the spear could be fl ung hard enough to pierce the fl esh of
elephants and rhinoceroses. Th e bow and arrow allowed a
hunter to increase the force of an attack by using the stored
energy of the bent bow and string. Among hunters of large
game from at least 1500 b.c.e. the bow and arrow were the
weapon of choice.
Little is known about the customs for hunting in India
before 500 b.c.e., though the Aryans who migrated into In-
dia in the 1500s b.c.e. esteemed hunting prowess. Hunting
and fi shing became controversial in India aft er 500 b.c.e. By
300 b.c.e. hunting and fi shing had become detestable acts
that only outcastes (those people who had no caste status and
were t hus at t he lowest end of t he socia l order) were permitted
to do, yet hunting and fi shing were recognized professions
under the laws of India, and the restrictions on eating meat
were oft en ignored or explained away. For instance, Buddhist
priests could eat meat so long as they did not kill the animal
themselves. Fishing was excused because the fi sh was partly
at fault for choosing to bite the fi shhook. Further, hunters
were expected to capture animals alive to transfer to parks
owned by monarchs and nobility, who hunted the animals
for sport.
Ancient Indian professional hunters lived near forests,
sometimes in villages of nothing but hunters. Farmers who
lived near wild lands also hunted, even though doing so was
against the rules governing the castes. Th e primary weapon
in hunting was the bow and arrow. Hunters would station
themselves near trails used by deer and other animals and
strike with poisoned arrows. Sometimes they incorporated
traps into their hunt. A pit would be dug large enough for an
elephant, and the pit would be covered to look like normal
ground. Poison arrows would fi nish off a trapped elephant,
and then its tusks would be sawed off and carried away for
sale.
Other animals were also trapped. Loops of rope attached
to trip wires would wrap around an animal’s legs, hobbling
it. An unusual method for capturing deer and antelope in-
volved attracting deer with the scent of tasty food and then
letting the animal see the hunter. Th is activity could go on for
days until the deer had become used to the hunter and was
unafraid. Th en the hunter would scoop up the animal and
carry it away.
In China monarchs and noblemen would go hunting
with their retainers and servants. Th e monarchs and nobles
rode on chariots during the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1500–ca.
1045 b.c.e.) and were traveling on horseback by the Han
Dynasty ca. 202 b.c.e.–ca. 220 c.e.). Th ey used dogs and
servants to stir up game, which they hunted with bows and
arrows. Such a hunt was intended to be a grand entertain-
ment, during which the nobility would win honor by kill-
ing animals. Sometimes they used trained falcons to bring
down game.
Even peasants could use trained hawks, usually to bring
down game birds. While peasants hunted mostly to feed
themselves and their families, professional hunters brought
their kills to city markets to sell. Th ey hunted birds with bows
and arrows and brought ducks, geese, and pheasants to mar-
ket. Fishermen salted the fi sh they caught to preserve it until
they brought it to market. Th ey used nets made of hemp in
rivers and the sea. Under law and by custom, the ancient Chi-
nese valued their game animals. When a Chinese hunter had
the opportunity to kill two deer, he would kill only one. Th e
Chinese believed that enough game animals should survive
from year to year to keep their numbers suffi ciently high to
feed people indefi nitely.EUROPE
BY RICK SCHULTING
Until the arrival of domesticated plants and animals from
the Near East, prehistoric populations in Europe relied upon
hunting, fi shing, and gathering for their subsistence. Th e Me-
solithic Period began at the end of the last ice age, around
12,000 years ago, and ended with the arrival of farming,
which began around 7000 b.c.e. in southeast Europe, around
4000 b.c.e. in northwest Europe, and even later in the more
northern parts of Scandinavia.
Great changes took place at the end of the last ice age, as
the large herd mammals—horse, reindeer, bison, and mam-
moth—became extinct or moved to the far north. With the
retreat of the ice came the forests, with an entirely diff erent
set of animals, including red and roe deer, elk (the Euro-
pean moose), aurochs (wild cattle), and wild boar. Th ese now
formed the main prey species sought by human hunters, who
by this time were well acquainted with the use of the bow
and arrow. Domestic dogs were present as well and may have
helped in the hunt. In some parts of Europe diff erent animals,
such as ibex and chamois in the Pyrenees and the Alps, were
found and were also hunted. A great variety of smaller game
was also hunted or trapped, some, including pine marten,
fox, and wolf, mainly for their furs.
Where people had access to rivers, lakes, and coasts, fi sh
and shellfi sh oft en featured in the diet. Much evidence for
coastal settlement at this time has been lost to rising sea lev-
els, but where the ancient coastlines do survive, and most
particularly in southern Scandinavia, there is abundant evi-
dence from ancient kitchen middens (accumulations of food
and other debris of human occupation, such as discarded
tools and ashes from hearths) of the exploitation of marine
foods. Th e largest of these middens contain many cubic yards
of oyster shells and other shellfi sh as well as the abundant
remains of a variety of fi sh. Eels and fl atfi sh appear to have
been particularly important here. A relatively new technique
known as stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis has
been used to test sur v iv ing hu ma n bone f rom buria ls at t hese
sites. Th ese tests show that in many cases the great majority
of the protein in the diet came from the sea. But the bones
of terrestrial mammals in the same sites show that these ani-
mals were also hunted, as were such sea mammals as seals
and porpoises. It seems that on occasion even small whaleshunting, fishing, and gathering: Europe 577