known only after the baboons had taken up their sleeping places.^2
Although pandemonium broke out in the cave, the baboons could not be
induced to leave the place in the dark.”
Brain did not go into much detail about that wild night, and this may be
because the experience of being trapped in a dark, confined space with
dozens of fear-crazed baboons is something best left to the imagination.
But he came away with some valuable information. Brain was struck by
the fact that darkness and whatever it contained was, for these baboons,
so frightening that it overrode their panicked response to a large intruder
in their midst. What, one wonders, did they think was out there? In the
mid-twentieth century, when Brain paid his surprise visit, it would have
been leopards, lions, and hyenas. Three million years earlier, however, an
even more daunting array of predators would have awaited them—and
our own ancestors—beyond the mouth of that cave. Hunting both by day
and night, these would have included several species of wolf and hyena,
some of which were the size of lions. Out there, too, were big cats and
catlike predators—saber-toothed and otherwise—all in far greater
numbers and variety than exist today. As if that wasn’t enough, there
were also eagles that preyed on the young until they reached three or four
years old when they would have been too heavy to carry off, but not to
kill.
Another detail that Brain found noteworthy was the stark corollary
between savanna baboons and safe sleeping areas: where there were no
cliffs or caves, there were no baboons. When one compares the baboon’s
idea of safety with a Hopi pueblo, a medieval castle, or an apartment
building, the similarities are uncanny. Wherever we go, whatever the
medium or terrain, our concept of sanctuary remains essentially the same.
Lacking height, we’ll make do with a hole. In this way, a cave, an igloo, a
bunker, and a surplus Russian army truck would be universally
recognizable across geography and time.
ron
(Ron)
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