On Fri, 8 Jun 2001 07:29:16 -0500, Philip Thrift <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>http://www.dallasnews.com/science/388190_deadly_08nat.A.html
>

Philip,

I know how fond you are of these mammoth hunters who
had so much LBS of lean meat in a single effort....

Have you thought about what this means:
All big animals of whole america (you call them game) went extinct
in mere 1200 years, after arrival of humans.
That's pretty little.
That means only 1200 years to eat mammoth.
This is much less time than agriculture as was there,
in america and elsewhere too.
That is a good paleolithical argument *against* eating large game, I think.
No time of adaption...

Maybe these animals went extinct not because  humans ate them up all (well
they would have eaten some, i think),
but because humans destroyed their environment.
By fire.

"Ms. Ayliffe said it is unlikely that hunting alone led to the disappearance
of so many large animals. She said there is evidence that humans 55,000
years ago used fire as a hunting tool, burning vast areas of Australia.
Such fires would change the habitat, which would make it difficult for
large animals that required plenty of forage to survive, she said."

Not only for hunting, but also for fresh vegetation.
Aboriginals in Australia tend to lay fires, to promote the "right" kind of
vegetarion to grow they prefer for food (shots).

Of course there are some smaller animals left, thanks god.

Cheers,
Amadeus
Have a nice weekend now