sculpted by technology's unintended consequences

[sergebroom]

I'm almost done reading the February 26, 2006, issue of Science News. As entertaining as ever, and making me feel guilty that I let almost 2 years of its issues accumulate. Sure, during much of that time, my life had been taken by a few Projects from Hell, but I still feel guilty.

That being said, one item particularly struck me.

A 260,000-year-old partial skeleton excavated in northwestern China 22 years ago represents our largest known female ancestor (...) The Jinniushan specimen's size reflects her membership in a population that, as an adaptation for retaining heat in a cold climate, evolved large, broad bodies with short limbs (...) The new findings reinforce previous fossil analyses suggesting that mid-Stone Age human ancestors evolved cold-adapted bodies at lower latitudes and in warmer climates than modern people did (...) that's because mid-Stone Age folk had less effective ways to protect themselves from the cold than people did after about 60,000 years ago. At that time, campfires gave way to stone-lined hearths...

Sure, we know that our technology affects our evolution. Still, for some reason, this reminder really was awesome to me. That may be because the technology of a hearth isn't very complex and yet it had such an impact.

Comments

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Most early technologies were very simple, but their impact was immense (working out how to make and throw a spear, for example, would have had a substantial impact on the protein content of our ancestors' meals).

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

True, true... It is an awesome thing, when one thinks about it. Then again, the whole world is filled with awesome things that we take for granted.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Absolutely true.

The primitive technology that's most impressed me was the one that led to the cultivation of bitter cassava (manioc) by the aboriginal peoples of northern South America and the Caribbean. How did someone (or someones) discover how to make a poisonous root into a palatable food?

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I imagine that a lot of people got sick in the process.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Actually, no. I expect people would have died, since the poison in question is hydrocyanic acid.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I stand corrected.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

I realise that I sound a bit brusque, that wasn't my intention. I apologise for my rudeness.

The mystery for me is how people discovered that a poisonous root could be processed into a tasty food -- and why they chose to do this? Bear in mind that these were neolithic horticulturalists who must have lived pretty close to the margin.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Oh goodness... I wasn't offended at all, Fragano. I realize now that the icon used with my response could have led you to think that. My apologies.

As for why neolithic people would eat a poisonous root... It might be for the same reason that some modern people drink photocopier liquid.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank goodness.

I don't know what's in photocopier liquid, but cassava flour makes a delicious flatbread. If all the liquid is removed from the root (and I mean *all*) and it is dried and grated, the flour can keep for a long time, and it is easy to make into a dough and bake or fry up.