I'm sorry to be so long in responding to this post, but my server was down
for several days.

Tue, 6 May 1997 20:53:34 -0400 Dean Esmay <[log in to unmask]> said:


>> Perhaps their fishing tools were made from materials which are less
>> prone to become fossilized than other artifacts?
>
>The cat fish can apparently be caught by spear. At Wadi Kubbaniya c
>16.000-15 000 BC (18000 BP) The Nile flowed at higher levels than today.
>at this site catfish and other fish bones are found along with waterfowl
>It is thought that the catfish swam into shallows in the flooding and
>were caught in the receding waters, so I expect they could be caught by
>hand or net, too

As a kid, my brother was much better at fishing than I was, so I figured out
a way to compete. The water level rose and fell in the bow river. So I chose
a spot where the water would form  pools, and be isolated when water levels
were low, but would allow fish to enter when the levels were high. I also
chose a place that was shaded by trees, as the fish seemed to prefer that.

I dug a pool deeper, and lined the perimeter with rocks that were large
enough that the gaps between them would allow the minnows and smaller fish
out, but hold in fish of a size I was interested in. During the summer, I
regularly caught several fish each day, until my brother followed me so he
could have access to my secret fishing hole.

While my brother considered himself cheated, I felt that I had proven myself
to be the superior fisherman. :-) I believe that my "net" was
indistinguishable to most passers-by. No trace would have been left of it
after a few months.

As an adult, I was talking with a good friend. He told me that as a child
(he was from a poor immigrant family) he had developed a similar system for
catching fish, in the same river, but a few miles upstream.

I don't think that paleolithic humans would have had much difficulty
catching fish in a similar manner. And  my friend's similar "inspiration"
suggests to me that it was not a unique insight on my part.





Best Wishes,
Ron
http://www.panix.com/~donwiss/hoggan/