Two of the most common questions I am asked are: Do the hominids you have looked for use tools or fire? and Are they relic Neanderthals ? I thought I would combine the two questions to make some observations for your consideration.These are based on my experience of looking for tangible evidence in Nepal,Sumatra,China Russia ,India Mongolia and the U.S.A. Firstly, I do not believe that nay of them use fire on a regular basis, even if they have the capacity to. To do so would risk annihilation.Let me explain why.I once crossed a large part of Mongolia, from Mountains in its far west,through great plains, to its capital Ulan-Batur.This is one of the most sparsely populated countries on earth.I could easily have been many miles from the nearest towns or villages on my journey.Yet a fire in the distance ,where no people should be would be fascinating to me,and would act like a beacon to attract others. I talked about this same principle years before in the Congo.The Bantu tribe I was with there said that if they saw smoke in the jungle form an unidentified source,they would send hunters to investigate.Why?Because another tribes hunters might be in the area, and this they could not allow. These are just a couple of points,but the basic premise is that fire acts as a beacon to extinction. Similarly ,they are not I think Neanderthals. As many of you will know, the Neanderthals were not the idiotic heavy browed dullards that the Victorians portrayed them as. They enjoyed both art and music for example.In any of the places I have been, I have seen no evidence ,historic or otherwise to persuade me that any of the relic hominids has a more sophisticated tool use then that of a Chimpanzee. Whilst a Neanderthal group could undergo a cultural recession, a reduction to that level, would Ii think, be most unlikely. Please do not assume that I am however concluding that some of these species are not intelligent in the way that we define it. I have no doubt that some indeed are highly intelligent. I think we are still at the beginning of our understanding of their social structures.Proof of their existence will make that understanding exciting and profound.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 15:36:49 +0000
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