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How did the human animal come to dominate all other life-forms
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on the planet Earth?
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What's the secret of our unparalleled success?
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Could it have something to do with the way in which during the course of
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our evolution,
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we radically changed our social behaviour.
Becoming more cooperative
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as we faced daunting new challenges.
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In one important respect, we became unique among the primates. We became pack hunters.
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Indeed hunting became a human obsession,
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that went beyond mere feeding
to become a whole new way of life.
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It was to transform us
and make us, not the lion,
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the king of all the animals.
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For millions of years,
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our ancestors were hunter-gatherers.
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Now all that has changed.
Now we gather everything.
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We still eat meat, but we no longer
have to hunt it down.
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Instead we encounter it
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neatly cleaned and packaged
as we forage among the urban
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branches of our supermarkets,
packing food from the shelves
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Viewed as a pattern of human
feeding behaviour, a trip to the
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supermarket is the remarkable
end point of a long journey
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through evolutionary time.
A journey that started in a primeval forest,
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and ended at a checkout counter.
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To me, it's a story of an arboreal ape
which became a ground-dwelling predator,
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which in turn became a credit card customer.
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It was working at the zoo back in the 1960s that gave me
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my unusual approach to the subject of human behaviour.
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I'd started out my studies
looking at fish, then birds
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then mammals and finally, chimpanzees.
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It was as though, without planning it,
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I was approaching the human animal
by climbing up its family tree.
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This gave me a very different slant from people like
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psychologists or psychoanalysts,
or anthropologists or sociologists.
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During my position here,
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I gave the human species an animal
name, the naked ape.
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And I set about describing our behaviour in exactly the same
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way as I'd used
when looking at all those other species
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in my earlier research.
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The more I studied chimpanzees,
the more I realised just how
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intelligent they are.
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But despite their intelligence,
wild chimpanzees have to spend
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most of their time feeding.
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This interminable food collecting is typical of animals
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that depend largely on a vegetable diet.
Nutritionally inferior,
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to meat, a great deal of vegetation has to be eaten
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every day for survival. In the primeval forests,
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this feeding process has been going on for millions of years
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endlessly time-consuming and
monotonously repetitive.
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And it's against this background
that our own story begins.
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About 10 to 15 million years ago,
the early apes from which
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we ourselves evolved must have looked rather like this.
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In this series, we've reconstructed
and reanimated our earliest
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forbears as a reminder that humans did not in fact descend from
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chimpanzees, but from this common ancestor.
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It probably had a similar lifestyle to modern chimps with fruits, berries
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and nuts as its main source of food.
And like them, it will
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occasionally have eaten a little animal food
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as a valuable addition to its diet.
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Although later this was to change,
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its original herbivorous
lifestyle is one that's left
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its mark upon us even today.
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From our ancient primate ancestors
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we've inherited a love of
ripe fruits, berries and nuts.
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Food which they found in the treetops
and which we still consume
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today in a hundred different forms.
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One of the key qualities
of this kind of food is its sweet taste.
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And this has left us for the decidedly sweet tooth.
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In fact, we're so fond of sweet things, that we will search
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for them everywhere.
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Even at the risk of being stung
by angry bees. In some tribal cultures
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the craving for honey is so strong that the tastes
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of as many as ten different types are distinguished by the
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expert honey seekers.
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And it's no accident that the very first alcoholic drink
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ever created by our species was mead.
Made, of course from honey.
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Another continent, other insect.
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This type of ant collects honey in its abdomen which becomes
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massively swollen and distended, making it easy to catch.
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For these native australians,
honey ants are a special delicacy,
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collected and savoured like small ripe fruits.
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Everywhere you look in the world you find evidence of this
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human devotion to sweetness,
inherited from our primate ancestors.
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And nowhere
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is it stronger than among our children,
as a simple experiment will show.
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Here, sweet foods are on the left,
non-sweet foods on the right.
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When children are allowed to take anything
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they want, they fall on the sweet foods and ignore the others.
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And it's not only children who react like this.
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It's worth asking why, if eating sweet things is so natural,
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it should often be viewed as unhealthy.
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The answer is that in nature,
nutritional value and palatability
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go hand in hand.
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Whereas in modern life,
any food can be made attractive.
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Simply by artificially sweetening it.
It's intriguing that
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whenever we feel like a small snack between meals,
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we usually choose something sweet as though in these casual moments,
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we're reverting to the primeval feeding behaviour
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of the forest.
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The fruit picking life in the treetops
must have been comfortable
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and secure for our ancient ancestors.
But then something happened.
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Perhaps there was a dramatic change in climate.
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Perhaps the forest suddenly shrank.
We can't be sure. But whatever
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it was, it set our ancestors off in a search for a new habitat.
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They struck out into more open country away from the trees
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and began to explore this new environment.
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And as they did so, their diet began to change.
The fruit-eating
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forest ape had to become a meat-eating plains ape.
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So the evolving human animal was to acquire a split personality.
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Part herbivore, and part carnivore.
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When our ancient ancestors turned
to meat-eating, they faced
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a daunting new challenge,
because now, they were in direct
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competition with the well-established carnivores and with
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his powerful bodies and strong jaws and teeth,
animals like this.
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With our weaker jaws and smaller teeth,
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we had to find an alternative solution.
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We had to use brain instead of brawn.
With our efficient hands
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we began to make weapons.
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Wooden spears to kill our prey.
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In our early days the simple act
of accurate throwing must have been one of
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the most essential of all human skills.
Precise aiming became
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nothing less than a matter of human survival.
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And we soon found that we were
at our most efficient when we acted together
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as a hunting pack.
Mutual aid on the hunt became another
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essential feature of our emerging species.
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Selfish, self feeding herbivore
had to become a helpful social carnivore.
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Old primate competition had to be tempered by new
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human cooperation.
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In this way, we were able to turn our attention to bigger
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and bigger prey,
making our hunts increasingly efficient
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and giving us more and more spare time,
during which our early
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technologies could develop and prosper.
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Our problems didn't end when the prey
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was finally caught and killed. The meat
was too tough for our small jaws.
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Our answer was to attack it not
with our teeth but with sharp implements.
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About 3 million years ago
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we invented the flint knife
to slice the meat up into chewable pieces.
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And then with the discovery of fire about a million
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years ago,
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we were at last able to enter the epoch of the human chef.
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We were able to prepare our meals instead of just bolting
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them down.
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We could cook and tenderize and savour the flavor by eating
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them hot, as if fresh from the kill.
The hyena may have stronger jaws,
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but we had better techniques.
Sliced and cooked, our meat
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became as easy to consume
as a fruit or a berry.
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Instead of adapting our teeth to our food,
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we adapted the food to our teeth.
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The very idea of mealtimes is linked to a carnivorous lifestyle.
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Herbivores go munching monotonously
hour after hour.
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The carnivores don't go for bulk.
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They go for quality.
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They only need to eat occasionally,
and when they do, they binge
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and they eat together.
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We humans too like to settle down
to big meals together.
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Our meal times are social events.
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Significantly, on the rare occasions when our relatives the
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chimpanzees kill an animal and eat its flesh, their social
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behaviour changes. Instead of
feeding independently of one another,
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as they do when eating fruit, they feast together
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as a group and share out the spoils. Watching these scenes,
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it's easy to imagine the way in which our ancient ancestors
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began on their long road towards a carnivorous diet.
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When carnivores kill a large prey,
there's enough for all.
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this isn't altruistic.
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It's simply that there's
so much to eat all at once.
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And for us, food sharing has become fundamental
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to our social way of life.
When we take small sweet snacks, we're happy to do
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so alone at anytime, anywhere,
but when we feast on meat,
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we tend to gather together at a set time
and at a set place.
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We sit down as a social group like lions around a kill.
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The feast becomes a friendly event,
binding us together as a group
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as we fill our bellies.
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Everywhere. you look around the world
you find the same kind of human
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feeding patterns. The menu may vary,
but the events are remarkably similar.
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So powerful is this carnivorous urge to share food,
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that occasionally, when we do have to dine alone,
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we feel strangely uncomfortable.
The solitary diner exudes
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the body language of unease.
Eating sweets alone in public
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is pleasant enough,
but eating a full meal alone in public is not.
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Ancient habits die hard.
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The social aspect of feeding is taken to an extreme at the
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typical cocktail party.
Here, people drink when they're
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not thirsty and eat when they're not hungry.
Significantly, most of the food objects
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on offer are savoury or meaty rather than sweet.
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The food may only be a token,
but it retains the carnivorous
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character that's in keeping
with the sociability of the occasion.
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Here the feeding behaviour itself has become perfunctory.
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The social element of feasting has become so important that
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the feast itself is reduced to a mere accessory.
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When we evolved from fruit-picking primates
into meat-eating carnivores,
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we gained the huge advantage of being able to
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consume almost any living thing.
By varying our diet.
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We could spread out into almost every habitat on earth.
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The Maasai of East africa survive largely on a diet of blood
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and milk, both taken from their carefully tended cattle.
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When the cattle are bled and bled but not killed,
the blood is collected
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in long gourd. Milk is then mixed
with the blood and stirred to
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coagulate it, producing a thick sticky liquid.
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Some of it clings to the stirring sticks
and is eaten almost
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as a solid food.
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This is a favourite treat
for the young children of the tribe.
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The rest is poured into drinking vessels.
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The product of this process
provides an extremely high protein diet
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without any loss of livestock.
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Biologically, this could be described
as a predator of cattle,
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becoming parasitic on them.
A highly efficient solution to life
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in this particular environment.
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We may find the idea
of drinking blood in this way repulsive,
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but the Maasai undoubtedly feel the same way about some of
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our feeding habits.
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Every culture has its own food preferences and food taboos,
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developed over many years.
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These caterpillars
are another valuable source of protein.
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Weight for weight,
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they contain more protein than a sirloin steak.
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Even if they lack what one might call barbecue appeal.
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For these South Africans,
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they also provide important phosphates,
minerals and vitamins.
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In fact, insects are
an ideal source of food, much favoured by
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tribal peoples all over the world.
Our modern preference for
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attacking insect pests with chemicals rather than with our teeth,
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is highly irrational.
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Some cultures prefer
to keep animals out of their diet altogether.
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The Toda tribes people of Southern India used to
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slaughter their domestic stock,
but now refuse to eat meat
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on religious grounds.
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Here, they're consuming a mixture of rice, cane sugar and
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salt wrapped in edible leaves.
But closer scrutiny reveals
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that they're also adding
buffalo milk and honey to the mixture.
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Despite the poor nutritional value of their main staple food,
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the regular addition of the milk and honey ensures that they
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remain fit and strong.
A fact which they're proud to demonstrate
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with feats of strength.
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One of the strangest of all human feeding patterns is this.
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Earth eating.
Some clays taken from special sources
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are rich in essential minerals.
In certain parts of Ghana
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they're collected and moulded into egg shapes.
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This is the ultimate exploitation of the environment.
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Devouring the earth on which we stand.
But these clays, when chemically analysed,
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were revealed to contain calcium, magnesium, potassium,
241
00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:31,300
copper, zinc and iron.
Remarkably similar to the mineral supplements
242
00:17:31,300 --> 00:17:33,400
recommended in Western society.
243
00:17:34,700 --> 00:17:38,600
The never ending quest for food variety sometimes leads to danger.
244
00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:42,900
The Japanese delicacy called fugu, a kind of puffer fish,
245
00:17:42,900 --> 00:17:47,500
although much prized by gourmets,
contains lethal toxins.
246
00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,500
If its toxic parts are not removed during gutting, they cause
247
00:17:51,500 --> 00:17:56,400
death within a few hours.
200 Fugu diners die each year!
248
00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:02,900
Clearly the human animal is the world's greatest omnivore.
249
00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,500
Ready somewhere to eat almost anything.
250
00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:08,800
And for many people it's not just a matter of eating anything,
251
00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:12,800
but eating everything.
To see this in action, one need look
252
00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:16,000
no further than the table of a French family about to tuck
253
00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:17,800
in to a celebratory dinner.
254
00:18:19,700 --> 00:18:23,500
Here, variety of edible life-forms
is the essence of the cuisine.
255
00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:31,400
To start with cephalopods,
in this case squid, then amphibians
256
00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:33,800
in the form of amputated frogs legs.
257
00:18:39,100 --> 00:18:46,900
Then marine molluscs, some mussels.
Then reptiles, as turtle soup,
258
00:18:46,900 --> 00:18:52,600
then gastropods, the inevitable snails.
259
00:18:55,600 --> 00:19:02,100
Then crustaceans, more seafood.
Then echinoderm in the
260
00:19:02,100 --> 00:19:12,000
shape of sea urchins,
followed by fish, birds, fermented fruit juice,
261
00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:14,100
mammals,
262
00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:23,700
with root vegetables, funghi, leaf vegetables,
decomposing animal fat
263
00:19:23,700 --> 00:19:31,500
and finally fruits and nuts.
Given sufficient affluence,
264
00:19:31,500 --> 00:19:34,800
we demonstrate with great panache the omnivory that has
265
00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:39,000
made us great as a species.
266
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,300
No matter where we go,
now we can solve the problem.
267
00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:53,400
Even in outer space we can find a way to nourish our bodies.
268
00:19:54,500 --> 00:19:57,300
We've come a long way from the forest trees
269
00:19:57,300 --> 00:20:00,900
of our remote ancestors and
our passionately varied diets have taken us
270
00:20:00,900 --> 00:20:05,200
into every corner of the globe and beyond.
But how did we
271
00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:09,500
start this amazing journey?
What were the formative stages
272
00:20:09,500 --> 00:20:12,900
that were to take us
soaring up and away from our animal relatives,
273
00:20:13,100 --> 00:20:15,800
leaving them gibbering
in the branches while we conquered
274
00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:16,600
the stars?
275
00:20:30,100 --> 00:20:33,400
Perhaps re-examining our evolutionary roots will help us
276
00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:34,500
to understand.
277
00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,700
This is where the human story began millions of years ago
278
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:44,300
in the heart of Africa.
But how it began remains something
279
00:20:44,300 --> 00:20:45,000
of a mystery.
280
00:20:45,700 --> 00:20:48,500
There's a gap in the fossil record when we can only guess
281
00:20:48,500 --> 00:20:53,500
what was going on.
The gap in our knowledge lasts from roughly
282
00:20:53,500 --> 00:20:55,800
4 million to 7 million years ago.
283
00:20:56,700 --> 00:20:59,700
We know that apes went into it,
and ape men came out of it.
284
00:20:59,700 --> 00:21:01,400
But that's all we do know.
285
00:21:02,500 --> 00:21:04,400
Oh, and the ape men, of course when they came out of we
286
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,200
know what happened to them.
There aren't any missing links
287
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:08,300
in the popular sense.
288
00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:11,800
We can trace our ancestry back for over three million years
289
00:21:12,100 --> 00:21:15,100
and we can see how those ape men turned into modern men.
290
00:21:15,900 --> 00:21:18,200
But back in that very early formative stage,
291
00:21:18,300 --> 00:21:20,400
that's when the picture becomes vague.
292
00:21:21,300 --> 00:21:22,600
Why did we shed
293
00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:27,300
our coat of fur, stand up on our hind legs
and start to talk?
294
00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:37,700
To understand why this took place,
we need to discover where it took place.
295
00:21:41,900 --> 00:21:44,200
Perhaps it all happened here
on the open Savannah.
296
00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:48,100
The traditional view, and it's only a guess,
297
00:21:48,100 --> 00:21:52,200
is that our ancient ancestors
left the cover of the forests and moved
298
00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:55,700
out onto the open plains in pursuit of large prey animals.
299
00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:01,100
Once in open country, they had
to face a hot, dry exposed environment.
300
00:22:01,100 --> 00:22:04,000
How did they adapt to it?
301
00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:08,200
Other animals that live in hot dry environments have evolved
302
00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:11,600
special survival mechanisms that reduce their water loss.
303
00:22:11,900 --> 00:22:15,600
Surprisingly, we have none of these.
We have to drink more
304
00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:16,900
than any other land mammal.
305
00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,700
We sweat more than any other mammal,
and we die quickly
306
00:22:20,700 --> 00:22:28,300
if we overheat. We have dilute
urine and moist dung.
307
00:22:28,300 --> 00:22:32,000
These five qualities contrast strongly with the water economy
308
00:22:32,100 --> 00:22:34,400
of the typical Savannah living animals.
309
00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:39,200
The truth is that we're simply
not well adapted to Savannah living.
310
00:22:40,700 --> 00:22:44,000
So what did we do when we left the protection of the undergrowth?
311
00:22:44,700 --> 00:22:48,000
The traditional view of how ape became ape man has recently
312
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:49,200
been challenged.
313
00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,500
It's thought that there might have been a vital
314
00:22:54,500 --> 00:22:58,200
intermediate stage.
Instead of coming out of the forest
315
00:22:58,200 --> 00:22:59,200
and straight onto the open grasslands,
316
00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:03,700
the idea is that our remote ancestors
317
00:23:03,700 --> 00:23:05,100
went instead to the water's edge.
318
00:23:05,100 --> 00:23:08,600
There, they went more and more
into the water, becoming what you
319
00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:14,200
might almost call an aquatic ape.
Newborn babies under careful supervision
320
00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:18,300
can swim without any training.
Placed in a prone
321
00:23:18,300 --> 00:23:19,700
position in warm water,
322
00:23:19,700 --> 00:23:23,600
they show no panic, keep their eyes wide open and automatically
323
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:24,600
hold their breath.
324
00:23:26,700 --> 00:23:30,000
Champion breath holders can hold their breath for up to three
325
00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,700
and a half minutes underwater.
This and the swimming ability
326
00:23:33,700 --> 00:23:37,100
of the newborn, are to say the least,
strange qualities for
327
00:23:37,100 --> 00:23:38,600
a savannah-living animal.
328
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:43,400
There are a number of other aquatic features of our species.
329
00:23:44,100 --> 00:23:47,900
We have an unusually strong diving reflex that slows down
330
00:23:47,900 --> 00:23:51,600
our heartbeat when we put our face underwater.
331
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,000
Like other aquatic mammals, but no other primates,
332
00:23:54,300 --> 00:23:56,300
we have a layer of blubber beneath our skin.
333
00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,300
We've lost the long shaggy coat of other primates making
334
00:24:01,300 --> 00:24:03,000
us more streamlined in the water.
335
00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:06,700
We have a unique nose shape that shields our nostrils when
336
00:24:06,700 --> 00:24:08,200
we dive below the surface.
337
00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,800
We have more flexible spines than other apes,
enabling us to
338
00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:13,100
swim more rapidly.
339
00:24:13,900 --> 00:24:17,300
We have partial webbing between our fingers and toes.
340
00:24:17,500 --> 00:24:22,100
Again, unlike any other primate.
We weep copious tears like other
341
00:24:22,100 --> 00:24:26,500
marine animals, but unlike apes.
We can swim with great althleticism.
342
00:24:26,700 --> 00:24:30,800
Apes cannot swim at all.
And the directions of
343
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:34,000
our hair tracks differ from those of other apes,
344
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:37,400
following the flow of the water.
Assembled in this way the evidence
345
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:40,800
for the aquatic origin of our species certainly looks impressive.
346
00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:46,700
If this human baptism took place,
it probably occurred here,
347
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:50,800
on the esturies of the East African coast.
One of the effects
348
00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:53,900
of moving into the water for these aquatic apes would have
349
00:24:53,900 --> 00:24:57,200
been to find immediately a wonderfully nutritious source of food.
350
00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:01,300
A new kind of food.
A change from the fruits of the forest
351
00:25:01,300 --> 00:25:03,600
to the "fruits de mer".
352
00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:16,800
These small boys in Kenya's rift valley
are behaving rather like otters,
353
00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:18,200
catching fish without the aid of any weapons.
354
00:25:19,100 --> 00:25:22,100
They're living today in the very region
where the human species evolved.
355
00:25:23,100 --> 00:25:25,800
Could this have been the preferred way of life of
356
00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:28,600
our early ancestors several million years ago?
357
00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:33,200
A switch to an aquatic life style would suddenly have made
358
00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:34,400
available
359
00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:36,800
a high protein diet that would have reduced the amount of time
360
00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:38,700
they had to spend finding food.
361
00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:44,200
This would have given them
more opportunities for other activities.
362
00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:47,200
Activities that could have led them
to develop important new skills.
363
00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,900
The ancient ability to open tough nuts and fruits
364
00:25:54,300 --> 00:25:57,000
would have made them immediately adept at cracking open the
365
00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:03,700
hard shells of a great deal of easily collected seafood.
366
00:26:03,700 --> 00:26:07,000
Marine molluscs and crustaceans would have had no protection from
367
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:09,100
the attacks of this new type of predator.
368
00:26:11,900 --> 00:26:15,300
They were a plentiful food supply just waiting to be exploited.
369
00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,800
Furthermore, a diet of fish and shellfish would have provided
370
00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:23,600
the aquatic apes with an enriched source of the fatty acids
371
00:26:23,700 --> 00:26:26,400
that are important for brain development.
372
00:26:26,500 --> 00:26:34,400
An aquatic ape could easily have become a more brainy ape. These are the amazing
373
00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:38,400
Moreauarmi divers of the Philippines.
Each member of a large
374
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:40,100
team of young male divers
375
00:26:40,300 --> 00:26:43,800
lowers a rock attached to a long line down to the seabed.
376
00:26:44,300 --> 00:26:47,200
Strips of white material scare the fish,
and as the lines are
377
00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:50,400
moved along with their rocks repeatedly
banging on the reefs below,
378
00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:54,200
they drive all the fish before them into an enormous net.
379
00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:00,300
Once all the fish are in the net,
the young divers descend
380
00:27:00,300 --> 00:27:03,900
without any breathing apparatus to a depth of 80 feet,
381
00:27:03,900 --> 00:27:05,900
where they may stay for up to three minutes.
382
00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:28,800
In the earliest days of the human story,
cooperative fishing
383
00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,600
could easily have been the first step on the road towards
384
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:35,400
efficient pack hunting and
our eventual role as successful
385
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:36,400
land predators.
386
00:27:54,100 --> 00:27:57,700
The aquatic ape theory of human origins remains unproven
387
00:27:58,100 --> 00:28:01,800
because we still lack the fossil evidence to support it.
388
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,800
But whether we passed through an aquatic phase or not,
389
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:08,300
one thing is certain, our ancestors
did eventually move on to
390
00:28:08,300 --> 00:28:11,700
the Savannah and start to hunt down large prey animals.
391
00:28:12,700 --> 00:28:14,900
This was to become our new way of life
392
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:18,500
that was to sustain us for over a million years,
393
00:28:18,500 --> 00:28:22,600
right up to the agricultural revolution a mere 10,000 years ago.
394
00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:27,100
And even today in a few remote areas, the primeval hunt continues.
395
00:28:34,100 --> 00:28:37,800
These are caribou, roaming the desolate lands of the far north
396
00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:40,500
of Canada. For native Canadians,
397
00:28:40,700 --> 00:28:44,600
these deer are an essential source of food.
398
00:28:44,700 --> 00:28:47,000
For them, caribou hunting is a matter of survival.
399
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:54,200
`When the Dogrib people set off on the chase, the outcome
400
00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:57,200
may make the difference between starvation and plenty.
401
00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:04,200
The moment of departure is full of happy anticipation.
402
00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:10,700
Anticipation of feasting to come.
The hunt goes through its characteristic stages.
403
00:29:10,700 --> 00:29:15,300
There's the long journey to the hunting grounds.
404
00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:17,200
Then the initial search for the herd.
405
00:29:19,900 --> 00:29:22,900
The first sighting of them in the far distance is reassuring,
406
00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,000
but they're in open country where they can't be approached.
407
00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:33,200
Next there's the planning of the
408
00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:34,700
strategy to be adopted.
409
00:29:35,300 --> 00:29:38,700
410
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:46,100
Now there's more group cooperation
as the tactics of the
411
00:29:46,100 --> 00:29:53,900
assault are put into action.
The hunt will be extremely physically demanding.
412
00:29:53,900 --> 00:29:59,000
Weapons, as ever, are crucial to the success of the chase.
413
00:30:05,700 --> 00:30:09,200
The women who accompany the hunters do not take an active part in
414
00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:09,900
the kill.
415
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:16,100
While the men are stalking the herd,
they search for berries
416
00:30:16,100 --> 00:30:19,500
in this desolate place,
following in the ancient footsteps
417
00:30:19,700 --> 00:30:21,600
of the primeval food gatherers.
418
00:30:25,700 --> 00:30:29,400
Like wolves encircling their prey,
the hunters move in close
419
00:30:29,500 --> 00:30:32,200
in wooded territory for a clean kill.
420
00:30:33,900 --> 00:30:34,900
421
00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:50,000
But unlike wolves, their communication is complex,
422
00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:54,700
and their strategy sophisticated.
As with all carnivorous hunters,
423
00:30:54,700 --> 00:30:57,600
long distance vision is crucial to their success.
424
00:31:20,500 --> 00:31:23,100
Their weapons may be modern, but the hunting pattern
425
00:31:23,100 --> 00:31:26,900
these men are following is a million years old.
On this particular hunt
426
00:31:26,900 --> 00:31:29,400
it took a week to make the kill.
427
00:31:29,900 --> 00:31:33,200
And by this time, the group had been
almost without food for three days.
428
00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:37,100
In the bitter cold of the northern landscape
429
00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:38,900
starvation had been staring them in the face.
430
00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:56,000
After the kill, the carcass is cut up and prepared
431
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:57,700
ready to be carried back to the community.
432
00:32:11,900 --> 00:32:16,000
The intense relief that is felt when the feast finally comes
433
00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:19,800
is something that is difficult
to appreciate for those who've never
434
00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:24,100
experienced this ancient, uncertain
form of human food seeking.
435
00:32:27,700 --> 00:32:31,700
It's easy to understand why
10,000 years ago we started to give up
436
00:32:31,700 --> 00:32:35,000
this way of life
and turned instead to the security and
437
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:39,000
the predictability of farming.
Of controlling the wild animals
438
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:41,800
and making certain that
they were always around to provide
439
00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:47,800
us with guaranteed regular meals.
But it has to be admitted,
440
00:32:47,900 --> 00:32:50,500
there was something bravely hazardous about the hunt.
441
00:32:51,300 --> 00:32:54,100
With the advent of agriculture, the drama of the chase was lost.
442
00:32:54,100 --> 00:32:58,000
Only the Dogrib
and a few other remote hunting societies
443
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:01,500
remain to remind us of the earlier way of life.
444
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:13,300
For most of us today the rigours of the hunt,
its uncertainties
445
00:33:13,300 --> 00:33:18,400
and dangers, are a thing of the past.
Nowadays, all we have to face
446
00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:20,800
is a trip to the local supermarket.
447
00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:23,900
So what happened to our inborn hunting urges?
Where did they go
448
00:33:23,900 --> 00:33:24,300
449
00:33:24,300 --> 00:33:28,100
in the modern world?
The primeval act of setting off
450
00:33:28,300 --> 00:33:29,800
on the hunt has acquired a new name.
451
00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:34,700
Now we call it going to work.
Modern hunters leave their home base,
452
00:33:34,700 --> 00:33:38,100
not on a chase for large prey animals,
453
00:33:38,100 --> 00:33:39,600
but in pursuit of contracts, deals and sales.
454
00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:43,200
They'll make a killing in the city
and bring home the bacon
455
00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:46,500
without ever setting eyes on wild game.
456
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:51,500
Each occupation has its own special kind
of substitute hunting elements.
457
00:33:51,500 --> 00:33:55,400
For some, it's the comradeship of fellow hunters.
458
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:59,000
For a few, there remains the frison of
actual physical danger.
459
00:33:59,300 --> 00:34:02,000
This was a key element in the original hunt.
460
00:34:02,100 --> 00:34:05,700
But with modern substitute hunts,
it's now comparatively rare.
461
00:34:05,900 --> 00:34:07,100
For some individuals though,
462
00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:09,190
this danger element is crucial.
463
00:34:09,300 --> 00:34:12,500
They need the adrenaline boost
that accompanied every dangerous
464
00:34:12,500 --> 00:34:13,500
hunting trip.
465
00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:24,690
For most, the risks have now become purely financial.
466
00:34:25,190 --> 00:34:28,900
These are the typical hunters
of modern times, who have retained
467
00:34:28,900 --> 00:34:31,900
the strategies and tactics,
the planning and the plotting
468
00:34:32,100 --> 00:34:35,600
of the old hunting lifestyle,
but in a completely transformed state.
469
00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:48,500
For some the pseudo hunt is a stalking, prowling affair
470
00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:51,600
with the emphasis on the symbolic kill at the end.
471
00:34:52,100 --> 00:34:55,100
The average traffic warden
has the immense satisfaction of
472
00:34:55,100 --> 00:35:00,000
making many kills every day,
with from time to time the added excitement
473
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:04,700
of a little spirited, but futile resistance from
474
00:35:04,700 --> 00:35:05,900
a squirming prey.
475
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:16,500
476
00:35:17,700 --> 00:35:18,900
477
00:35:32,500 --> 00:35:35,600
Each to their own kind of hunt.
Each to their own type of chase,
478
00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:38,900
and each to their own form of kill.
479
00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:41,600
The modern pseudo hunters are everywhere.
480
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:50,500
At the end of the hunt,
when the worker returns home, the spoils
481
00:35:50,500 --> 00:35:58,100
of the chase, inside the pay packet
are handed over.
482
00:35:58,100 --> 00:36:01,100
Those who are most engrossed in their work,
and find it particularly satisfying
483
00:36:01,100 --> 00:36:04,500
are the ones whose activities contain most of
484
00:36:04,500 --> 00:36:06,500
the old hunting habits.
485
00:36:06,900 --> 00:36:09,700
For them, the symbolic hunt retains almost all its original excitement.
486
00:36:13,100 --> 00:36:16,600
For some, the symbolism is very obvious,
with a specific and
487
00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:20,800
visible prey to be pursued.
A Police chase brings out
488
00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:22,000
all the old hunting skills.
489
00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:48,600
490
00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:50,400
491
00:36:54,500 --> 00:36:56,900
492
00:36:56,900 --> 00:37:01,700
493
00:37:01,700 --> 00:37:02,100
494
00:37:04,100 --> 00:37:05,900
Almost all the elements are still there.
495
00:37:05,900 --> 00:37:09,200
The strategies and the tactics,
the cooperation and organization.
496
00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:13,400
The concentration and the risk.
The arduous pursuit
497
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:15,400
and finally the climax of the kill.
498
00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:34,000
499
00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:37,700
A few people seem unable to make the symbolic
500
00:37:37,700 --> 00:37:42,200
leap away from the primeval hunt
to one of its modern substitutes.
501
00:37:42,700 --> 00:37:44,000
Trapped in the past,
502
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:47,400
they feel the urge to continue
needlessly to gun down
503
00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:48,900
wild animals for sport.
504
00:37:50,300 --> 00:37:53,800
These hunters are not starving
and their prey are not dangerous.
505
00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:57,700
The animals have been
specially reared on game ranches
506
00:37:57,700 --> 00:38:00,800
so that they can be shot at
by sporting gentlemen who don't
507
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:03,600
wish to suffer any undue discomfort in the process.
508
00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:10,700
Thank you.
509
00:38:12,100 --> 00:38:13,100
That's a long shot.
510
00:38:13,100 --> 00:38:14,600
I'm glad I put two shells in there.
511
00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:18,500
I was thinking about only putting one.
It was a good shot.
512
00:38:18,500 --> 00:38:22,000
Killing these animals with high-powered weapons
is about as courageous
513
00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:25,900
as shooting at a cow in a field.
But sport hunting which has
514
00:38:25,900 --> 00:38:29,100
been going on ever since
the primeval hunt became obsolete
515
00:38:29,500 --> 00:38:31,300
still manages to survive,
516
00:38:31,300 --> 00:38:34,900
so deeply ingrained is
the predatory past of our species.
517
00:38:35,100 --> 00:38:37,900
518
00:38:38,100 --> 00:38:39,500
519
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:40,700
520
00:38:47,500 --> 00:38:48,500
For most people today however,
521
00:38:48,500 --> 00:38:52,700
the idea of killing animals for fun is repugnant.
522
00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:02,300
Instead. when their hunting urges drive a man
523
00:39:02,300 --> 00:39:04,800
to track down a wild beast and take a shot at it,
524
00:39:05,300 --> 00:39:08,900
the loudest noise you hear
is the click of a camera.
525
00:39:14,500 --> 00:39:18,300
These shots are all on target,
but no blood is spilled.
526
00:39:18,300 --> 00:39:20,900
And the excitement of taking home
the pictures of these animals
527
00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:24,500
provides a symbolic trophy more in keeping
528
00:39:24,500 --> 00:39:28,100
with the modern environment
in which these symbolic hunters live today.
529
00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:38,700
All over the world, the symbolic hunters are out stalking
530
00:39:38,700 --> 00:39:41,200
their prey. And because they are symbolic,
531
00:39:41,500 --> 00:39:45,900
the prey can take some rather odd forms.
As collectors, people
532
00:39:45,900 --> 00:39:48,700
seem prepared to hunt down and carry almost anything.
533
00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:54,600
Sometimes, at enormous cost.
For some collectors simply finding
534
00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:56,500
the prey is sufficient reward.
535
00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:05,800
For these trainspotters, the prey animal becomes the giant locomotive that glides into
536
00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:09,400
their sight, giving them the hunter's thrill of discovery.
537
00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:10,200
Like real prey,
538
00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:13,900
each railway engine
is beyond their control. Only by being
539
00:40:13,900 --> 00:40:15,800
in the right place, at the right moment,
540
00:40:15,900 --> 00:40:19,100
can they add another exciting specimen
to their list of symbolic kills.
541
00:40:19,100 --> 00:40:23,200
They can't eat these trains, but they can at least
542
00:40:23,300 --> 00:40:25,500
feast their eyes on them.
543
00:40:30,500 --> 00:40:34,600
Wherever today's pseudo hunters gather in small groups
544
00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:38,000
there's a strong chance that some kind of symbolic prey
545
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:41,800
will be struck down. The nature of the prey can be reduced to the
546
00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:46,300
simplest possible form.
In this case, a wooden skittle.
547
00:40:46,900 --> 00:40:50,200
It's virtually impossible
to simplify the symbolic hunt further
548
00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:54,200
than this, but the excitement is still there.
The human animal
549
00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:58,400
can make a hunt out of almost anything,
and celebrate accordingly.
550
00:41:04,200 --> 00:41:05,800
For many people,
551
00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:08,600
the workplace is somewhat lacking in the more exciting elements
552
00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:13,200
of the substitute hunt.
For them, special events outside
553
00:41:13,200 --> 00:41:17,100
the working context are necessary to recreate the drama of the chase.
554
00:41:17,100 --> 00:41:21,400
A solution for many millions
is professional sport.
555
00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:26,200
Here on the football field, almost
all the stages of the primeval
556
00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:28,500
hunt are displayed for the spectators.
557
00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:32,000
There are the team tactics.
558
00:41:36,100 --> 00:41:41,900
The group cooperation.
The long-distance communication.
559
00:41:46,900 --> 00:41:51,500
The physical risks, the skills,
the stamina and the bravery. The stalking,
560
00:41:51,500 --> 00:41:52,900
the cunning of the chase.
561
00:41:56,500 --> 00:41:59,400
At last there's a moment of the kill as the tribal weapon
562
00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:01,600
is driven into the mouth of the prey.
563
00:42:07,500 --> 00:42:11,500
This act of aiming is common to most forms of modern sport.
564
00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:24,800
With victory in sport,
as with victory in the hunt, there follows
565
00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:29,000
triumphant celebration.
A moment of euphoria shared by all.
566
00:42:31,700 --> 00:42:35,100
Sometimes the intensity of the moment becomes too great.
567
00:42:35,100 --> 00:42:38,200
The passions of the primeval hunter
have been so aroused that
568
00:42:38,200 --> 00:42:41,300
the symbolism is lost, and the violence of the hunt itself
569
00:42:41,300 --> 00:42:42,900
is once again unleashed.
570
00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:57,200
When a human being becomes the new prey
571
00:42:57,200 --> 00:43:00,400
and the hunting pack turns on
one of its own kind, the savagery of the mob
572
00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:04,700
knows no bounds. For the lynch mob,
the victim becomes effectively
573
00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:08,100
a member of another species.
A prey to be destroyed.
574
00:43:09,700 --> 00:43:11,700
This is not normal human aggression.
575
00:43:12,100 --> 00:43:15,800
This is a corrupted hunting pack
on the prowl, looking for a kill.
576
00:43:15,800 --> 00:43:17,400
In this case,
577
00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:19,100
the victim was rescued.
578
00:43:23,700 --> 00:43:27,400
Those who argue, through wishful thinking,
that the human animal
579
00:43:27,400 --> 00:43:31,300
is essentially placid and docile,
is making a dangerous error.
580
00:43:32,300 --> 00:43:35,100
They need look no further than the seemingly innocent games
581
00:43:35,100 --> 00:43:38,200
of children to see the way the human mind works.
582
00:43:38,700 --> 00:43:41,900
We're hunters through and through, always chasing something.
583
00:43:41,900 --> 00:43:46,200
Always in pursuit of some goal,
whether abstract or real.
584
00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:50,100
This human quality, this urge to meet a challenge,
to take a risk,
585
00:43:50,100 --> 00:43:54,800
to track down a solution,
is one of our greatest attributes.
586
00:43:54,800 --> 00:43:58,200
To say that man is a hunter is not to say
that man must be violent.
587
00:43:58,200 --> 00:43:59,000
Far from it.
588
00:43:59,300 --> 00:44:01,600
All it says is that he's not docile.
589
00:44:01,600 --> 00:44:06,100
We're by nature go-getters,
but what we get is up to us.
590
00:44:14,100 --> 00:44:17,600
All too often, the games
of childhood become corrupted
591
00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:21,800
into the war games of adult life.
Instead of using our hunting
592
00:44:21,800 --> 00:44:24,300
urges to chase wonderful ideals.
593
00:44:24,500 --> 00:44:28,600
We use them to pursue a new kind of prey.
Human prey.
594
00:44:31,100 --> 00:44:33,100
The hunting urge is a double-edged sword.
595
00:44:33,100 --> 00:44:36,300
It can be used constructively to help us fulfill our greatest dreams,
596
00:44:36,300 --> 00:44:40,900
or destructively to live out our greatest nightmares.
597
00:44:45,300 --> 00:44:47,800
598
00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:48,800
599
00:44:52,600 --> 00:44:55,800
When the hunt became symbolic, it retained
600
00:44:55,800 --> 00:44:58,200
its power, but lost its direction.
601
00:44:58,800 --> 00:45:02,400
It's now up to us, to our intelligence,
not our instincts.
602
00:45:02,400 --> 00:45:06,300
to determine that direction.
And it's a dark day whenever we fail.
603
00:45:27,300 --> 00:45:31,300
In modern warfare, the combination
of the ancient hunting urge
604
00:45:31,300 --> 00:45:35,200
and modern technology
has been deadly. Because the new
605
00:45:35,200 --> 00:45:37,500
weapons act at a greater and greater distance,
606
00:45:37,500 --> 00:45:41,400
the enemy is no longer identifiable
as a rival human being,
607
00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:45,600
but a tiny speck in the distance.
There's no personal involvement.
608
00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:50,000
The enemy soldiers are not people. They're prey.
609
00:45:50,000 --> 00:45:52,300
If only hunting hadn't made us such a cooperative species,
610
00:45:52,600 --> 00:45:55,500
it would be impossible for tyrants to form armies and set
611
00:45:55,500 --> 00:45:59,400
them off on campaigns of mass destruction.
Warfare is the
612
00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:02,400
darkest face of the human urge to hunt.
613
00:46:07,300 --> 00:46:10,300
This all seems light years away from the quiet life
614
00:46:10,300 --> 00:46:14,700
we left behind in the primeval forests.
When we gave up the
615
00:46:14,900 --> 00:46:18,600
simple fruit picking existence and set ourselves the challenge
616
00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:22,800
of a new way of obtaining our food by using tools and weapons,
617
00:46:23,500 --> 00:46:26,300
we could never have guessed that far off in the future,
618
00:46:26,700 --> 00:46:29,900
we'd be giving ourselves the possibility
619
00:46:29,900 --> 00:46:33,200
of both a technological heaven,
and a technological hell on Earth.
620
00:46:35,300 --> 00:46:38,300
Which of these two comes to dominate our lives in the future
621
00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:41,100
remains the greatest of all human dilemmas.
622
00:46:47,300 --> 00:46:51,000
And it's amazing to think that this whole story all began
623
00:46:51,200 --> 00:46:54,900
with a small change in our diet millions of years ago.
624
00:47:01,200 --> 00:47:04,700
One thing is certain.
When our ancient ancestors had passed
625
00:47:04,700 --> 00:47:07,400
through the early phase of their evolution and had become
626
00:47:07,400 --> 00:47:11,500
fully fledged hunters, their social way of life had to change.
627
00:47:11,600 --> 00:47:13,100
When the males went off on the hunt,
628
00:47:13,300 --> 00:47:15,900
they had to have somewhere to come back to with the spoils.
629
00:47:16,200 --> 00:47:19,700
They had to have a home base.
A fixed home base. That meant
630
00:47:19,700 --> 00:47:23,000
settlements and dwellings. And the way in which those early
631
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:26,600
dwellings grew and flourished and developed into our modern
632
00:47:26,600 --> 00:47:29,500
megacities, is the subject of next week's program.
57100
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