226 CHAPTER 9 | The Global Expansion of Homo sapiens and Their Technology
Biocultural ConnectionPaleolithic Prescriptions for the Diseases of Civilization
Though increased life expectancy is of-
ten hailed as one of modern civilization’s
greatest accomplishments, in some ways
we in the developed world lead far less
healthy lifestyles than our ancestors.
Throughout most of our evolutionary his-
tory, humans led more physically active
lives and ate a more varied low-fat diet
than we do now. Our ancestors did not
drink or smoke. They spent their days
scavenging or hunting for animal protein
while gathering vegetable foods with
some insects thrown in for good mea-
sure. They stayed fit through traveling
great distances each day over the savan-
nah and beyond.
Today we may survive longer, but
in old age we are beset by chronic
disease. Heart disease, diabetes, high
blood pressure, and cancer shape the
experience of old age in wealthy in-
dustrialized nations. The prevalence
of these “diseases of civilization” has
increased rapidly over the past sixty
years. Anthropologists Melvin Konner
and Marjorie Shostak and physician
Boyd Eaton have sug gested that our
Paleolithic ancestors have provided aprescription for a cure. They propose
that as “stone-agers in a fast lane,”
people’s health will improve by return-
ing to the lifestyle to which their bodies
are adapted.a Such Paleolithic prescrip-
tions are an example of evolutionary
medicine—a branch of medical anthro-
pology that uses evolutionary principles
to contribute to human health.
Evolutionary medicine bases its
prescriptions on the idea that rates of
cultural change exceed the rates of bio-
logical change. Our food-forager physiol-
ogy was shaped over millions of years,
while the cultural changes leading to
contemporary lifestyles have occurred
rapidly.
Anthropologists George Armelagos
and Mark Nathan Cohen suggest that the
downward trajectory for human health
began with the earliest human village
settlements some 10,000 years ago.b
When humans began farming rather
than gathering, they often switched to
single-crop diets. In addition, settlement
into villages led directly to the increase
in infectious disease. While the cultural
invention of antibiotics has cured manyinfectious diseases, it also led to the in-
crease in chronic diseases.
Our evolutionary history offers clues
about the diet and lifestyle to which our
bodies evolved. By returning to our an-
cient lifeways, we can make the diseases
of civilization a thing of the past.BIOCULTURAL QUESTION
What sort of Paleolithic prescriptions
would our evolutionary history contribute
toward behaviors such as childrearing
practices, sleeping, and work patterns?
Are there any ways that your culture or
personal lifestyle is well aligned with
past lifeways?a Eaton, S. B., Konner, M., & Shostak,
M. (1988). Stone-agers in the fast lane:
Chronic degenerative diseases in evolu-
tionary perspective. American Journal of
Medicine 84 (4), 739–749.
b Cohen, M. N., & Armelagos, G. J.
(Eds.). (1984). Paleopathology at
the origins of agriculture. Orlando:
Academic.populations lived in hot or cold, wet or dry, forest or grass-
land areas. Though culture is ultimately based on what
might loosely be called brain power or, more formally,
cognitive capacity, it is learned and not carried by genes.
Therefore, cultural innovations may occur rapidly and can
easily be transferred among individuals and groups.
Scientists have recently documented key differences
in the proteins involved in brain metabolism in humans
compared to other species that may account for some of
this brain power. Unfortunately these metabolic changes
are also associated with schizophrenia, indicating that
there may have been some costs in the process. This
study suggests that the cultural practice of cooking freed
the body to devote more energy to brain metabolism.
While cooking was certainly an innovation of ancient
Homo, the varied low-fat diet and high exercise of our
ancestors were in general healthier than the dietary pat-
terns prevailing in many parts of the world today. See
this chapter’s Biocultural Connection for a discussion of
how a return to the diets of our forebears may improve
human health.
Certain trends stand out from the information anthro-
pologists have gathered about the Old Stone Age in most
parts of the world. One was toward increasingly more so-
phisticated, varied, and specialized tool kits. Tools became
progressively lighter and smaller, resulting in the conser-
vation of raw materials and a better ratio between length
of cutting edge and weight of stone. Tools became special-
ized according to region and function. Instead of crude
all-purpose tools, more effective particularized devices
were made to deal with the differing conditions of savan-
nah, forest, and shore.
As humans came to rely increasingly on culture as a
means to meet the challenges of existence, they were able to
inhabit new environments. With more efficient tool technol-
ogy, human population size could increase, allowing humans
to spill over into more diverse environments. Improved cul-
tural abilities may also have played a role in the reduction of
heavy physical features, favoring instead decreased size and
weight of face and teeth, the development of larger and more
complex brains, and ultimately a reduction in body size and
robustness. This dependence on intelligence rather than
bulk provided the key for humans’ increased reliance on
cultural rather than physical adaptation. The development
of conceptual thought can be seen in symbolic artifacts and
signs of ritual activity throughout the world.cognitive capacity A broad concept including intelligence,
educability, concept formation, self-awareness, self-evaluation,
attention span, sensitivity in discrimination, and creativity.