At 09:29 AM 2/11/00 -0700, John W. Burgeson wrote:
>Thinking about what constitutes "humanity."
>
>Is there any evidence that non-humans ever have a sense of shame?
What a fascinating question. I know of no blushing on the part of animals.
I spent a while searching my library and database for such info and found
nothing. Chimps may blush but I am unaware of it.
If one considers that Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together after the
fall in order to hid their shame, then there may very well be evidence of
shame in the fossil record--clothing.
"But the Neandertals' true humanity revealed itself in the actions of their
souls. At the 50,000-year-old site of Hortus in southern France, two
French archaeologists in 1972 reported the discovery of the articulated
bones of the left paw and tail of a leopard. Their arrangement suggested
that the fragments were once the remnants of a complete leopard hide worn
as a costume." ~ James R. Shreeve, The Neandertal Enigma, (New York:
William Morrow and Co., 1995), p. 52
Australopithecus was the first hominid who apparently used tools to work
hides. If they were using them for clothing we do not know, but there is
little other than clothing, tents and bags that one can use a hide for.:
"In fact, Swartkrans has strong evidence that the robust australopithecines
used at least one implement specifically adapted for their diet. Bob Brain
has marshaled a convincing case for a single type of bone tool, based on
his study of about sixty bones from the site. Like Dart's Makapansgat
'tools,' most of these are simply limb-bone-shaft fragments from various
animals and antelope horn cores. All, however, have a smooth, rounded tip
at one end.
"Bob found himself wondering how such a distinctive pattern might form.
The answer dawned on him one day while he was excavating. 'In the softer
parts of the deposit I'd been using an ordinary screwdriver as a digging
tool,' he recalled as we drank tea by the Swartkrans site. 'The end had
gotten all worn and rounded, and that got me thinking that maybe these
bones were used for digging was well.'
"Knowing that the landscape around Swartkrans had changed little since
robust australopithecines roamed it, Bob looked for clues to what they
might have dug up. He noted that certain edible bulbs and tubers were
common beneath rocky scree slopes. Getting to them was the
challenge--unless, that is, you had some kind of tool. Bob climbed a
hillside near the cave and began digging with a wildebeest limb bone that
had been chewed apart by a hyena. Within half an hour, he had extracted an
edible lily bulb. After several more house of digging, the end of the bone
bore a distinct resemblance to those found at Swartkrans. Enlisting his
sons to continue to dig up tubers with different bones. Each time, the
same worn, rounded pattern appeared on the tips."
...
"Some of the fossil bones looked so worn at the tip that they must have
been used for several days. Bob began to wonder if the hominids carried
these digging sticks with them. Then he noticed that the wear scratches on
some specimens were obscured by a glassy polish. A similar sort of polish
occurs on modern bone tools used by hunter gatherers to burnish hides. Bob
speculates that the hominids may have made hide bags to carry tools and
tubers, and the glassy polish formed as the bones rubbed against the
leather. A few tiny, awl-like pieces of bone---the sort of tools that
could be used to puncture leather--- were also uncovered at Swartkrans." ~
Donald C. Johanson, Lenora Johanson, and Blake Edgar, Ancestors, (New York:
Villard Books, 1994), p. 163-165
Homo erectus was the first hominid who lived in places that absolutely
required clothing. THey lived near Beijing which would freeze them in the
winter. THey also lived in Georgia, SSR 1.8 myr ago, where the winters also
get below zero. Clothing would have been required. Three erectus skulls
have been found there to date. (see
http://www.archaeology.org/0001/newsbriefs/georgia.html)
>
>I know one can observe some dogs having this -- but it seems to be
>related to their bond with a human. Not "in the wild."
>
>Perhaps humans are the only species that can blush?
>
>Glenn Morton writes well about "human characteristics" of
>ancient hominids. The book WHEN ELEPHANTS WEEP is a
>partial -- but not a complete rebuttal to some of those claims.
>
>Humans admire beauty.
>So do some animals sometimes (some birds).
I haven't ever said that admiration ov beauty was one of the traits of
humanity. Making graven images is. Bower birds who lay out things in front
of their bower, certainly admire beauty, but they don't make graven images
of themselves .
>
>Humans worship.
>So do some animals sometimes (for instance, some dogs).
When did a dog build an altar? Without this, what is the evidence of their
worship? I couldn't find any reference to such behavior in When Elephants
Weep.
>
>Humans sometimes exhibit altruism.
>So do some animals sometimes (see the book).
Absolutely, See a 1901 book by Sir Petre Kropotkin, Mutual Aid, which is
an excellent source for altruism among the animals.
>
>Humans build houses.
>So do some animals sometimes.
But I know of no altars built by dogs. I do know of altars built by
Neanderthals, H. erectus and h. sapiens. Nests are an ubiquitous item
among living creatures. Humans build a characteristic type of nest which
is different from that done by Gorillas and chimps.
>
>But blushing may be one unique attribute.
glenn
Foundation, Fall and Flood
Adam, Apes and Anthropology
http://www.flash.net/~mortongr/dmd.htm
Lots of information on creation/evolution
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