, able to throw them accu\u00adrate\u00adly, able to work togeth\u00ader, some\u00adtimes throw\u00ading from con\u00adceal\u00adment, some\u00adtimes sur\u00adround\u00ading and attack\u00ading from all sides, should have been able to dri\u00adve away even a top preda\u00adtor like a big cat, leav\u00ading a fresh kill for the tak\u00ading. Hominins would not have had to find ani\u00admals, because ani\u00admals would have come to them, to known drink\u00ading places. Hominins would not have had to bring down an impala or a buf\u00adfa\u00adlo, because a preda\u00adtor would have done it for them. It would have been dan\u00adger\u00adous work, requir\u00ading as much courage as any form of hunt\u00ading, but it would have been a viable strat\u00ade\u00adgy, one that could have pro\u00advid\u00aded the inter\u00adme\u00addi\u00adate evo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary feed\u00adback that ulti\u00admate\u00adly lead to pur\u00adsu\u00ading large game. Bipedal\u00adism, the good binoc\u00adu\u00adlar vision already extant among pri\u00admates, and strate\u00adgic muta\u00adtions in the struc\u00adture of the wrist and shoul\u00adder, would have con\u00adsti\u00adtut\u00aded a deal\u00ading of the cards that would have trumped the big preda\u00adtors. Observ\u00ading when and where game ani\u00admals would come to drink would have been in har\u00admo\u00adny with the con\u00adstant obser\u00adva\u00adtion that accom\u00adpa\u00adnied all the oth\u00ader forms of food acqui\u00adsi\u00adtion char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adis\u00adtic of a ripar\u00adi\u00adan envi\u00adron\u00adment. Unlike the savan\u00adnah graz\u00aders who came to the water hes\u00adi\u00adtant\u00adly and depart\u00aded as quick\u00adly as they could, hominins would have been able to stick by the shore and exploit its resources thoroughly.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I rea\u00adsoned that bipedal\u00adism was more use\u00adful in this con\u00adtext than in chas\u00ading game on grass\u00adlands, and that<\/span>
\nmost of the rather odd changes in skele\u00adtal struc\u00adture that appeared among ear\u00adly hominins fit in bet\u00adter with this sce\u00adnario. Tool use, which appears quite ear\u00adly in the form of mod\u00adi\u00adfy\u00ading hand-sized rocks and peb\u00adbles, also seems to unfold nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly from it. First you throw rocks, then you begin to select rocks that throw best, then you stock\u00adpile rocks, then you devise ways of car\u00adry\u00ading rocks, then you start break\u00ading rocks up to get the size you want, then you start mod\u00adi\u00adfy\u00ading them by strik\u00ading them against each oth\u00ader, then you start devis\u00ading new uses for them (scrap\u00aders, pounders, cut\u00adters, wedges). The need to car\u00adry throw\u00ading rocks and the need to make food caches, hang\u00ading from trees, or buried in riv\u00ader banks, would have stim\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded anoth\u00ader range of tools: con\u00adtain\u00aders. Unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, con\u00adtain\u00aders tend to be made from per\u00adish\u00adable mate\u00adri\u00adals that leave no remains, so they have been sore\u00adly neglect\u00aded in stud\u00adies of ear\u00adly tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy. All these process\u00ades, includ\u00ading the throw\u00ading, would not be gen\u00adder-depen\u00addent. Even if males took the lead in the \u201ctheft-hunt\u201d there would still be suf\u00adfi\u00adcient rea\u00adson for females to devel\u00adop along sim\u00adi\u00adlar lines, and most of the skills and con\u00adse\u00adquent attrib\u00adut\u00ades would over\u00adlap with oth\u00ader forms of food gath\u00ader\u00ading. Hunt\u00ading on the savan\u00adnah would not have been some\u00adthing that drove evo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary changes, but a lat\u00ader exten\u00adsion and mod\u00adi\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion of the orig\u00adi\u00adnal strat\u00ade\u00adgy. Even today, the hunt\u00ading under\u00adtak\u00aden on the savan\u00adnah by tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal-style hunters in the Kala\u00adhari or the Aus\u00adtralian out\u00adback has more in com\u00admon with ripar\u00adi\u00adan food-gath\u00ader\u00ading tech\u00adniques than it does with the hunt\u00ading done by ani\u00admal preda\u00adtors. It\u2019s all based on close, calm obser\u00adva\u00adtion, and coor\u00addi\u00adnat\u00aded activ\u00adi\u00adty, not on the abil\u00adi\u00adty to exert ener\u00adgy in sprinting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of these points had been made long before, by the advo\u00adcates of the \u201caquat\u00adic ape hypoth\u00ade\u00adsis\u201d (Max West\u00aden\u00adh\u00f6fer, Alis\u00adter Hardy, and Elaine Mor\u00adgan), but their view\u00adpoint was not tak\u00aden seri\u00adous\u00adly by the great major\u00adi\u00adty of sci\u00aden\u00adtists when I was doing my first read\u00ading, and is still not tak\u00aden seri\u00adous\u00adly today. Nor am I an advo\u00adcate of it. How\u00adev\u00ader, while some of the points over\u00adlap, rec\u00adog\u00adniz\u00ading that our ances\u00adtral envi\u00adron\u00adment is bet\u00adter described as ripar\u00adi\u00adan than savan\u00adnah-based is not the same as the aquat\u00adic ape hypoth\u00ade\u00adsis. The stone-throw\u00ading sce\u00adnario did not play any part in the aquat\u00adic the\u00ado\u00adry. I have a feel\u00ading, how\u00adev\u00ader, that focus\u00ading on the ripar\u00adi\u00adan envi\u00adron\u00adment is some\u00adwhat taboo, because it sug\u00adgests an \u201cedg\u00ading toward\u201d a the\u00ado\u00adry which is usu\u00adal\u00adly con\u00adsid\u00adered to be cranky.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, in the 1980s, I set\u00adtled on this image of hominid evo\u00adlu\u00adtion, pure\u00adly for my own way of envi\u00adsion\u00ading human ori\u00adgins. I occa\u00adsion\u00adal\u00adly dis\u00adcussed it with friends, but lit\u00adtle else. Now, here we are, decades lat\u00ader, and I\u2019m in the mid\u00addle of one of my cycli\u00adcal read\u00ading binges in pale\u00adoan\u00adthro\u00adpol\u00ado\u00adgy. How is my imag\u00adined sce\u00adnario look\u00ading now?<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, I\u2019m hap\u00adpy to say that many lines of inquiry have been mov\u00ading things in its direc\u00adtion. Most of the trends make me feel that my spec\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtions were anticip\u00adi\u00adto\u00adry. There is still a lin\u00adger\u00ading habit of describ\u00ading our ances\u00adtral habi\u00adtat as the \u201csavan\u00adnah\u201d, but there\u2019s been a steadi\u00adly grow\u00ading real\u00adiza\u00adtion that the eco\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal issues are more com\u00adplex. The envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal back\u00adground of hominin evo\u00adlu\u00adtion was not just a sta\u00adt\u00adic repro\u00adduc\u00adtion of the mod\u00adern African veldt. The \u201cmighty hunter\u201d theme is con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00adably toned down, and there is more atten\u00adtion giv\u00aden to food gath\u00ader\u00ading (though it is rarely linked to major phys\u00adi\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal changes). The skele\u00adtal changes have been recon\u00adsid\u00adered from a greater vari\u00adety of the\u00ado\u00adret\u00adi\u00adcal view\u00adpoints. There have been sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant stud\u00adies made, in recent years, of the phys\u00adi\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy of human and pri\u00admate throw\u00ading skills. One recent researcher even casu\u00adal\u00adly men\u00adtioned that rock-throw\u00ading might have been used to dri\u00adve away preda\u00adtors. All that\u2019s miss\u00ading is a small shift in view\u00adpoint, a real\u00adiza\u00adtion that all these mod\u00adi\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtions of the old\u00ader views can be reshaped into a coher\u00adent whole.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did ear\u00adly hominins evolve on the savan\u00adnah? Almost any\u00adone who reads works on pale\u00adoan\u00adthro\u00adpol\u00ado\u00adgy would say \u201cyes.\u201d I would like to explain why I\u2019m tempt\u00aded to say \u201cno.\u201d A long time ago, I was chat\u00adting with an ornithol\u00ado\u00adgist. We were \u2026<\/p>\n

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