Before We Ruled The Earth 1. Hunt Or Be Hunted (5 of 15)

Before We Ruled The Earth 1. Hunt Or Be Hunted

Our knowledge of Homo ergaster...
...comes from the 1.6 million year old Nariokotome boy in Kenya.
He was 11.
A 10 year old Homo erectus of 785,000 years ago from Spain...
...had a even larger brain capacity.
Face to face with a herd of aggressive Megaloceros...
...an early hunter without an effective weapon is defenseless.
The gorge destined to trap the giant elk has now trapped the hunters.
Tsir is badly gored.
To lose any man is a disaster...
...in a world where people live in tiny self-sustaining bands.
Death and serious injury were the high price Homo erectus paid...

...for living with such great beasts.
Losing Tsir could be the difference between hunger and survival.
Today, they've returned with two injured men, and no meat.
Close-up and personal hunting was hazardous in the extreme.
Finds in Spain tell us...
...few Homo erectus males lived beyond their teens.
There's no evidence Homo erectus dug graves...
...or held ceremonies for the dead.
We'll never know if they felt the sense of loss left by a death.
For they were still closer to the great beasts than to us today.
Fire's failed them in the hunt.