WW: Out of Africa & The Ways We Were

     Out of the entire world, we, as homo sapiens, first appeared in Africa. Although much of the history these first forms of modern life is now gone due to time and climate change, people are certain that homo sapiens originated from Africa. If you think about it, it makes sense. Africa is one of the places many people go to in order to investigate and learn about wildlife. For example, monkeys, our close yet distant relatives, are commonly found in Africa. 

     What surprised me was the fact that homo sapiens were the first to start exploring different environments. The fact that multiple different forms of homo sapiens didn't explore much outside of their comfort zones is pretty strange to me. Maybe they weren't as mentally capable or intrigued to explore but then again, how could they not explore? Homo sapiens were the first to explore dramatically different environments from deserts to forests. 

     Homo sapiens improved what past beings had done. For example, they upgraded to stone blades and were the first to start fishing. In addition, they improved their hunting methods. They had better weapons and knew when was the right time to go hunting. 

     The fact that homo sapiens expanded out of Africa is astonishing. They first expanded towards the Middle East and then made their way into Europe. Since the Ice Age was in full effect at the time, many people who were living in the north southward, in order to live in a warmer climate.

     The people who moved to the south adapted to their new home and focused on horses and reindeer. However, I think that the most fascinating thing they left were their cave paintings. Their cave paintings demonstrated what animals they would encounter such as, bulls and horses. 

     Immigration into Australia by these people was thanks to the power of boats. People eventually settled across the vast continent. Much after settling in Australia, people would eventually make their way to the Americas. The final place in which people settled in was the Pacific.  

     All this expansion could lead to one thing. Civilization. People in different areas developed their own languages, rituals, stories, routines, and history among other things. 

     It is said that ancient societies were very small and consisted of as many as fifty people. I can totally understand this since they did not have medicine and were not aware of disease or anything that was harmful to them. 

     I think that the fact that they had no formal government is intriguing. Paleolithic people tended to be a lot more free than the people who ended up living under kings and queens. I also find it very interesting that women and men had equal responsibilities. The men were the hunters, but women were also very important food gatherers. 

     These people were also not aware of rape and sexual interactions. Thus, they even had teenagers having sex. I think that may also have had a factor as to why the populations were so small compared to later dates. Maybe the females got impregnated and could not deliver the baby because she was too young. I'm not quite sure what to say about that but I definitely think that may have been a factor to the population being so small. 

     It is not easy to interpret whether or not Paleolithic people believed in God or had any religion at all. People would come up as shaman and be there when any occasion arose that needed someone to be there.