Mumford - Chap. Five - Paleolitic Tech

When looking at the material record of stone tools and the developments from Chellean and Acheulian to Aurignacian, anthropologists assumed hunting was a primary occupation of early man. What we classify as weapons may in fact be tools used for foraging, trapping, or non-food purposes. Humans are by nature omnivorous and our diet has always been mainly vegetarian. Methods of trapping with snares no doubt preceded language and hunting. Mumford emphasis is that the original technology humans utilized was the body itself, and we developed many techniques for survival before we used any manufactured tools.

The ability to observe and mimic other animals gave a unique advantage to early humans. We may have learned "trapping from the spider, basketry from birds, dam building from beavers, burrowing from rabbits, and the art of using poison from snakes" (Mumford, 101) The drive to explore the world, identify and classify its parts is an essential aspect of human nature that far preceded tool use, and one that is overlooked by literate man (who views problem-solving and construction as the primary attributes of intelligence). Taxonomy was the original act of data compilation, one that existed before we had the means to communicate this data culturally.
Pattern recognition was a catalyst for the intellectual expansion of mankind. The habit of exploring the environment, identifying a multitude of useful and dangerous organisms, and recognizing the categories of nature is the precedent to naming these things (language), and to human science.

Mumford discusses body modification as part of the process of exploration and manipulation that lead to human technology and civilization. Humans needed to understand and master their own bodies before they could move on to the environment at large. The act of body modification did not give any survival advantage to individuals, it was done as an act of self-actualization, again showing a drive in man separate from that of the animal instincts. It was part of the drive toward aesthetics and beauty, which Mumford relates to a formation of self identity. "As with language and ritual, body decoration was an effort to establish a human identity, a human significance, a human purpose" (Mumford, 111)

Mumford now turns to a more concrete historical explanation of the changes in human culture and technology engendered by the Pleistocene glacial periods. He talks about the slow rates of change in Acheulian and Levalloisian tools, which persisted relatively unchanged for periods over a hundred thousand years. Once you get to the last glacial period, about thirty thousand years ago, the shift from one discernible culture (in terms of tools) to another takes place in only 3-5 thousand years. This is explained by the fact that the climactic changes shortened the growing season dramatically and forced humans to shift from foraging to hunting of large herd mammals. In order to accomplish this, humans had to develop an extensive tool kit, and have the intelligence and communicative ability to pass on the knowledge needed to create tools and perform group-hunting of animals.

Mumford identifies the bow and arrow as the first machine. Tools before this were merely extensions of the human body. It is an abstract design, but combines the three ingredients of early technologies: stone, wood, and animal products. Mumford speculates on the possibility that the idea for the bow came from using twine to create music. He emphasizes the connection he sees between technology for tangible survival purposes and the drive towards aesthetics and beauty, the uniquely human attempt to express an inner state. (Mumford, 114)

When humans started using stone tools extensively they introduced a key concept of civilization; work. The mining of usable stone and the pain-staking shaping of tools displays characteristics not found before. It was an operation in which persistent effort was needed to achieve future pleasure, rather than the following of impulse and expectation of immediate reward. After downplaying the role of stone tools, Mumford acknowledges their late role in the creation of the human condition. (Mumford, 116)

The tools used reflect a bigger change in social arrangements for the hunting of big game requires cooperation of individuals with specialized tasks. It also required subordinates following the lead of a commander, the most experienced and knowledgeable. A position of authority like this was not necessitated by foraging or early agriculture. The psychological disposition necessary for life in civilization ("the collective human machine") was evident in the "docile ritualistic conformity" existing alongside with "exhilarating self-confidence, venturesome command, and....a certain savage readiness to take life." A side effect of this over-emphasis on masculine traits was the appearance of the mother goddess, which may have been utilized as a psychological counterbalance. (Mumford, 117)

Another significant human creation appears in a new form during this period; the cave painting. Mumford believes this art, like language, song, and dance, began as simply symbolic but became detached from ritual as it became a useful technology. Cave paintings reenacting the hunt were used to teach initiates the methods. Crude anatomical drawings show where to thrust a spear. Hunting was thus an impetus to artistic expression. (Mumford, 118-121) Another aspect of this new artistic sensibility is the emphasis on sex. Art may have been used to stimulate reproduction in a climate that depleted sex drive.