3 ms·
The question of whether certain tools/techniques such as fire and stone flaking have a single origin or were repeatedly rediscovered is quite interesting. Unlik
by hyperion2010 11y ago
The question of whether certain tools/techniques such as fire and stone flaking have a single origin or were repeatedly rediscovered is quite interesting. Unlike in purely genetic evolution innovation seems a bit more likely to repeat itself but I still like to imagine that some protohominid figured out how to use fire some time a couple million years ago and everyone since then has observed how to use fire from that one lineage.
- contingencies 11y agoFire is not one thing. You have quite different ideas people would have grappled with like observe naturally occurring fire (eg. from lightning, in terms of light and heat properties), tend fire, store fire, make fire, cook on fire, differentiate properties of cooked and non-cooked food, differentiate properties of heated/burned, discover heating's effect on various materials, etc.