What Ancient Humans Did When the Rain Wouldn't Stop

What did ancient humans do when the rain wouldn't stop? All research and sources are linked below. 📚 RESEARCH & SOURCES: ▸ Shivering and energy use — "Measurement and prediction of peak shivering intensity in humans" (2001, European Journal of Applied Physiology). Peak shivering burns about 5 times the energy of rest. https://doi.org/10.1007/s004210000329 ▸ Ohalo II, Sea of Galilee, Israel — "Stone Age hut in Israel yields world's oldest evidence of bedding" (2004, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). Grass bedding around a central hearth, covered with a thin layer of clay. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0308557101 ▸ Ohalo II fish — "Opportunism or aquatic specialization? Evidence of freshwater fish exploitation at Ohalo II" (2018, PLOS ONE). About 17,000 fish remains. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.... ▸ Ohalo II string — "19,000-Year-Old Twisted Fibers From Ohalo II" (1994, Current Anthropology). Three tiny pieces of twisted plant fiber, 2-3 mm long (about 23,000 calibrated years). https://doi.org/10.1086/204303 ▸ Ohalo II sickle blades — "Composite Sickles and Cereal Harvesting Methods at 23,000-Years-Old Ohalo II, Israel" (2016, PLOS ONE) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.... ▸ Ohalo II and early cultivation — "The Origin of Cultivation and Proto-Weeds, Long Before Neolithic Farming" (2015, PLOS ONE). Over 140 plant species and 13 proto-weeds, read by the authors as the earliest small-scale attempt to cultivate wild cereals. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.... ▸ Swartkrans, South Africa — "We the hunted" (2024, South African Journal of Science). The SK 54 skull of a young early human, with two punctures matching a leopard's lower canines. https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2024/16387 ▸ Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa — "Microstratigraphic evidence of in situ fire in the Acheulean strata of Wonderwerk Cave" (2012, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). Burned bone and plant ash from about 1 million years ago. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1117620109 ▸ Ötzi the Iceman — "The iceman's fungi" (1998, Mycological Research). Tinder fungus in his pouch and two pieces of birch polypore on a leather strip. https://doi.org/10.1017/s095375629800... ▸ Denisova Cave, Siberia — a bone needle with an eye, about 50,000 years old (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Novosibirsk, 2016). https://archaeology.org/news/2016/08/... ▸ Dzudzuana Cave, Georgia — "30,000-Year-Old Wild Flax Fibers" (2009, Science). Twisted fibers, some apparently colored black, grey, turquoise and pink. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1175404 ▸ Dolní Věstonice, Czech Republic — "The Origins of Ceramic Technology at Dolní Věstonice, Czechoslovakia" (1989, Science). Fired clay animal figures, many cracked by thermal shock. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.246.4... ▸ Xianrendong Cave, China — "Early Pottery at 20,000 Years Ago in Xianrendong Cave, China" (2012, Science) https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1218643 ————————————————————— PEOPLE AND PLACES MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO: ▸ Ohalo II — A 23,000-year-old camp of fisher-hunter-gatherers on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was covered by the lake and found in 1989, when a long drought dropped the water by about 9 meters. Brush huts, grass beds, flint blades, grinding stones, fish bones and thousands of seeds were preserved underwater. ▸ Denisova Cave — A cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia, used by Denisovans, Neanderthals and modern humans over more than 250,000 years. It holds one of the oldest known eyed needles, made from bird bone. ▸ Dzudzuana Cave — A cave in western Georgia where fibers about 30,000 years old were found, some twisted and some apparently colored. ▸ Dolní Věstonice — A site in the Czech Republic famous for some of the oldest fired clay ever found: animal figures and the Venus figurine, which carries the fingerprint of a child. ▸ Wonderwerk Cave — A cave in South Africa with some of the oldest secure evidence of fire used by human ancestors, about 1 million years old. ▸ Swartkrans — A cave in South Africa where fossils of early humans show that big cats hunted our ancestors. ▸ Ötzi the Iceman — A man who lived about 5,300 years ago, found frozen in the Alps in 1991 with his clothes, tools and fire kit. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Stuck In The Rain 01:19 Four Ways To Die 03:47 Keep The Fire Alive 05:54 You Can't Hunt. So You Make Things. 08:12 More Than Survival 09:19 The Family's Library 10:48 The Rain Grew The Grain 11:39 The Rain Stops #prehistory #ancienthumans #stoneage #history #archaeology