On Friday, November 18, 2005, at 06:42  AM, Tim Rowell wrote:

>  Bottom line is foragers are often
> in good shape and they look it. They sprint, jog, climb, carry, jump,
> ect. all day long..."

I saw that too. Very interesting in that it shows the outer limits of
human ability. But I don't think it has much to say about how ancient
paleo people usually lived. Modern hunter-gatherers are outlying groups
forced to make do in the poorest environments. All the most productive
lands on earth have been given over to agriculture. These are the same
areas that would have been prime hunting grounds for paleo people. When
humans were much more thinly spread out hunting etc would have been far
easier and more productive, so those sorts of extreme activities would
not have been necessary.

I would like to see the age breakdown for these hard-working foragers.
My guess is that this is a young man's game, and that middle aged men
have other jobs. A healthy and uninjured middle aged man can do this
kind of work, but not if he has had any bad luck. Injuries build up
over time, and healing is often less than perfect. Besides, young men
enjoy proving themselves, showing off their hunting prowess for the
girls. Older men have less need for that.