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People of the Lake: Mankind & Its Beginnings
Through the discovery of fossil remains in Africa, the author draws conclusions about the nature of prehistoric life and its influence on modern culture.
252 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
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About the author
Richard E. Leakey
38 books74 followersRichard Erskine Frere Leakey was a paleoanthropologist and conservationist. He was the second born of three sons of the archaeologists Louis Leakey and Mary Leakey, and was the younger brother of Colin Leakey.
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April 5, 2021Öncelikle elimdeki kitabın baskısından ve Leakey'den bahsederek başlamak istiyorum yorumuma. Bildiğiniz üzere Leakey ailesi bu alanda çok üretken bilim insanları çıkarmış bir aile. Dilimize Güven Arsebük tarafından 1971 yılında çevrilen ve Türk Tarih Kurumu'dan çıkan İnsanın Ataları'nı L.S.B. Leakey yazmıştı, bu kitabı şu an bulmak çok zordur. Tarihinden ötürü de güncelliğini yitirdiği varsayılabilir. Richard E.'nin bu kitaptan başka Sinem Gül tarafından 1996'da çevrilen ve Varlık Yayınları'ndan çıkan İnsanın Kökeni kitabı var. Tıpkı İnsanın Ataları gibi, elimde tuttuğum Göl İnsanları da yazıldığı tarihten 18 yıl sonra 1997'de Füsun Baytok çevirisiyle dilimize kazandırıldıysa da (Bu çeviriye yine Sn. Güven Arsebük danışmanlık yapmıştır) artık ne yazık ki Göl İnsanları basılmamaktadır. Tübitak böyle kitapları yayınlamayı bıraktığından tıpkı diğer pek çok bilim kitabı gibi bu da mazide kalmıştır. Bu kitabın kendisi gibi kitapta gördüğümüz dikişli cilt de mazide kaldı diyebiliriz.
Kitabın çok fazla ezber bozucu bilgiye sahip olduğunu söyleyebilirim. Bu özelliğiyle belki de çok satan, daha yeni tarihli Sapiens'teki pek çok iddianın tersi bu kitapta bulunmaktadır. Oldukça da inandırıcı ve halen çürütülmemiş delillerle üstelik. Bunlardan mesela en çok dikkatimi çeken, insanın toplayıcı-avcı dönemde o kadar da saldırgan olduğunu düşünmemesidir yazarın. Bizim onları saldırgan varsaymamızı sağlayan bütün delilleri tek tek çürütmektedir. Özellikle sanatlarında savaş ve katliamlara yer vermemiş olmaları, bunların daha geç bir dönemde tarımın ortaya çıkmasıyla başlamış olması benim için son derece inandırıcı ve ikna edici bir delil. Hakikaten de düşünsenize hiç insan katliamı yapılan bir duvar çizimi geliyor mu aklınıza? Zira Sapiens'te Harari katliamların, savaşın, eşitsizliğin tüm suçunu kapitalizme değil Homo Sapiens'in genlerine yıkarak Kapitalizm için bir arınma kitabı yazdığından* bu kitabın da onun hemen ardından okunması Harari'nin manipülasyonlarını ortaya çıkaracaktır. Konuyu alanında uzmanların tartışmasına bırakıyorum.
Kitapta insanın yalnızca genetik mirası değil, kültürel ve sosyal ilişkilerinin de gelişiminde ne kadar önem taşıdığını çok güzel örneklerle açıklıyor yazar. Kullanılan aletlerdeki gelişim ile beyin hacmindeki gelişim arasındaki uçurum, zekanın yalnızca sopa kullanmayla gelişmediğini başka faktörlerin de olduğunu anlatıyor bize. Şimdi bizlerin toplumsal yönümüzün (şempanzelerin de tabi) zekamız üzerinde çok büyük bir etki sahibi olduğunu göstermektedir.
Kitapta ayrıca fosilleri bulmanın, toplamanın, incelemenin zorlukları da uzun olarak anlatılmış. Bu mesleğin ne kadar zor olduğunu, yanıltıcı bulgulara ulaşma riskinin ne kadar fazla olduğunu da görmüş bulunuyoruz. Ayrıca ne kadar büyük bir öğrenme aşkı gerektiğini de... Çağdaş toplumların incelenmesinin de bizim için geçmişin izlerini sürmekte ne kadar çok ipucu sağlayacağını da göstermiş yazar. Bu yöntemle pek çok ilkel yaşam süren avcı toplayıcı kabile üzerinde incelemeler de yapmış. Onlardan öğrendikleri ile geçmişin izini sürmüş...
Mağara insanının aslında mağarada yaşamadığını, kemiklerin çoğu defa mağaraya doğal güçler tarafından sürüklendiğini; ilkel insanların zannettiğimiz kadar aptal olmadıklarını, tüylerimizi neden kaybettiğimizi, alet kullanmanın ya da konuşmanın yalnızca bize ait olduğu yönündeki yanılgılarımızın geçersizliğini... Daha pek çok ezber bozucu bilgiyi bulabilirsiniz bu dopdolu kitapta!
Birkaç bölüme eklenen siyah beyaz resimlerle ve düşülen dipnotlarla anlatılan konular daha öğretici olması açısından desteklenmiş.
Artık bulması zor bir kitap olsa da, muhakkak okunması gereken ezber bozucu bir kitap olduğunu söylemek istiyorum. Turkana gölü kıyısında kemikleri incelerken hayal edin kendinizi, büyük bir hikayenin kırıntılarını takip etmektesinizdir... Göl insanları, bizleriz.
M.B.
02.12.2018
*Sapiens kitabına yazdığım yorumda detaylıca açıkladığım üzere.
https://agacingovdesi.com/2021/03/29/...
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January 14, 2018Kropotkin’i diriltmeye and içmişçesine yazılmış.
March 25, 2009
A landmark book by Richard E. Leakey and co-author Roger Lewin first published in 1978. It documents the years that Leakey, an anthropologist and son of Louis and Mary Leakey, both also renowned in the field, spent following in their famous foot steps.
In a few short years during the 1970s, young Leakey, his wife Meave and their fossil hunting team, unearthed over 300 humanoid bones at Koobi Fora, on the shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya. They were remarkable finds, that told an even more remarkable story. Until this point, the general accepted theory was that our ancestors survived because we were male-dominated, and we bludgeoned to death all our rivals. If you have seen the beginning of Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” you've seen this graphically portrayed.
But, in this book, Richard Leakey advances the theory that humankind survived not because we were brutish but because we were maternal; we learned to care for each other through reciprocal altruism.
“The ideal breeding ground for the evolution of reciprocal altruism is in a group of long-lived, egalitarian, social animals who remain close together throughout their lives. This means that altruistic acts can be repaid over a long period of time. You would not expect this type of behavior to emerge in creatures that rarely encountered each other, through whatever circumstance; there would simply be no opportunity to have a debt to repaid…over countless generations natural selection favored the emergence of emotions that made reciprocal altruism work, emotions such as sympathy, gratitude, guilt, and moral indignation,” writes Leakey and Lewin.
In short, Leakey was presenting the notion that our ability to care for one and other, the very core of our humanity, evolved millions of years ago along the shoreline of Lake Turkana and sites like it in Africa.
In a few short years during the 1970s, young Leakey, his wife Meave and their fossil hunting team, unearthed over 300 humanoid bones at Koobi Fora, on the shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya. They were remarkable finds, that told an even more remarkable story. Until this point, the general accepted theory was that our ancestors survived because we were male-dominated, and we bludgeoned to death all our rivals. If you have seen the beginning of Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” you've seen this graphically portrayed.
But, in this book, Richard Leakey advances the theory that humankind survived not because we were brutish but because we were maternal; we learned to care for each other through reciprocal altruism.
“The ideal breeding ground for the evolution of reciprocal altruism is in a group of long-lived, egalitarian, social animals who remain close together throughout their lives. This means that altruistic acts can be repaid over a long period of time. You would not expect this type of behavior to emerge in creatures that rarely encountered each other, through whatever circumstance; there would simply be no opportunity to have a debt to repaid…over countless generations natural selection favored the emergence of emotions that made reciprocal altruism work, emotions such as sympathy, gratitude, guilt, and moral indignation,” writes Leakey and Lewin.
In short, Leakey was presenting the notion that our ability to care for one and other, the very core of our humanity, evolved millions of years ago along the shoreline of Lake Turkana and sites like it in Africa.
September 16, 2021
This was my first non-fiction in a while and I really, really enjoyed it!
I loved how Leakey's discussion extended beyond purely the specimens but he also spoke about social and cultural dynamics and extended it to the present day (even it that present day was 1978). I was also surprised by how progressive some of the commentary was, especially about respect for indigenous cultures... I'm not sure what I was expecting but it defied my expectations in that sense.
Such a good book!
I loved how Leakey's discussion extended beyond purely the specimens but he also spoke about social and cultural dynamics and extended it to the present day (even it that present day was 1978). I was also surprised by how progressive some of the commentary was, especially about respect for indigenous cultures... I'm not sure what I was expecting but it defied my expectations in that sense.
Such a good book!
March 29, 2009
It's nonfiction but with a lot of speculation. Interesting reading, though.
September 27, 2024
A BOOK ABOUT SOCIAL EVOLUTION---AND COUNTERING THE "INNATE AGGRESSION" SCHOOL
Co-author Roger Lewin is a British science writer, who wrote in the Preface to this 1978 book, "In telling the story of human origins we attempt to draw from that matrix some of the most important factors, while being aware of the danger of oversimplification. And we try to display the intricately interacting processes, while, hopefully, avoiding total confusion... Last of all we tackle the inescapably political aspect of human prehistory: Are humans innately aggressive? Are war and bloody oppression inevitable elements of human history?" (Pg. 12-13)
They note that "In the animal kingdom Homo sapiens is the only species with an apparently well-developed proclivity for killing its own kind. We are not, however, the only animal to indulge in intraspecific killing (call it murder if you like); during recent years animal behaviorists have been able to confirm that infanticide is not at all uncommon in a number of species, such as hanuman langurs, lions, hamadryas baboons, wild dogs, elephant seals, rhesus monkeys, howler monkeys, and many others." (Pg. 33)
They point out, "People help each other all the time, and they are motivated to, not by repeated calculations of the ultimate benefit to themselves through returned favors, but because they are psychologically motivated to do so. This is precisely what one would expect; over countless generations natural selection favored the emergence of emotions that made reciprocal altruism work, emotions such as sympathy, gratitude, guilt, and moral indignation... the emotions of compassion and sympathy that stir in the breasts of such pure altruists are the evolutionary products of a long history of an intensely social creature; the decision to help may be sophisticated a cerebral, but the underlying emotion is much more basic." (Pg. 137-138)
They suggest, "Although there can have been no SINGLE force responsible for the extreme development of the human intellect---evolution rarely works in such a monolithic way---the demands of social intercourse provided a major thrust in the growth of the human brain. The intellectual exigencies of a gathering-and-hunting economy, and the accompanying advantages of technology, must also have played their part." (Pg. 166-167)
They state, "The emergence of the basic grade of Homo sapiens was probably around half a million years ago, perhaps first in Africa, or in Eurasia, perhaps in many different places at about the same time. The complex interaction of physical and intellectual capabilities within a self-created framework of culture probably operated on many populations of Homo erectus, urging them to the sapiens state. Not a divine guiding hand, but a biological inevitability." (Pg. 214)
They observe, "Proponents of human aggression often claim that modern man lacks the instinctive responses that in other animals prevent combat escalating to lethal levels... but very soon the rules of biology would have reasserted themselves. Indeed, it would have been evolutionary suicide if our ancestors had cast aside the laws of conflict and converted every dispute into a potential murder. The costs would have been very high, not only for victims, but for the murderers too. Such an animal would not have survived...
"One of the major flaws in the argument about aggression is the assumption that it is an unwavering instinct... the behavior itself is very responsive to environmental conditions. A species may be outrageously territorial in one kind of environment, but not at all in another." (Pg. 224-225)
This book will be of interest to all who are interested in the social evolution of humans.
Co-author Roger Lewin is a British science writer, who wrote in the Preface to this 1978 book, "In telling the story of human origins we attempt to draw from that matrix some of the most important factors, while being aware of the danger of oversimplification. And we try to display the intricately interacting processes, while, hopefully, avoiding total confusion... Last of all we tackle the inescapably political aspect of human prehistory: Are humans innately aggressive? Are war and bloody oppression inevitable elements of human history?" (Pg. 12-13)
They note that "In the animal kingdom Homo sapiens is the only species with an apparently well-developed proclivity for killing its own kind. We are not, however, the only animal to indulge in intraspecific killing (call it murder if you like); during recent years animal behaviorists have been able to confirm that infanticide is not at all uncommon in a number of species, such as hanuman langurs, lions, hamadryas baboons, wild dogs, elephant seals, rhesus monkeys, howler monkeys, and many others." (Pg. 33)
They point out, "People help each other all the time, and they are motivated to, not by repeated calculations of the ultimate benefit to themselves through returned favors, but because they are psychologically motivated to do so. This is precisely what one would expect; over countless generations natural selection favored the emergence of emotions that made reciprocal altruism work, emotions such as sympathy, gratitude, guilt, and moral indignation... the emotions of compassion and sympathy that stir in the breasts of such pure altruists are the evolutionary products of a long history of an intensely social creature; the decision to help may be sophisticated a cerebral, but the underlying emotion is much more basic." (Pg. 137-138)
They suggest, "Although there can have been no SINGLE force responsible for the extreme development of the human intellect---evolution rarely works in such a monolithic way---the demands of social intercourse provided a major thrust in the growth of the human brain. The intellectual exigencies of a gathering-and-hunting economy, and the accompanying advantages of technology, must also have played their part." (Pg. 166-167)
They state, "The emergence of the basic grade of Homo sapiens was probably around half a million years ago, perhaps first in Africa, or in Eurasia, perhaps in many different places at about the same time. The complex interaction of physical and intellectual capabilities within a self-created framework of culture probably operated on many populations of Homo erectus, urging them to the sapiens state. Not a divine guiding hand, but a biological inevitability." (Pg. 214)
They observe, "Proponents of human aggression often claim that modern man lacks the instinctive responses that in other animals prevent combat escalating to lethal levels... but very soon the rules of biology would have reasserted themselves. Indeed, it would have been evolutionary suicide if our ancestors had cast aside the laws of conflict and converted every dispute into a potential murder. The costs would have been very high, not only for victims, but for the murderers too. Such an animal would not have survived...
"One of the major flaws in the argument about aggression is the assumption that it is an unwavering instinct... the behavior itself is very responsive to environmental conditions. A species may be outrageously territorial in one kind of environment, but not at all in another." (Pg. 224-225)
This book will be of interest to all who are interested in the social evolution of humans.
May 23, 2021
O livro foi publicado em 1978 e procura reconstruir a vida de nossos antepassados mortos há muito tempo, centrado nas descobertas de fósseis humanos e de antepassados do homem.
Resumo
A região aonde tudo se desenrola é o lago Turkana, localizado no Vale da Grande Fenda que atravessa a Tanzânia, Quênia e Etiópia. Leakey e Lewin, didaticamente, explicam como ocorre o processo de fossilização naquele local, contextualizam as condições climáticas e geológicas; por fim, mostram como se deu o processo de reconstituição de um famoso cenário fóssil aonde havia hominídeos, uma carcaça de hipopótamo e até mesmo uma folha de figo cuja "fotografia " resistiu ao tempo.
Sobre quem seriam os primeiros hominídeos, os autores indicam que há poucas evidências fósseis que permitam uma resposta mais segura (alguns fragmentos de maxilares, partes de braços e pernas). Tudo indica que seria o Ramapithecus o nosso primeiro ancestral, seguido de perto pelo Gigantopithecus e Sivapitechus.
Partindo de que o Ramapithecus seria o nosso ancestral mais longínquo, há um hiato entre 8 e 4 milhões de anos atrás, chamado de "vazio fóssil", sendo impossível saber o que ocorreu com os hominídeos nesse momento da história geológica.
Após este “vazio fóssil” surgiram 4 tipos de hominídeos, com cabeça erguida e andar reto: o homo habilis, o australopithecus africanus, o australophitecus boisei e Lucy (para alguns, australopithecus afarensis, para outros, uma remanescente do ramapithecus; ainda, possivelmente, uma ancestral tanto do homo quanto dos australopithecus).
Lucy possivelmente é a antecessora de todos, podendo ser um ingrediente interessante ao "vazio fóssil" dos milhões de anos anteriores e mais próxima do ramapithecus, nosso provável primeiro ancestral. Os australopitecus robustus e boisei (ou zinjarhropus) provavelmente foram a mesma espécie, embora os primeiros muito maiores do que os segundos. Por fim o homo habilis, achado em 1972, empurrou para 2 milhões de anos a aparição do gênero "homo", um período maior do que aquele aceito até então.
Entre os fatos que se tem alguma certeza mas não se consegue explicar o porquê ocorreram que são características dos primeiros hominídeos são a diminuição dos caninos e a postura bípede, isso entre 10 a 15 milhões de anos atrás.
Sobre a postura bípede, algumas considerações. Primeiro, é algo mais antigo do que o senso comum leva a crer. Segundo, há uma impressão equivocada de que os australopitecus seriam mais desajeitados e andariam desengonçados em relação ao homo habilis e homo erectus. Todavia estudos com biomecânica levam a crer que os australopitecus andavam até mesmo de forma mais eficiente que o gênero homo. Terceiro, relevante também citar sobre a interpretação dos ossos que chegam até nós. O fato de existirem mais crânios e mandíbulas decorrem da dificuldade em elas serem consumidas por outros animais e o fato de serem achados em cavernas, não implica que os primeiros homens morassem em cavernas (em realidade, era pouco provável que elas fossem usadas como moradia).
Refletir sobre as sociedades coletoras-caçadoras existentes e sobre os grandes antropoides pode ser um modo de procurar entender a essência da natureza humana em nossos antepassados. As reflexões a seguir irão nesta linha.
Estudos revelam, em sociedades coletoras-caçadoras existentes, a predominância da coleta sobre a caça, uma natalidade em média de 4 anos controlada por infanticídio e o compartilhamento do produto da coleta. A partir disto infere-se que a coleta tenha sido a base da alimentação de nossos antepassados e que a quantidade de pessoas e recursos naturais deveria ser controlada instintivamente. É um contraponto à visão do ancestral humano como um caçador, carnívoro e em uma vida difícil e perigosa, deve ser repensada.
Sobre a inteligência humana. Abandonou-se a ideia de que o uso e/ou criação de ferramentas seria uma marca da supremacia humana, já que outros animais são capazes disso. Por outro lado, a interação social, manter e fazer alianças sociais, é possível que tenha sido decisivo na evolução da inteligência na medida em que não é observável em outros animais.
Repartir e acumular é o que pode nos ter feito humanos, e não caçar ou coletar. Pois embora sem vestígios fósseis, infere-se a confecção de bolsas para acumular a coleta, hipótese sugerida pelos chimpanzés, que são excelentes tecelões, embora nunca acumulem. A repartição pode ter implicado uma espécie de altruísmo recíproco que ampliou a sobrevida dos nossos antepassados e convergiu em uma primeira sociedade abundante em recursos.
A linguagem falada humana. Por quê e quando ela aflorou, será segredo para sempre. Contudo o simbolismo abstrato, como em entalhes e pinturas nos últimos 30 mil anos, são impossíveis em um animal que não fala. Ainda, fabricação de objetos (entalhes e pinturas) a rigor sem nenhuma utilidade, apenas humanos o fazem. Quando observáveis em fósseis, trata-se de sinais de uma cultura em pleno amadurecimento.
A vida sexual dos primeiros hominídeos. É provável que fosse semelhante à dos chimpanzés nos quais é observável a existência do incesto humano, embora a paternidade seja algo desconhecido. O aumento do compromisso do homem em relação à mulher e filhos pode ter se dado pela maior disponibilidade das mulheres ao sexo, diferente dos grandes primatas (que apenas em determinados momentos as fêmeas estão acessíveis para o acasalamento). Sugere-se também, observando sociedades coletoras-caçadoras existentes, que a predominância masculina se tornou maior de forma diretamente proporcional à importância da carne, uma equação ainda carente de maior elucidação e que deve ter movimentado a alavanca de poder ao homem na evolução humana.
Por fim, a guerra como uma tendência no curso da evolução humana e desconhecida pelos animais. Por quê? Bom, fósseis despedaçados e o instinto animal de agressão podem relacionar esta observação ao lado sanguinário do homem. Todavia, considerar a agressão incontrolável ou iguala-la à guerra, pode ser apressado. Ainda, se considerarmos o canibalismo familiar como algo menos agressivo que o canibalismo de inimigos, povos coletores (mais primitivos) seriam menos agressivos do que os agrícolas, já que estudos revelam que o canibalismo de inimigos é mais presente em sociedades agrícolas. Ou seja, a guerra parece um componente menos da evolução humana e mais da História humana, justamente quando o homem deu o passo gigantesco, talvez fatal, para a agricultura.
Considerações Finais
Richard Leakey e Roger Lewin são velhos conhecidos da pré-história humana e referência em estudos sobre a evolução dos seres humanos. O sítio arqueológico de Turkana foi importante no avanço dos estudos sobre nossos antepassados, graças às condições muito favoráveis encontradas ali.
Acredito que as reflexões feitas a partir dos grandes antropoides e estudos sobre sociedades coletoras-caçadoras existentes para explicar nossos antepassados devem ser recebidas com alguma cautela, principalmente por ser um livro de 1978 e algumas hipóteses podem ter mudado até então. Chega um momento em que os fósseis não conseguem mais falar e, a partir daí, resta ao pesquisadores apenas alguma dose de imaginação para tentar responder as perguntas que aparecem.
No entanto os autores procuram, de forma didática e simples, elucidar o trabalho dos pesquisadores, ao mesmo tempo que desmistificam alguns pontos. A narrativa é bastante acessível, quase como assistir um documentário.
É uma leitura obrigatória para os estudiosos e curiosos da Pré-História, bem como o público em geral.
Resumo
A região aonde tudo se desenrola é o lago Turkana, localizado no Vale da Grande Fenda que atravessa a Tanzânia, Quênia e Etiópia. Leakey e Lewin, didaticamente, explicam como ocorre o processo de fossilização naquele local, contextualizam as condições climáticas e geológicas; por fim, mostram como se deu o processo de reconstituição de um famoso cenário fóssil aonde havia hominídeos, uma carcaça de hipopótamo e até mesmo uma folha de figo cuja "fotografia " resistiu ao tempo.
Sobre quem seriam os primeiros hominídeos, os autores indicam que há poucas evidências fósseis que permitam uma resposta mais segura (alguns fragmentos de maxilares, partes de braços e pernas). Tudo indica que seria o Ramapithecus o nosso primeiro ancestral, seguido de perto pelo Gigantopithecus e Sivapitechus.
Partindo de que o Ramapithecus seria o nosso ancestral mais longínquo, há um hiato entre 8 e 4 milhões de anos atrás, chamado de "vazio fóssil", sendo impossível saber o que ocorreu com os hominídeos nesse momento da história geológica.
Após este “vazio fóssil” surgiram 4 tipos de hominídeos, com cabeça erguida e andar reto: o homo habilis, o australopithecus africanus, o australophitecus boisei e Lucy (para alguns, australopithecus afarensis, para outros, uma remanescente do ramapithecus; ainda, possivelmente, uma ancestral tanto do homo quanto dos australopithecus).
Lucy possivelmente é a antecessora de todos, podendo ser um ingrediente interessante ao "vazio fóssil" dos milhões de anos anteriores e mais próxima do ramapithecus, nosso provável primeiro ancestral. Os australopitecus robustus e boisei (ou zinjarhropus) provavelmente foram a mesma espécie, embora os primeiros muito maiores do que os segundos. Por fim o homo habilis, achado em 1972, empurrou para 2 milhões de anos a aparição do gênero "homo", um período maior do que aquele aceito até então.
Entre os fatos que se tem alguma certeza mas não se consegue explicar o porquê ocorreram que são características dos primeiros hominídeos são a diminuição dos caninos e a postura bípede, isso entre 10 a 15 milhões de anos atrás.
Sobre a postura bípede, algumas considerações. Primeiro, é algo mais antigo do que o senso comum leva a crer. Segundo, há uma impressão equivocada de que os australopitecus seriam mais desajeitados e andariam desengonçados em relação ao homo habilis e homo erectus. Todavia estudos com biomecânica levam a crer que os australopitecus andavam até mesmo de forma mais eficiente que o gênero homo. Terceiro, relevante também citar sobre a interpretação dos ossos que chegam até nós. O fato de existirem mais crânios e mandíbulas decorrem da dificuldade em elas serem consumidas por outros animais e o fato de serem achados em cavernas, não implica que os primeiros homens morassem em cavernas (em realidade, era pouco provável que elas fossem usadas como moradia).
Refletir sobre as sociedades coletoras-caçadoras existentes e sobre os grandes antropoides pode ser um modo de procurar entender a essência da natureza humana em nossos antepassados. As reflexões a seguir irão nesta linha.
Estudos revelam, em sociedades coletoras-caçadoras existentes, a predominância da coleta sobre a caça, uma natalidade em média de 4 anos controlada por infanticídio e o compartilhamento do produto da coleta. A partir disto infere-se que a coleta tenha sido a base da alimentação de nossos antepassados e que a quantidade de pessoas e recursos naturais deveria ser controlada instintivamente. É um contraponto à visão do ancestral humano como um caçador, carnívoro e em uma vida difícil e perigosa, deve ser repensada.
Sobre a inteligência humana. Abandonou-se a ideia de que o uso e/ou criação de ferramentas seria uma marca da supremacia humana, já que outros animais são capazes disso. Por outro lado, a interação social, manter e fazer alianças sociais, é possível que tenha sido decisivo na evolução da inteligência na medida em que não é observável em outros animais.
Repartir e acumular é o que pode nos ter feito humanos, e não caçar ou coletar. Pois embora sem vestígios fósseis, infere-se a confecção de bolsas para acumular a coleta, hipótese sugerida pelos chimpanzés, que são excelentes tecelões, embora nunca acumulem. A repartição pode ter implicado uma espécie de altruísmo recíproco que ampliou a sobrevida dos nossos antepassados e convergiu em uma primeira sociedade abundante em recursos.
A linguagem falada humana. Por quê e quando ela aflorou, será segredo para sempre. Contudo o simbolismo abstrato, como em entalhes e pinturas nos últimos 30 mil anos, são impossíveis em um animal que não fala. Ainda, fabricação de objetos (entalhes e pinturas) a rigor sem nenhuma utilidade, apenas humanos o fazem. Quando observáveis em fósseis, trata-se de sinais de uma cultura em pleno amadurecimento.
A vida sexual dos primeiros hominídeos. É provável que fosse semelhante à dos chimpanzés nos quais é observável a existência do incesto humano, embora a paternidade seja algo desconhecido. O aumento do compromisso do homem em relação à mulher e filhos pode ter se dado pela maior disponibilidade das mulheres ao sexo, diferente dos grandes primatas (que apenas em determinados momentos as fêmeas estão acessíveis para o acasalamento). Sugere-se também, observando sociedades coletoras-caçadoras existentes, que a predominância masculina se tornou maior de forma diretamente proporcional à importância da carne, uma equação ainda carente de maior elucidação e que deve ter movimentado a alavanca de poder ao homem na evolução humana.
Por fim, a guerra como uma tendência no curso da evolução humana e desconhecida pelos animais. Por quê? Bom, fósseis despedaçados e o instinto animal de agressão podem relacionar esta observação ao lado sanguinário do homem. Todavia, considerar a agressão incontrolável ou iguala-la à guerra, pode ser apressado. Ainda, se considerarmos o canibalismo familiar como algo menos agressivo que o canibalismo de inimigos, povos coletores (mais primitivos) seriam menos agressivos do que os agrícolas, já que estudos revelam que o canibalismo de inimigos é mais presente em sociedades agrícolas. Ou seja, a guerra parece um componente menos da evolução humana e mais da História humana, justamente quando o homem deu o passo gigantesco, talvez fatal, para a agricultura.
Considerações Finais
Richard Leakey e Roger Lewin são velhos conhecidos da pré-história humana e referência em estudos sobre a evolução dos seres humanos. O sítio arqueológico de Turkana foi importante no avanço dos estudos sobre nossos antepassados, graças às condições muito favoráveis encontradas ali.
Acredito que as reflexões feitas a partir dos grandes antropoides e estudos sobre sociedades coletoras-caçadoras existentes para explicar nossos antepassados devem ser recebidas com alguma cautela, principalmente por ser um livro de 1978 e algumas hipóteses podem ter mudado até então. Chega um momento em que os fósseis não conseguem mais falar e, a partir daí, resta ao pesquisadores apenas alguma dose de imaginação para tentar responder as perguntas que aparecem.
No entanto os autores procuram, de forma didática e simples, elucidar o trabalho dos pesquisadores, ao mesmo tempo que desmistificam alguns pontos. A narrativa é bastante acessível, quase como assistir um documentário.
É uma leitura obrigatória para os estudiosos e curiosos da Pré-História, bem como o público em geral.
September 2, 2025
"People of the Lake" by the great Kenyan paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey is a highly entertaining but trivial book. It recreates the excitement that existed in the 1960's and 1970's over the multiple discoveries of bones of hominids that existed prior to the arrival of the homo sapiens. It does not however do a particularly good job of explaining what the state of knowledge was amongst paleoanthropologists at the time of its publication in 1978. If it did, it might not matter much as the fossil finds of the last 45 years have dramatically alerted what is known about the evolutionary path of man's ancestors.
Leakey came from a distinguished clan of paleoanthropologists. His mother, father, wife and daughter also had notable careers in the field. Ultimately "People of the Lake" is seen its best light as photojournalism. The book is filled with many delightful pictures of Leakey and his family members digging to extract fossils at various locations in the Olduvai Gorge.
Unfortunately in "People of the Lake", Leakey strays considerably away from his area of competence. Only the first half of the book is devoted to the discovery of fossils. The second half contains chapters debunking erroneous theories that intellectuals have made from their misunderstanding of the findings of the paleoanthropologists. Notably Leakey criticizes Sigmund Freud and Konrad Lorenz who claimed that the fossils demonstrated that mankind was essentially violent. In another surprising chapter in the second half of the book, Leakey argues that his research has proved the need for Women's Liberation in our contemporary society. Leakey may be right in his assertions but his arguments are flimsy.
I discovered a copy of this book in the sauna at my cottage. It was great fun to read. However if you are in a city with a good library I suggest you look there for something better if you wish to know more about pre-historical man.
Leakey came from a distinguished clan of paleoanthropologists. His mother, father, wife and daughter also had notable careers in the field. Ultimately "People of the Lake" is seen its best light as photojournalism. The book is filled with many delightful pictures of Leakey and his family members digging to extract fossils at various locations in the Olduvai Gorge.
Unfortunately in "People of the Lake", Leakey strays considerably away from his area of competence. Only the first half of the book is devoted to the discovery of fossils. The second half contains chapters debunking erroneous theories that intellectuals have made from their misunderstanding of the findings of the paleoanthropologists. Notably Leakey criticizes Sigmund Freud and Konrad Lorenz who claimed that the fossils demonstrated that mankind was essentially violent. In another surprising chapter in the second half of the book, Leakey argues that his research has proved the need for Women's Liberation in our contemporary society. Leakey may be right in his assertions but his arguments are flimsy.
I discovered a copy of this book in the sauna at my cottage. It was great fun to read. However if you are in a city with a good library I suggest you look there for something better if you wish to know more about pre-historical man.
January 4, 2025
A look at a famous archaeological family the Leakey and their role in finding predecessors of humankind.
May 29, 2022
This book by Richard E. Leakey and co-author Roger Lewin first published in 1978 is built around reflecting on early hominins evidence Leakey, an anthropologist and son of Louis and Mary Leakey, both also renowned in the field, encountered in the over 300 humanoid bones at Koobi Fora, on the shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya. From the shards of bone and flakes of stone, Leakey considers an Edenic life of reciprocal altruism on page 154 of my edition:
Leakey presents the notion that our ability to care for one and other, our humanity, evolved millions of years ago along the shoreline of Lake Turkana and sites like it in Africa. He compares with our knowledge of hunter-gatherer communities, mostly in Africa and South America. Then, rather suddenly, the musing takes a right turn into identifying unfortunately typical human violence by seeing murder in the bones and considering our tool use is the seeds of our own destruction; an evolutionary dead end through inevitable nuclear war. From the penultimate page:
The ideal breeding ground for the evolution of reciprocal altruism is in a group of long-lived, egalitarian, social animals who remain close together throughout their lives. This means that altruistic acts can be repaid over a long period of time. You would not expect this type of behavior to emerge in creatures that rarely encountered each other, through whatever circumstance; there would simply be no opportunity to have a debt to repaid…over countless generations natural selection favored the emergence of emotions that made reciprocal altruism work, emotions such as sympathy, gratitude, guilt, and moral indignation…
Leakey presents the notion that our ability to care for one and other, our humanity, evolved millions of years ago along the shoreline of Lake Turkana and sites like it in Africa. He compares with our knowledge of hunter-gatherer communities, mostly in Africa and South America. Then, rather suddenly, the musing takes a right turn into identifying unfortunately typical human violence by seeing murder in the bones and considering our tool use is the seeds of our own destruction; an evolutionary dead end through inevitable nuclear war. From the penultimate page:
A nuclear holocaust could be the means of extinction of Homo sapiens. Perhaps this is inevitable. Perhaps when Ramapithecus stood upright all those millions of years ago, it was setting off on a journey that ends in yet an other evolutionary blind alley. Many species have faced the same fate. But in our case, extinction would be entirely of our own making, the result of being intelligent enough to create the means of our own destruction but not rational enough to ensure that they are not used.
August 30, 2024
A fun call back to his previous publication 'Origins' with a more personal approach to the publication. It was nice to read stories of the team, family, and reference to events of the time, such as what Jane Goodall was doing and the then recent publication of The Selfish Gene.
August 11, 2023
I'm fairly certain that if I'd been a teenager when this was published I would've seriously considered a career in archaeology. There are very few questions more difficult to answer than how humans / human nature evolved, so the way Leakey aggregates evidence from any and all sources to make conjectures in pursuit of understanding the elusive is inspiring. That he maintained humility and a healthy dose of skepticism made it even more so.
Content aside, I appreciated the attempts at humor throughout as well as the more salient time-capsule function the book now serves as the last chapter's concern for the future is now 40+ years old.
"Isn't all this just an empty exercise then, you might protest? Up to a point it is, but only if what you are after is a rigid answer to all of our questions... right at this minute. But if we can contemplate the past in an open-minded way and try to learn from the rules of biology... then in the end we are more likely to get closer to the truth."
"Bush *had* found a hominid. No hippo for him!"
"I'm sure that as I get older and the years go by my interpretations will get more and more dramatic."
"Although the human mind is inventive enough to create cultural elaborations which relate only to the creative free spirit of a cultural animal and not at all to the world of practical affairs, it is often rewarding to search for *biological good sense* beneath *social rules*."
"We were conceived in the animal world, but our minds came to maturity under the influence of a self-generating culture."
"But in our case, extinction would be entirely of our own making, the result of being intelligent enough to create the means of our own destruction but not rational enough to ensure that they are not used."
Content aside, I appreciated the attempts at humor throughout as well as the more salient time-capsule function the book now serves as the last chapter's concern for the future is now 40+ years old.
"Isn't all this just an empty exercise then, you might protest? Up to a point it is, but only if what you are after is a rigid answer to all of our questions... right at this minute. But if we can contemplate the past in an open-minded way and try to learn from the rules of biology... then in the end we are more likely to get closer to the truth."
"Bush *had* found a hominid. No hippo for him!"
"I'm sure that as I get older and the years go by my interpretations will get more and more dramatic."
"Although the human mind is inventive enough to create cultural elaborations which relate only to the creative free spirit of a cultural animal and not at all to the world of practical affairs, it is often rewarding to search for *biological good sense* beneath *social rules*."
"We were conceived in the animal world, but our minds came to maturity under the influence of a self-generating culture."
"But in our case, extinction would be entirely of our own making, the result of being intelligent enough to create the means of our own destruction but not rational enough to ensure that they are not used."
June 18, 2020
Upon reading the preface of this book, I was feeling pretty apprehensive, as it's filled with delightful notions of white male dominance. But I was actually pleasantly surprised that the rest of the book was respectful towards both women and indigenous cultures. Or at least as respectful as you could be in the 1970s.
I really enjoyed this book's exploration of how insights on modern culture can be gleaned from protohuman artifacts. As well as presenting his own arguments surrounding the structure of human society, inequality between the sexes, the nature of warfare, etc., Leakey convincingly disputes other prominent arguments, such as the Hunting Hypothesis, and explains why the fossil evidence doesn't support them.
Having been written in the '70s, there are inevitably some inaccuracies in this book because we have learned new things about human evolution since then. I was particularly amused by the notion that humans are descendants of "mammal-like reptiles." I can't really bash the book for that sort of thing though, as it does a good job of presenting what was known at the time. I'm excited to pick up a more recent book like this so I can compare the updated findings and hypotheses with those of 1978.
I really enjoyed this book's exploration of how insights on modern culture can be gleaned from protohuman artifacts. As well as presenting his own arguments surrounding the structure of human society, inequality between the sexes, the nature of warfare, etc., Leakey convincingly disputes other prominent arguments, such as the Hunting Hypothesis, and explains why the fossil evidence doesn't support them.
Having been written in the '70s, there are inevitably some inaccuracies in this book because we have learned new things about human evolution since then. I was particularly amused by the notion that humans are descendants of "mammal-like reptiles." I can't really bash the book for that sort of thing though, as it does a good job of presenting what was known at the time. I'm excited to pick up a more recent book like this so I can compare the updated findings and hypotheses with those of 1978.
December 25, 2022
Does Richard Leaky rewrite the History of man?
Let's face it fame is fickle and fleeting. This book was once a best seller by famed anthropologist Richard Leaky. The lake is Turkana and the time is fifteen million years ago.
This book covers Leakey's finds and his interpretation of such finds. There is s small black and white glossy section that displays the lake and several ancestors (including Australopithecus.)
The table of contents is:
People of the Lake
A question of survival
In the Beginning
A New Perspective on Human origins
The Human Family Unearthed
Lessons from Bones and Stones
An ancient way of life
The first Affluent society
The nature of Intelligence
The Origins of Language
Sex and the need for Women's Liberation
An End to the Hunting Hypothesis
As you can see this is not just a book about bones. He also quotes a lot from Freud. So, I do not know why this book fell out of favor. However, it makes for some good background reading.
Let's face it fame is fickle and fleeting. This book was once a best seller by famed anthropologist Richard Leaky. The lake is Turkana and the time is fifteen million years ago.
This book covers Leakey's finds and his interpretation of such finds. There is s small black and white glossy section that displays the lake and several ancestors (including Australopithecus.)
The table of contents is:
People of the Lake
A question of survival
In the Beginning
A New Perspective on Human origins
The Human Family Unearthed
Lessons from Bones and Stones
An ancient way of life
The first Affluent society
The nature of Intelligence
The Origins of Language
Sex and the need for Women's Liberation
An End to the Hunting Hypothesis
As you can see this is not just a book about bones. He also quotes a lot from Freud. So, I do not know why this book fell out of favor. However, it makes for some good background reading.
September 3, 2023
Very, very heavy going, but also very, very fascinating. It is sited as "The gripping national bestseller by the great anthropologist of our time." This copy, at least, though printed in 1979, was apparently never read, because the spine was totally unbroken. Guess lots of people bought it, but wonder how many ever read it! According to Mr. Leakey, we're apparently going to annihilate ourselves anyway.....so.
August 14, 2012
What a clear and wonderful look at humans most recent ancestors. Leakey offers points and makes counter-points in order to dissect the known information about humanity. A great source for archaeological information as Leakey grew up amid archaeology in Africa due to his family's involvement in archaeology in Africa and throughout the world.
May 26, 2021
The son of preeminent early hominid paleontologists Louis & Mary Leakey spends years digging up early hominids with his wife Meave. It’s an older book published in 1978 so there’s undoubtedly some missing modern data but it was a great review of Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo Erectus, and my old pal Zinjanthropus who is now known to be another robust Au. Boise 3½***
April 18, 2013
An excellent read that is well researched, documented, and well-written. It can be a bit dry, but this is a scientific discipline so that is to be expected. I appreciated the length of the arguments given on both sides of an issue before the authors' opinion was given.
March 7, 2010
I'm fascinated by anthropology and archaeology.
May 22, 2013
Very interesting read, possibly a bit dated, but definitely worthwhile. Balanced presentation. Recommend.
August 13, 2014
switched to a different edition
Read
April 22, 2019I have the german edition; Menschen vom See
January 2, 2024
In the early 90’s I had signed up to go on a dig with the author of this book, but then the Rwandan war started and the project was cancelled, so I was glad to read this book about earlier digs
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