Ancient people didn't know shit

[Tero]

Well, they did a good job considering.

But who cares about a Mayan calendar, for example?

[Svartalf]

I'm pretty sure some woo merchants would do great things with a b'aktun/yuga calendrical conversion.

[Robert_S]

Next time you're face to face with an angry mammoth, you'll wish your ancestors had paid attention when their fathers were teaching them how to take those suckers down with a stone axe!

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Next time you're face to face with an angry mammoth, you'll wish your ancestors had paid attention when their fathers were teaching them how to take those suckers down with a stone axe!

Yeah, Tero, let's go to Babler and hunt mammoth!

[Atheist-Lite]

The Ancient Egyptians knew a lot about erections, and how to mummify cats.

[Bella Fortuna]

Next time you're face to face with an angry mammoth, you'll wish your ancestors had paid attention when their fathers were teaching them how to take those suckers down with a stone axe!

[Tero]

Heh, Bella. Sure bronze.

But on the other hand the first one that came down from the trees and started cracking bones with did not know that:
rock ---> more babies
bow, spear--> more babies
bronze--> more baies
coal, steam --> more babies
and so on to
Monsanto seeds --> more babies

And here we all are.

[Horwood Beer-Master]

Well, they did a good job considering.

But who cares about a Mayan calendar, for example?

Or the bible.

[bdelugma]

Perhaps. But what is amazing is the spread of technology such as bow and arrow, rope making, and Clovis points, predating the advent of agriculture and thus civilization and concentrated settlements, and long before the invention of writing.




"Who's that then?"
"I dunno, must be a king."
"Why?"
"He hasn't got shit all over him."

[Tero]

They knew enough to invent agriculture from simple crops that had to be defined. Then they had worries. About crops and such. Then all this followed:

[Feck]

Ancient people knew a lot more about lots of stuff than we do . Try surviving as a hunter gatherer in northern Europe and you might have a little more idea of all the Stuff they HAD to know to survive and prosper .

[Atheist-Lite]

Ancient people knew a lot more about lots of stuff than we do . Try surviving as a hunter gatherer in northern Europe and you might have a little more idea of all the Stuff they HAD to know to survive and prosper .

They are all dead now. Couldn't compete with book learned men.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Ancient people knew a lot more about lots of stuff than we do . Try surviving as a hunter gatherer in northern Europe and you might have a little more idea of all the Stuff they HAD to know to survive and prosper .

It was those skills that allowed humans to infest every corner of the planet. (Either that or the power to consider living above the Arctic Circle to be "normal." )

[Pappa]

Ancient people knew a lot more about lots of stuff than we do . Try surviving as a hunter gatherer in northern Europe and you might have a little more idea of all the Stuff they HAD to know to survive and prosper .

Each and every person needed to be an encyclopaedia of knowlege about the practical uses of all their local flora, fauna and non-living natural resources... and which to avoid. Hunter gatherers are almost always non-specialists too, so they'd also need to know how to make any tools, weapons and other constructions they might need to use. Having carved my own bow from greenwood in the style of a Mesolithic original, and having had a go at flintknapping, I can attest they are both far from easy. Both require a lot of forethought and understanding of the materials and how they are likely to respond to your actions.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Ancient people knew a lot more about lots of stuff than we do . Try surviving as a hunter gatherer in northern Europe and you might have a little more idea of all the Stuff they HAD to know to survive and prosper .

Each and every person needed to be an encyclopaedia of knowlege about the practical uses of all their local flora, fauna and non-living natural resources... and which to avoid. Hunter gatherers are almost always non-specialists too, so they'd also need to know how to make any tools, weapons and other constructions they might need to use. Having carved my own bow from greenwood in the style of a Mesolithic original, and having had a go at flintknapping, I can attest they are both far from easy. Both require a lot of forethought and understanding of the materials and how they are likely to respond to your actions.

They kept all that information in their heads and passed it down. They're memories had to be much better trained than ours.