Archaeologists from Tel Aviv have discovered that ancient humans made an evolutionary leap due to the need to hunt smaller, more agile and invisible prey animals. According to one of the researchers, anthropologist Micky Ben-Dor, hunting large prey such as mammoths or deer made it possible to get by with the simplest hunting equipment.
When there was a shortage of large game, ancient man had to turn his attention to smaller animals. Hunting for agile, more cautious, better camouflaged prey was associated with new challenges. Overcoming these difficulties, especially the development of shooting techniques, contributed to the development of the brain.
Analysis shows that after the almost complete extermination of large animals, man began to hunt animals whose weight did not exceed 50 kg. That is, the average weight of the prey decreased sixty times. This happened about 20 thousand years ago.
The leap in development then allowed for the invention of fishing tackle, the invention of traps and bows, the domestication of the wolf, the domestication of other animals, and eventually the transition from hunting to a sedentary lifestyle based on agriculture. Source
Source: Port Altele
