Here's%20the%20prompt%3A%0A%22What%20do%20you%20think%20was%20the%20most%20important%20technology%20of%20the%20prehistoric%2Fearly%20world%3F%20In%20your%20opinion%20what%20technology%20best%20provided%20for%20the%20advancement%20of%20civilization%3F%20There%20is%20no%20wrong%20answer%20here%2C%20just%20think%20about%20the%20material%20from%20the%20lecture%20and%20from%20the%20readings%20and%20defend%20your%20answer%20considering%20the%20alternative%20technologies%20as%20well.%0A%0ARemember%2C%20you%20must%20also%20respond%20to%20two%20other%20posts%20for%20full%20credit.%20Make%20sure%20that%20in%20this%20response%20you%20give%20more%20detail%20than%20just%20simply%20agreeing%20with%20the%20original%20poster%2C%20bring%20in%20new%20ideas%20or%20materials%20from%20the%20course%20materials%20to%20support%20your%20response!%22%0A%0AHere's%20what%20a%20I%20wrote%20so%20far%3A%0A%0A%0AIn%20my%20opinion%2C%20the%20most%20pivotal%20technology%20of%20the%20prehistoric%20and%20early%20world%20was%20the%20development%20of%20agriculture%2C%20often%20referred%20to%20as%20the%20Neolithic%20Revolution%20(slide%2019%20of%20Lecture%201).%20This%20marked%20the%20transition%20from%20nomadic%20hunter-gatherer%20societies%20to%20farming%20(%22Lecture%201%20Prehistoric%20and%20Early%20Technology%20Spring%2025%22%2C%201%3A07%3A44).%20Harvesting%20crops%20and%20domesticating%20animals%20let%20humans%20have%20food%20surpluses%20(probably%20a%20rare%20thing%20for%20humans%20at%20the%20time%20%5Bthank%20god%20for%20Kroger%5D)%20which%20led%20to%20population%20growth%2C%20the%20development%20of%20permanent%20settlements%20like%20towns%20and%20cities%20(no%20skyscrapers%20)%3A)%20which%20directly%20led%20to%20the%20rise%20of%20complex%20societies%20that%20advance%20the%20pace%20of%20human%20development.%20I%20want%20to%20specifically%20address%20that%20humans%20chose%20to%20build%20societies%20around%20arable%20land%20with%20resources%20available%20to%20them%2C%20which%20THEN%20brought%20people%20together%20and%20allowed%20for%20inventions%20and%20increased%20the%20rate%20of%20progress%20dramatically.%20So%20agriculture%20didn't%20just%20provide%20a%20stable%20food%20source%20as%20it%20set%20the%20stage%20for%20advancements%20in%20other%20technologies%20and%20culture.%0A%0A%0A%0AI%20need%20another%20paragraph%20talking%20about%20the%20reading%3A%0A%0AThe%20question%20is%20old%3A%20Where%20do%20we%20come%20from%3F%20The%20an-%0Acient%20Greeks%20told%20of%20human%20shapes%20being%20molded%20by%0Agods%20out%20of%20clay.%20We%20know%20now%20that%20our%20bodies%20were%20molded%0Aby%20natural%20selection%20and%20that%20we%20come%20from%20Africa.%20In%20the%0Adistant%20past%2C%20long%20before%20people%20first%20wrote%20or%20tilled%20the%20soil%20or%0Atook%20to%20boats%2C%20our%20ancestors%20lived%20there%20as%20hunters%20and%20gath-%0Aerers.%20Fossilized%20bones%20reveal%20our%20kinship%20with%20ancient%0AAfricans%20a%20million%20years%20ago%20and%20more%2C%20people%20who%20looked%0Amuch%20like%20we%20do%20today.%20But%20in%20deeper%20rocks%20the%20record%20of%20our%0Ahumanity%20dwindles%20until%20around%20two%20million%20years%20ago%2C%0Awhen%20it%20gives%20way%20to%20prehuman%20ancestors%20and%20leaves%20us%20with%0A%EF%99%84%0Aa%20question%20that%20every%20culture%20answers%20in%20a%20different%20way%2C%20but%0Aonly%20science%20can%20truly%20decide.%20What%20made%20us%20human%3F%0AThis%20book%20proposes%20a%20new%20answer.%20I%20believe%20the%20transfor-%0Amative%20moment%20that%20gave%20rise%20to%20the%20genus%20Homo%2C%20one%20of%20the%0Agreat%20transitions%20in%20the%20history%20of%20life%2C%20stemmed%20from%20the%0Acontrol%20of%20fire%20and%20the%20advent%20of%20cooked%20meals.%20Cooking%20in-%0Acreased%20the%20value%20of%20our%20food.%20It%20changed%20our%20bodies%2C%20our%0Abrains%2C%20our%20use%20of%20time%2C%20and%20our%20social%20lives.%20It%20made%20us%20into%0Aconsumers%20of%20external%20energy%20and%20thereby%20created%20an%20organ-%0Aism%20with%20a%20new%20relationship%20to%20nature%2C%20dependent%20on%20fuel.%0AThe%20fossil%20record%20shows%20that%20before%20our%20ancestors%20came%20to%0Alook%20like%20us%2C%20they%20were%20humanlike%20in%20walking%20upright%2C%20but%0Amostly%20they%20had%20the%20characteristics%20of%20nonhuman%20apes.%20We%0Acall%20them%20australopithecines.%20Australopithecines%20were%20the%0Asize%20of%20chimpanzees%2C%20they%20climbed%20well%2C%20they%20had%20ape-sized%0Abellies%2C%20and%20they%20had%20protruding%2C%20apelike%20muzzles.%20Their%0Abrains%2C%20too%2C%20were%20barely%20larger%20than%20those%20of%20chimpanzees%2C%0Awhich%20suggests%20that%20they%20would%20have%20been%20as%20uninterested%20in%0Athe%20reasons%20for%20their%20existence%20as%20the%20antelopes%20and%20predators%0Awith%20which%20they%20shared%20their%20woodlands.%20If%20they%20still%20lived%0Atoday%20in%20some%20remote%20area%20of%20Africa%2C%20we%20would%20find%20them%0Afascinating.%20But%20to%20judge%20from%20their%20ape-sized%20brains%2C%20we%0Awould%20observe%20them%20in%20national%20parks%20and%20keep%20them%20in%0Azoos%2C%20rather%20than%20give%20them%20legal%20rights%20or%20invite%20them%20to%0Adinner.%0AAlthough%20the%20australopithecines%20were%20far%20different%20from%20us%2C%0Ain%20the%20big%20scheme%20of%20things%20they%20lived%20not%20so%20long%20ago.%20Imagine%0Agoing%20to%20a%20sporting%20event%20with%20sixty%20thousand%20seats%20around%20the%0A%EF%99%85%20%EF%9D%A3%EF%9D%A1%EF%9D%B4%EF%9D%A3%EF%9D%A8%EF%9D%A9%EF%9D%AE%EF%9D%A7%20%EF%9D%A6%EF%9D%A9%EF%9D%B2%EF%9D%A5%0Astadium.%20You%20arrive%20early%20with%20your%20grandmother%2C%20and%20the%20two%0Aof%20you%20take%20the%20first%20seats.%20Next%20to%20your%20grandmother%20sits%20her%0Agrandmother%2C%20your%20great-great-grandmother.%20Next%20to%20her%20is%0Ayour%20great-great-great-great-grandmother.%20The%20stadium%20fills%0Awith%20the%20ghosts%20of%20preceding%20grandmothers.%20An%20hour%20later%0Athe%20seat%20next%20to%20you%20is%20occupied%20by%20the%20last%20to%20sit%20down%2C%20the%0Aancestor%20of%20you%20all.%20She%20nudges%20your%20elbow%2C%20and%20you%20turn%20to%0Afind%20a%20strange%20nonhuman%20face.%20Beneath%20a%20low%20forehead%20and%0Abig%20brow-ridge%2C%20bright%20dark%20eyes%20surmount%20a%20massive%20jaw.%0AHer%20long%2C%20muscular%20arms%20and%20short%20legs%20intimate%20her%20gym-%0Anastic%20climbing%20ability.%20She%20is%20your%20ancestor%20and%20an%20australo-%0Apithecine%2C%20hardly%20a%20companion%20your%20grandmother%20can%20be%0Aexpected%20to%20enjoy.%20She%20grabs%20an%20overhead%20beam%20and%20swings%0Aaway%20over%20the%20crowd%20to%20steal%20some%20peanuts%20from%20a%20vendor.%0AShe%20is%20connected%20to%20you%20by%20over%20three%20million%20years%20of%20rain%0Aand%20sun%20and%20searching%20for%20food%20in%20the%20rich%20and%20scary%20African%0Abush.%20Most%20australopithecines%20eventually%20went%20extinct%20but%0Aher%20lineage%20slowly%20changed.%20Evolutionarily%2C%20she%20was%20one%20of%0Athe%20lucky%20ones.%0AThe%20transition%20is%20first%20signaled%20at%20%EF%99%85.%EF%99%89%20million%20years%20ago%20by%0Asharp%20flakes%20dug%20from%20Ethiopian%20rock.%20The%20fragments%20testify%0Ato%20cobblestones%20being%20deliberately%20clashed%20to%20produce%20a%20tool.%0ACut%20marks%20on%20fossil%20bones%20show%20that%20the%20simple%20knives%20were%0Aused%20to%20cut%20tongues%20out%20of%20dead%20antelope%20and%20to%20get%20hunks%20of%0Ameat%20by%20slicing%20through%20tendons%20on%20animal%20limbs.%20This%20new%0Abehavior%20was%20remarkably%20effective%E2%80%94it%20would%20have%20allowed%0AThe%20Cooking%20Hypothesis%20%EF%99%86%0Athem%20to%20skin%20an%20elephant%20quickly%E2%80%94and%20was%20far%20more%20skillful%0Athan%20anything%20chimpanzees%20do%20when%20eating%20meat.%20Knife-%0Amaking%20suggests%20planning%2C%20patience%2C%20cooperation%2C%20and%20organ-%0Aized%20behavior.%0AOld%20bones%20continue%20the%20story.%20By%20around%20%EF%99%85.%EF%99%86%20million%20years%0Aago%2C%20the%20first%20tentative%20record%20emerges%20of%20a%20new%20species%2C%20a%20ha-%0Abiline.%20Habilines%2C%20still%20poorly%20understood%2C%20are%20the%20%E2%80%9Cmissing%0Alink%E2%80%9D%20between%20apes%20and%20humans.%20They%20were%20truly%20missing%0Auntil%20%EF%99%84%EF%99%8C%EF%99%89%EF%99%83%2C%20when%20Jonathan%20Leakey%2C%20the%20twenty-year-old%20son%0Aof%20paleontologist%20Louis%20Leakey%20and%20archaeologist%20Mary%0ALeakey%2C%20discovered%20them%20in%20the%20form%20of%20a%20jaw%2C%20skull%2C%20and%20hand%0Ain%20Tanzania%E2%80%99s%20Olduvai%20Gorge.%20Even%20now%20there%20are%20only%20six%0Askulls%20that%20tell%20us%20the%20brain%20size%20of%20the%20principal%20species%2C%20and%0Ajust%20two%20reasonably%20complete%20specimens%20showing%20their%0Alimbs%2C%20so%20our%20portraits%20of%20these%20intermediate%20beings%20are%20fuzzy.%0AHabilines%20appear%20to%20have%20been%20about%20the%20same%20small%20size%20as%0Aaustralopithecines%20and%20had%20long%20arms%20and%20jutting%20faces%2C%20lead-%0Aing%20some%20people%20to%20call%20them%20apes.%20Yet%20they%20are%20thought%20to%20be%0Athe%20knife%20makers%2C%20and%20they%20had%20brains%20twice%20as%20big%20as%20those%20of%0Aliving%20nonhuman%20apes%2C%20so%20others%20place%20them%20in%20the%20genus%0AHomo%20and%20thereby%20call%20them%20human.%20In%20short%2C%20they%20show%20a%0Amixture%20of%20prehuman%20and%20human%20characteristics.%20They%20were%0Alike%20upright%20chimpanzees%20with%20big%20brains%2C%20and%20we%20might%0Aguess%20they%20were%20just%20as%20hairy%20and%20almost%20as%20good%20at%20climbing%0Atrees.%0AA%C2%89er%20the%20habilines%20emerged%2C%20it%20took%20hundreds%20of%20thou-%0Asands%20of%20years%20for%20the%20evolutionary%20gears%20to%20start%20turning%20rap-%0A%EF%99%87%20%EF%9D%A3%EF%9D%A1%EF%9D%B4%EF%9D%A3%EF%9D%A8%EF%9D%A9%EF%9D%AE%EF%9D%A7%20%EF%9D%A6%EF%9D%A9%EF%9D%B2%EF%9D%A5%0Aidly%20again%2C%20but%20between%20%EF%99%84.%EF%99%8C%20million%20and%20%EF%99%84.%EF%99%8B%20million%20years%20ago%2C%0Athe%20second%20critical%20step%20was%20taken%3A%20some%20habilines%20evolved%0Ainto%20Homo%20erectus%2C%20and%20with%20their%20arrival%20the%20world%20faced%20a%0Anew%20future.%0AThe%20mental%20abilities%20of%20Homo%20erectus%20are%20open%20to%20question.%0AWe%20do%20not%20know%20whether%20they%20used%20a%20primitive%20kind%20of%20lan-%0Aguage%2C%20or%20how%20well%20they%20controlled%20their%20tempers.%20But%20Homo%0Aerectus%20looked%20much%20more%20like%20us%20than%20any%20prior%20species.%0AThey%20are%20considered%20to%20have%20walked%20and%20run%20as%20fluently%20as%0Awe%20do%20today%2C%20with%20the%20same%20characteristic%20stride%20that%20we%20have.%0ATheir%20various%20descendants%2C%20including%20Neanderthals%20more%0Athan%20a%20million%20years%20later%2C%20all%20exhibited%20the%20same%20form%20and%0Astature.%20If%20they%20time-traveled%20to%20a%20modern%20city%2C%20they%20might%0Asuffer%20some%20sidelong%20glances%20but%20they%20could%20be%20fitted%20for%0Aclothes%20in%20a%20typical%20store.%20Their%20anatomy%20was%20so%20similar%20to%0Aours%20that%20some%20anthropologists%20call%20them%20Homo%20sapiens%2C%20but%0Amost%20give%20these%20pioneers%20their%20own%20distinct%20name%20of%20Homo%0Aerectus%20because%20of%20such%20features%20as%20smaller%20brains%20and%20lower%0Aforeheads%20than%20are%20found%20in%20modern%20humans.%20Whatever%20we%0Acall%20them%2C%20their%20arrival%20marks%20the%20genesis%20of%20our%20physical%0Aform.%20They%20even%20appear%20to%20have%20grown%20and%20matured%20slowly%2C%0Ain%20the%20manner%20of%20modern%20humans.%20A%C2%89er%20their%20emergence%20it%0Awould%20be%20mainly%20a%20question%20of%20time%20and%20brain%20growth%20before%0Amodern%20humans%20emerged%20about%20two%20hundred%20thousand%0Ayears%20ago.%0ASo%20the%20question%20of%20our%20origins%20concerns%20the%20forces%20that%0Asprung%20Homo%20erectus%20from%20their%20australopithecine%20past.%0AThe%20Cooking%20Hypothesis%20%EF%99%88%0AAnthropologists%20have%20an%20answer.%20According%20to%20the%20most%20pop-%0Aular%20view%20since%20the%20%EF%99%84%EF%99%8C%EF%99%88%EF%99%83s%20there%20was%20a%20single%20supposed%20impe-%0Atus%3A%20the%20eating%20of%20meat.%0AHundreds%20of%20different%20hunter-gatherer%20cultures%20have%20been%0Adescribed%2C%20and%20all%20obtained%20a%20substantial%20proportion%20of%20their%0Adiet%20from%20meat%2C%20o%C2%89en%20half%20their%20calories%20or%20more.%20Archaeol-%0Aogy%20indicates%20a%20similar%20importance%20of%20meat%20all%20the%20way%20back%0Ato%20the%20butchering%20habilines%20more%20than%20two%20million%20years%20ago.%0ABy%20contrast%2C%20there%20is%20little%20to%20suggest%20that%20their%20predecessors%2C%0Athe%20australopithecines%2C%20were%20much%20different%20from%20chim-%0Apanzees%20in%20their%20predatory%20behavior.%20Chimpanzees%20readily%0Agrab%20monkeys%2C%20piglets%2C%20or%20small%20antelopes%20when%20opportunities%0Aarise%2C%20but%20weeks%20or%20even%20months%20can%20go%20by%20with%20no%20meat%20in%0Atheir%20diets.%20Among%20primates%20we%20are%20the%20only%20dedicated%20carni-%0Avores%2C%20and%20the%20only%20ones%20to%20take%20meat%20from%20large%20carcasses.%0AThose%20smaller-brained%20ancestors%20could%20not%20have%20obtained%0Ameat%20without%20confronting%20dangerous%20animals.%20Their%20physical%0Aabilities%20o%C2%89en%20would%20have%20proved%20wanting.%20The%20first%20meat%0Aeaters%20certainly%20would%20have%20been%20slow%2C%20they%20had%20small%20bodies%2C%0Atheir%20teeth%20and%20limbs%20made%20feeble%20weapons%2C%20and%20their%20hunt-%0Aing%20tools%20were%20probably%20little%20more%20than%20rocks%20and%20natural%0Aclubs.%20Greater%20ingenuity%20and%20improved%20physical%20prowess%0Awould%20have%20helped%20bring%20down%20prey.%20Hunters%20might%20have%0Achased%20antelope%20on%20long%20runs%20until%20the%20quarry%20collapsed%0Afrom%20exhaustion.%20Perhaps%20they%20found%20carcasses%20by%20watching%0A%EF%99%89%20%EF%9D%A3%EF%9D%A1%EF%9D%B4%EF%9D%A3%EF%9D%A8%EF%9D%A9%EF%9D%AE%EF%9D%A7%20%EF%9D%A6%EF%9D%A9%EF%9D%B2%EF%9D%A5%0Awhere%20vultures%20swooped%20down.%20Predators%20such%20as%20saber-%0Atoothed%20lions%20brought%20further%20challenges.%20Teamwork%20might%0Ahave%20been%20necessary%2C%20with%20some%20individuals%20in%20a%20hunting%0Aparty%20throwing%20rocks%20to%20keep%20fearsome%20animals%20at%20bay%20while%0Aothers%20quickly%20cut%20off%20hunks%20of%20meat%20before%20all%20retired%20to%20eat%0Ain%20a%20defensible%20site.%20So%20it%20is%20easy%20to%20imagine%20that%20the%20rise%20of%0Ameat%20eating%20fostered%20various%20human%20characteristics%20such%20as%0Along-distance%20travel%2C%20big%20bodies%2C%20rising%20intelligence%2C%20and%20in-%0Acreased%20cooperation.%20For%20such%20reasons%20the%20meat-eating%20hy-%0Apothesis%2C%20o%C2%89en%20called%20%E2%80%9CMan-the-Hunter%2C%E2%80%9D%20has%20long%20been%0Apopular%20with%20anthropologists%20to%20explain%20the%20change%20from%0Aaustralopithecine%20to%20human.%0ABut%20the%20Man-the-Hunter%20hypothesis%20is%20incomplete%20be-%0Acause%20it%20does%20not%20explain%20how%20hunting%20was%20possible%20without%0Athe%20economic%20support%20gathered%20foods%20provided.%20Among%0Ahunter-gatherers%2C%20gathering%20is%20mostly%20done%20by%20women%20and%0Ais%20o%C2%89en%20responsible%20for%20half%20the%20calories%20brought%20to%20camp.%0AGathering%20can%20be%20just%20as%20critical%20as%20hunting%20because%20men%0Asometimes%20return%20with%20nothing%2C%20in%20which%20case%20the%20family%0Amust%20rely%20entirely%20on%20gathered%20foods.%20Gathering%20depends%0Aon%20abilities%20normally%20considered%20to%20be%20absent%20in%20australo-%0Apithecines%2C%20such%20as%20carrying%20large%20bundles%20of%20food.%20When%0Aand%20why%20did%20gathering%20evolve%3F%20What%20breakthroughs%20in%0Atechnology%20enabled%20females%20to%20gather%3F%20Or%20did%20habilines%20get%0Atheir%20meat%20without%20being%20involved%20in%20an%20economy%20of%20ex-%0Achange%3F%20These%20are%20core%20questions%20Man-the-Hunter%20leaves%0Aunanswered.%0AThe%20Cooking%20Hypothesis%20%EF%99%8A%0AA%20different%20kind%20of%20difficulty%20is%20even%20more%20severe%3A%20the%20ha-%0Abilines%20show%20that%20there%20were%20two%20changes%20in%20the%20path%20from%0Aape%20to%20human%2C%20not%20just%20the%20one%20implied%20by%20Man-the-Hunter.%0AThe%20two%20steps%20involved%20different%20kinds%20of%20transformation%0Aand%20occurred%20hundreds%20of%20thousands%20of%20years%20apart%E2%80%94one%0Aprobably%20around%20%EF%99%85.%EF%99%88%20million%20years%20ago%2C%20and%20the%20second%20be-%0Atween%20%EF%99%84.%EF%99%8C%20million%20and%20%EF%99%84.%EF%99%8B%20million%20years%20ago.%20It%20makes%20no%0Asense%20that%20the%20two%20kinds%20of%20change%20should%20have%20been%0Aprompted%20by%20the%20same%20cause.%0AMeat%20eating%20accounts%20smoothly%20for%20the%20first%20transition%2C%0Ajump-starting%20evolution%20toward%20humans%20by%20shi%C2%89ing%20chim-%0Apanzeelike%20australopithecines%20into%20knife-wielding%2C%20bigger-%0Abrained%20habilines%2C%20while%20still%20leaving%20them%20with%20apelike%0Abodies%20capable%20of%20collecting%20and%20digesting%20vegetable%20foods%20as%0Aefficiently%20as%20did%20australopithecines.%20But%20if%20meat%20eating%20ex-%0Aplains%20the%20origin%20of%20the%20habilines%2C%20it%20leaves%20the%20second%20transi-%0Ation%20unexplained%2C%20from%20habilines%20to%20Homo%20erectus.%20Did%0Ahabilines%20and%20Homo%20erectus%20obtain%20their%20meat%20in%20such%20differ-%0Aent%20ways%20that%20they%20evolved%20different%20kinds%20of%20anatomy%3F%20Some%0Apeople%20think%20the%20habilines%20might%20have%20been%20primarily%20scav-%0Aengers%20while%20Homo%20erectus%20were%20more%20proficient%20hunters.%0AThe%20idea%20is%20plausible%2C%20though%20archaeological%20data%20do%20not%20di-%0Arectly%20test%20it.%20But%20it%20does%20not%20solve%20a%20key%20problem%20concerning%0Athe%20anatomy%20of%20Homo%20erectus%2C%20which%20had%20small%20jaws%20and%0Asmall%20teeth%20that%20were%20poorly%20adapted%20for%20eating%20the%20tough%0Araw%20meat%20of%20game%20animals.%20These%20weaker%20mouths%20cannot%20be%0Aexplained%20by%20Homo%20erectus%E2%80%99s%20becoming%20better%20at%20hunting.%0ASomething%20else%20must%20have%20been%20going%20on.%0A%EF%99%8B%20%EF%9D%A3%EF%9D%A1%EF%9D%B4%EF%9D%A3%EF%9D%A8%EF%9D%A9%EF%9D%AE%EF%9D%A7%20%EF%9D%A6%EF%9D%A9%EF%9D%B2%EF%9D%A5%0AHow%20lucky%20that%20Earth%20has%20fire.%20Hot%2C%20dry%20plant%20material%20does%0Athis%20amazing%20thing%3A%20it%20burns.%20In%20a%20world%20full%20of%20rocks%2C%20animals%2C%0Aand%20living%20plants%2C%20dry%2C%20combustible%20wood%20gives%20us%20warmth%0Aand%20light%2C%20without%20which%20our%20species%20would%20be%20forced%20to%20live%0Alike%20other%20animals.%20It%20is%20easy%20to%20forget%20what%20life%20would%20have%0Abeen%20like%20without%20fire.%20The%20nights%20would%20be%20cold%2C%20dark%2C%20and%0Adangerous%2C%20forcing%20us%20to%20wait%20helplessly%20for%20the%20sun.%20All%20our%0Afood%20would%20be%20raw.%20No%20wonder%20we%20find%20comfort%20by%20a%20hearth.%0ANowadays%20we%20need%20fire%20wherever%20we%20are.%20Survival%20manu-%0Aals%20tell%20us%20that%20if%20we%20are%20lost%20in%20the%20wild%2C%20one%20of%20our%20first%20ac-%0Ations%20should%20be%20to%20make%20a%20fire.%20In%20addition%20to%20warmth%20and%0Alight%2C%20fire%20gives%20us%20hot%20food%2C%20safe%20water%2C%20dry%20clothes%2C%20protection%0Afrom%20dangerous%20animals%2C%20a%20signal%20to%20friends%2C%20and%20even%20a%20sense%0Aof%20inner%20comfort.%20In%20modern%20society%2C%20fire%20might%20be%20hidden%0Afrom%20our%20view%2C%20tidied%20away%20in%20the%20basement%20boiler%2C%20trapped%20in%0Athe%20engine%20block%20of%20a%20car%2C%20or%20confined%20in%20the%20power%20station%0Athat%20drives%20the%20electrical%20grid%2C%20but%20we%20still%20completely%20depend%0Aon%20it.%20A%20similar%20tie%20is%20found%20in%20every%20culture.%20To%20the%20hunting-%0Aand-gathering%20Andaman%20Islanders%20of%20India%2C%20fire%20is%20%E2%80%9Cthe%20first%0Athing%20they%20think%20of%20carrying%20when%20they%20go%20on%20a%20journey%2C%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%9Cthe%0Acenter%20round%20which%20social%20life%20moves%2C%E2%80%9D%20and%20the%20possession%0Athat%20distinguishes%20humans%20from%20animals.%20Animals%20need%20food%2C%0Awater%2C%20and%20shelter.%20We%20humans%20need%20all%20those%20things%2C%20but%20we%0Aneed%20fire%20too.%0AHow%20long%20have%20we%20needed%20it%3F%20Few%20people%20have%20thought%0Aabout%20this%20question.%20Not%20even%20Charles%20Darwin%20pursued%20it%2C%0Athough%20he%20had%20every%20reason%20to%20be%20interested.%20During%20his%0AThe%20Cooking%20Hypothesis%20%EF%99%8C%0Afive-year%20voyage%20around%20the%20world%2C%20Darwin%20learned%20what%20it%0Awas%20like%20to%20be%20hungry%20in%20the%20wild.%20When%20camped%20in%20harsh%0Aplaces%2C%20such%20as%20the%20sodden%20moors%20of%20the%20Falkland%20Islands%2C%20he%0Amade%20fire%20by%20rubbing%20sticks%20together.%20He%20cooked%20with%20hot%0Arocks%20in%20an%20earth%20oven%20and%20called%20the%20art%20of%20making%20fire%0A%E2%80%9Cprobably%20the%20greatest%20%5Bdiscovery%5D%2C%20excepting%20language%2C%20ever%0Amade%20by%20man.%E2%80%9D%20His%20gritty%20experiences%20taught%20him%20that%20%E2%80%9Chard%0Aand%20stringy%20roots%20can%20be%20rendered%20digestible%2C%20and%20poisonous%0Aroots%20or%20herbs%20innocuous.%E2%80%9D%20He%20understood%20the%20value%20of%0Acooked%20food.%0ABut%20Darwin%20showed%20no%20interest%20in%20knowing%20when%20fire%20was%0Afirst%20controlled.%20His%20passion%20was%20evolution%2C%20and%20he%20thought%0Afire%20was%20irrelevant%20to%20how%20we%20evolved.%20Like%20most%20people%2C%20he%0Asimply%20assumed%20that%20by%20the%20time%20our%20ancestors%20first%20con-%0Atrolled%20fire%20they%20were%20already%20human.%20He%20cited%20his%20fellow%20evo-%0Alutionist%20Alfred%20Russel%20Wallace%20approvingly%3A%20%E2%80%9Cman%20is%20enabled%0Athrough%20his%20mental%20faculties%20%E2%80%98to%20keep%20with%20an%20unchanged%0Abody%20in%20harmony%20with%20the%20changing%20universe.%E2%80%99%E2%80%9D%20The%20control%0Aof%20fire%20was%20just%20another%20way%20for%20an%20unchanged%20body%20with%20an%0Aadept%20mental%20faculty%20to%20respond%20to%20a%20natural%20challenge.%0A%E2%80%9CWhen%20he%20migrates%20into%20a%20colder%20climate%20he%20uses%20clothes%2C%0Abuilds%20sheds%2C%20and%20makes%20fires%3B%20and%2C%20by%20the%20aid%20of%20fire%2C%20cooks%0Afood%20otherwise%20indigestible%20.%20.%20.%20the%20lower%20animals%2C%20on%20the%0Aother%20hand%2C%20must%20have%20their%20bodily%20structure%20modified%20in%20or-%0Ader%20to%20survive%20under%20greatly%20changed%20conditions.%E2%80%9D%0AThe%20notion%20of%20prehistoric%20humans%20having%20an%20%E2%80%9Cunchanged%0Abody%E2%80%9D%20while%20inventing%20new%20ways%20to%20make%20their%20lives%20easier%20is%0Amostly%20right.%20Little%20change%20has%20occurred%20in%20human%20anatomy%0A%EF%99%84%EF%99%83%20%EF%9D%A3%EF%9D%A1%EF%9D%B4%EF%9D%A3%EF%9D%A8%EF%9D%A9%EF%9D%AE%EF%9D%A7%20%EF%9D%A6%EF%9D%A9%EF%9D%B2%EF%9D%A5%0Asince%20the%20time%20of%20Homo%20erectus%20almost%20two%20million%20years%0Aago.%20Culture%20is%20the%20trump%20card%20that%20enables%20humans%20to%0Aadapt%2C%20and%20compared%20to%20the%20two-million-year%20human%20career%2C%0Amost%20cultural%20innovation%20has%20indeed%20been%20recent.%20Before%0Atwo%20hundred%20thousand%20years%20ago%2C%20the%20main%20novelties%0Arecorded%20by%20archaeology%20were%20stone%20tools%20and%20spears.%20Art%2C%0Afishing%20tools%2C%20personal%20decoration%20with%20necklaces%2C%20and%0Astone-tipped%20weapons%20all%20came%20later.%20Why%20should%20the%20con-%0Atrol%20of%20fire%20be%20any%20older%3F%20Most%20anthropologists%20have%20fol-%0Alowed%20Darwin%E2%80%99s%20assumption%20that%20cooking%20has%20been%20a%20late%0Aaddition%20to%20the%20human%20skill%20set%2C%20a%20valuable%20tradition%20with-%0Aout%20any%20biological%20or%20evolutionary%20significance.%20We%20use%20fire%2C%0ADarwin%20seemed%20to%20imply%2C%20but%20we%20could%20survive%20without%20it%20if%0Awe%20had%20to.%20The%20implication%20was%20that%20cooking%20has%20little%20bio-%0Alogical%20importance.%0AA%20century%20later%2C%20cultural%20anthropologist%20Claude%20L%C3%A9vi-%0AStrauss%20produced%20a%20revolutionary%20analysis%20of%20human%20cul-%0Atures%20that%20implicitly%20supported%20the%20biological%20insignificance%0Aof%20cooking.%20He%20was%20an%20expert%20on%20the%20myths%20of%20Brazilian%0Atribes%2C%20and%20he%20was%20deeply%20impressed%20with%20the%20way%20in%20which%0Acooking%20served%20to%20symbolize%20human%20control%20over%20nature.%0A%E2%80%9CNot%20only%20does%20cooking%20mark%20the%20transition%20from%20nature%20to%0Aculture%2C%E2%80%9D%20L%C3%A9vi-Strauss%20wrote%20in%20his%20influential%20%EF%99%84%EF%99%8C%EF%99%89%EF%99%83s%20book%2C%0AThe%20Raw%20and%20the%20Cooked%2C%20%E2%80%9Cbut%20through%20it%20and%20by%20means%20of%20it%2C%0Athe%20human%20state%20can%20be%20defined%20with%20all%20its%20attributes.%E2%80%9D%20L%C3%A9vi-%0AStrauss%E2%80%99s%20insight%20that%20cooking%20is%20a%20defining%20feature%20of%20human-%0Aity%20was%20perceptive.%20But%20strikingly%2C%20for%20him%20its%20significance%0Aappeared%20to%20be%20entirely%20psychological.%20Fellow%20anthropologist%0AThe%20Cooking%20Hypothesis%20%EF%99%84%EF%99%84%0AEdmund%20Leach%20presented%20L%C3%A9vi-Strauss%E2%80%99s%20views%20crisply%3A%0A%E2%80%9C%5BPeople%5D%20do%20not%20have%20to%20cook%20their%20food%2C%20they%20do%20so%20for%20sym-%0Abolic%20reasons%20to%20show%20that%20they%20are%20men%20and%20not%20beasts.%E2%80%9D%0AL%C3%A9vi-Strauss%20was%20an%20elite%20anthropologist%2C%20and%20his%20implication%0Athat%20cooking%20had%20no%20biological%20meaning%20was%20widely%20touted.%0ANo%20one%20challenged%20this%20aspect%20of%20his%20analysis.%0ADespite%20the%20predominant%20skepticism%20about%20the%20role%20of%20fire%0Ain%20human%20evolution%2C%20a%20few%20contrarians%20have%20argued%20that%0Acooking%20has%20been%20a%20core%20influence%20on%20human%20nature.%20The%0Astrongest%20voices%20have%20come%20from%20students%20of%20food%20and%20eating.%0AThe%20celebrated%20French%20gastronomist%20Jean-Anthelme%20Brillat-%0ASavarin%20sounded%20evolutionary%20even%20when%20Charles%20Darwin%0Awas%20still%20a%20teenager.%20%E2%80%9CIt%20is%20by%20fire%20that%20man%20has%20tamed%20Nature%0Aitself%2C%E2%80%9D%20he%20wrote%20in%20%EF%99%84%EF%99%8B%EF%99%85%EF%99%88.%20His%20experience%20told%20him%20that%20cook-%0Aing%20helps%20us%20to%20eat%20meat%20more%20easily.%20A%C2%89er%20our%20ancestors%0Astarted%20cooking%2C%20he%20argued%2C%20meat%20became%20more%20desirable%20and%0Avaluable%2C%20leading%20to%20a%20new%20importance%20for%20hunting.%20And%20since%0Ahunting%20was%20mainly%20a%20male%20activity%2C%20women%20took%20on%20the%20role%0Aof%20cooking.%20Brillat-Savarin%20was%20prescient%20in%20tracing%20a%20link%0Afrom%20cooking%20to%20households%2C%20but%20his%20ideas%20were%20not%20richly%0Adeveloped.%20They%20were%20throwaway%20lines%20hidden%20in%20a%20volumi-%0Anous%20output%2C%20and%20they%20have%20never%20been%20taken%20seriously.%0AIn%20the%20past%20half%20century%2C%20ideas%20suggesting%20how%20the%20control%0Aof%20fire%20might%20have%20influenced%20human%20behavior%20or%20evolution%0Ahave%20been%20proposed%20by%20writers%20in%20physical%20anthropology%20(by%0ACarleton%20Coon%20and%20Loring%20Brace)%2C%20archaeology%20(especially%20by%0A%EF%99%84%EF%99%85%20%EF%9D%A3%EF%9D%A1%EF%9D%B4%EF%9D%A3%EF%9D%A8%EF%9D%A9%EF%9D%AE%EF%9D%A7%20%EF%9D%A6%EF%9D%A9%EF%9D%B2%EF%9D%A5%0ACatherine%20Perl%C3%A8s)%2C%20and%20sociology%20(by%20Joop%20Goudsblom).%20But%0Asuch%20analyses%20have%20been%20tentative%2C%20leaving%20it%20to%20the%20specialized%0Afield%20of%20cooking%20history%20to%20provide%20thoughts%20as%20bold%20as%20those%0Aof%20Brillat-Savarin.%20In%20%EF%99%84%EF%99%8C%EF%99%8C%EF%99%8B%20cooking%20historian%20Michael%20Symons%0Acombined%20intellectual%20ingredients%20from%20a%20range%20of%20disciplines%2C%0Aand%20based%20on%20the%20idea%20that%20cooking%20affects%20many%20aspects%20of%0Alife%20from%20nutrition%20to%20society%2C%20he%20made%20a%20stronger%20claim%20than%0Aany%20before%20him.%20Symons%20concluded%2C%20%E2%80%9Ccooking%20is%20the%20missing%0Alink%20.%20.%20.%20defining%20the%20human%20essence.%20.%20.%20.%20I%20pin%20our%20humanity%20on%0Acooks.%E2%80%9D%20In%20a%20%EF%99%85%EF%99%83%EF%99%83%EF%99%84%20book%20on%20the%20history%20of%20food%2C%20historian%20Fe-%0Alipe%20Fernandez-Armesto%20likewise%20declared%20cooking%20an%20%E2%80%9Cin-%0Adex%20of%20the%20humanity%20of%20humankind.%E2%80%9D%20But%20neither%20these%0Aauthors%20nor%20any%20other%20writer%20advocating%20the%20importance%20of%0Acooking%20understood%20how%20cooking%20affects%20the%20nutritional%0Aquality%20of%20food.%20Critical%20questions%20therefore%20were%20le%C2%89%20un-%0Atouched%2C%20such%20as%20whether%20humans%20are%20evolutionarily%20adapted%0Ato%20cooked%20food%2C%20or%20how%20cooking%20had%20its%20supposed%20effects%20on%0Amaking%20us%20human%2C%20or%20when%20cooking%20evolved.%20The%20result%20was%0Aa%20series%20of%20ideas%20that%2C%20however%20intriguing%2C%20were%20not%20tied%20down%0Ato%20biological%20reality.%20They%20suggested%20that%20cooking%20had%20shaped%0Aus%2C%20but%20they%20did%20not%20say%20why%20or%20when%20or%20how.%0AThere%20is%20a%20way%20to%20find%20out%20whether%20cooking%20is%20as%20biologi-%0Acally%20insignificant%20as%20Darwin%20implied%2C%20or%20as%20central%20to%20hu-%0Amanity%20as%20Symons%20asserts.%20We%20need%20to%20know%20what%20cooking%0Adoes.%20Cooked%20food%20does%20many%20familiar%20things.%20It%20makes%0Aour%20food%20safer%2C%20creates%20rich%20and%20delicious%20tastes%2C%20and%20re-%0Aduces%20spoilage.%20Heating%20can%20allow%20us%20to%20open%2C%20cut%2C%20or%20mash%0Atough%20foods.%20But%20none%20of%20these%20advantages%20is%20as%20important%20as%0AThe%20Cooking%20Hypothesis%20%EF%99%84%EF%99%86%0Aa%20little-appreciated%20aspect%3A%20cooking%20increases%20the%20amount%20of%0Aenergy%20our%20bodies%20obtain%20from%20our%20food.%0AThe%20extra%20energy%20gave%20the%20first%20cooks%20biological%20advan-%0Atages.%20They%20survived%20and%20reproduced%20better%20than%20before.%0ATheir%20genes%20spread.%20Their%20bodies%20responded%20by%20biologically%0Aadapting%20to%20cooked%20food%2C%20shaped%20by%20natural%20selection%20to%20take%0Amaximum%20advantage%20of%20the%20new%20diet.%20There%20were%20changes%20in%0Aanatomy%2C%20physiology%2C%20ecology%2C%20life%20history%2C%20psychology%2C%20and