> On Wed, 1 Jul 2009 18:48:40 -0400, [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
>>I think most people here would find the 40% figure to be on the low side.
>>But let's take your claim that meat was a "very rare thing" for
>>paleolithic people.  What is your evidence for that statement?
>>
>>Todd Moody
>
> While the other great apes go hunting it only comprises single digits of a
> percent even among chimpanzees. We're the least capable of hunting of ALL
> of them.

Your first sentence is true.  Your second sentence is utterly false.

> "but we use our brains blah blah"
>
> This is a totally naive faux pas, basically the only way we would have
> consumed meat like that is by SCAVENGING.

No doubt, scavenging was how we began the transition to the predators that
we eventually became.  It's very clear, however, that the scavenging phase
ended quite early and we became the most successful hunters on the planet,
hunting many species to extinction.  This is neither "naive" nor a "faux
pas."

> You can certainly argue we were
> doing that as there are teeth marks thought to be human in large animals.
> Flints and spears are tools and a part of "civilisation" just as much as
> computers and bread are.

No, that's wrong.  What is called "civilization" begins with the end of
the nomadic hunter-gatherer life, the beginning of agriculture and
formation of permanent population centers.  This occurred 10,000 or so
years ago, long after we had evolved to our current form.  Tool use has
been a part of our *nature* for literally millions of years, and it is one
of our distinctive characteristics.

> We humans don't have sharp teeth or a digestive system to hunt.

The point about teeth is already refuted.  As for digestion, our digestive
system has differentiated itself from that of other great apes, so that we
have a gut:brain ratio more similar to that of a wolf than to any other
primate.

> I
> don't
> really like meat as much as some seem to so maybe it's that I personally
> amn't
> too well adapted for it.

Amn't?  Your personal preferences, and mine, have nothing to do with this.
 You've made a claim, namely that meat consumption in the paleolithic was
"rare."  We're still waiting for your evidence.

Todd Moody