Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Primitive man question. Serious question.

At what point/during what era did primitive man/hunter-gatherers realize the vital organ zone on deer and other animals and begin targeting the vitals? I get the idea in my head that early on they targeted the whole body and after that they may have thought that targeting the legs was the key because the legs carried their quarry out of range and to safety.

I couldn't give you an era, but after I speared, arrowed, poked, or whatever a deer in the chest one time, and it ran off and died, and I ate good, I'd attempt to aim there again.

As for the era, when do our studies first show that deer were around?


God Bless,
David B.

Somewhere around 1780

I would assume as soon as they cut it open and saw where all the organs were.

I was gonna say that but figured it was coming anyway

Good question, I don't imagine it took long.

Primitive man was intelligent. Those lacking died.

Do You think that they knew what a pair of lungs or a heart or a livers function was? Maybe so, but I'm thinking not. I would think that they just figured out through trial and error that if I stick a spear in this area, We get to eat good tonight. I would also think that most of the earliest hunting was more like running game off of a cliff or maybe into deep water where they could bludgeon them.

The earliest evidence for stone tipped spears is from Africa around 1.5 million years ago and they were used by the pre-human called Homo Erectus. The stone points suggest that the spears were thrusting hand spears not throwing spears.
As far as figuring out where the vitals are and considering that they had to get right next to the animal they were hunting. Then they probably had figured it out pretty quick. Otherwise they have a wounded and pissed off wildabeast right on top of them. Gazelle rib bones at the vitals area with impact cut marks that date to that time period have been found in Ethiopia.
So to answer your question, at least 1.5 million years ago.

And the man has spoken.

I knew the guvnah would know

Roll Tide!

Great info skinny!!

Maybe they didn't know exactly what they were but I'm sure they could perceive their own hearts beating, their lungs filling with air when the breathe. Maybe when the chest stopped moving they realized the animal had died. I would assume it didn't take them long to realize if they chopped and animals head off it died.

My ancestors were created perfect in the image of God. I'm not sure why it took the pre human Homo Erectus millions of years to figure it out.

I figured the primitive man used the spears, etc, to drive off lions and other meat eaters from their kills. I don't know how successful they would have been trying to get close to an animal to poke it with a spear.

In fact they were very successful, they did what is referred to as persistence hunting. Basically, they follow/chase the animal for sometimes an entire day or more until the animal runs out of gas. Because humans only use two legs we always outlast the four legged critters. Eventually, the animal gives up and cannot run anymore so the hunter just walks right up to it and stabs it dead.

Here is a video of the San tribe doing persistence hunting. None of us are cut out or knowledgeable enough for doing this.

The fossil museum at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennercee, has fossils of a smaller critter they believe is related to the deer, from several million years ago in the Southeast. Obviously back then the land mass was different as the seas were believed to be higher.

I think it would be cool to learn how to accurately and effectively throw a spear and use an atlatl.

Wow!

Yeh, that video makes what we do seem like cheating.

Well the Bible says that the first man was named Adam, pretty much God let him know everything he needed to know based on what I have read.