Editing Hunting (section)

===Lower to Middle Paleolithic===
{{Further|Hunting hypothesis|Endurance running hypothesis}}
Hunting has a long history. It predates the emergence of  ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' ([[anatomically modern humans]]) and may even predate the [[genus]] ''[[Homo]]''.

The oldest undisputed evidence for hunting dates to the [[Early Pleistocene]], consistent with the emergence and early dispersal of ''[[Homo erectus]]'' about 1.7 million years ago ([[Acheulean]]).<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Gaudzinski | first1 = S | year = 2004 | title = Subsistence patterns of Early Pleistocene hominids in the Levant&nbsp;– Taphonomic evidence from the 'Ubeidiya Formation (Israel) | journal = Journal of Archaeological Science | volume = 31 | issue = 1 | pages = 65–75 | doi=10.1016/s0305-4403(03)00100-6| bibcode = 2004JArSc..31...65G  | issn=0305-4403 }}.
{{cite journal | last1 = Rabinovich | first1 = R. | last2 = Gaudzinski-Windheuser | first2 = S. | last3 = Goren-Inbar | first3 = N. | year = 2008 | title = Systematic butchering of fallow deer (Dama) at the early Middle Pleistocene Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov (Israel) | journal = Journal of Human Evolution | volume = 54 | issue = 1| pages = 134–49 | doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.07.007 | pmid=17868780| bibcode = 2008JHumE..54..134R }}</ref>
While it is undisputed that ''Homo erectus''  were hunters, the importance of this for the emergence of ''Homo erectus'' from its australopithecine ancestors, including the production of [[stone tool]]s and eventually the [[control of fire]], is emphasised in the so-called "[[hunting hypothesis]]" and de-emphasised in scenarios that stress omnivory and [[social interaction]].

There is no direct evidence for hunting predating ''Homo erectus'', in either ''[[Homo habilis]]'' or in ''[[Australopithecus]]''.
The early [[hominidae|hominid]] ancestors of humans were probably [[frugivore]]s or [[omnivore]]s, with a partially carnivorous diet from [[scavenging]] rather than hunting.
Evidence for australopithecine meat consumption was presented in the 1990s.<ref>1992 [[trace element]] studies of the strontium/calcium ratios in [[Paranthropus|robust australopithecine]] fossils suggested the possibility of animal consumption, as did a 1994 using stable carbon isotopic analysis. {{cite web | author = Billings, Tom | access-date = 6 January 2007 | title = Comparative Anatomy and Physiology Brought Up to Date—continued, Part 3B | url = http://www.beyondveg.com/billings-t/comp-anat/comp-anat-3b.shtml | archive-date = 15 December 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061215105652/http://beyondveg.com/billings-t/comp-anat/comp-anat-3b.shtml | url-status = live }}</ref>
It has nevertheless often been assumed that at least occasional hunting behaviour may have been present well before the emergence of ''Homo''.This can be argued on the basis of comparison with [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]]s, the closest extant relatives of humans, who also engage in hunting, indicating that the behavioural trait may have been present in the [[Chimpanzee–human last common ancestor]] as early as 5 million years ago. The common chimpanzee (''[[Pan troglodytes]]'') regularly engages in troop predation behaviour, where bands of beta males are led by an [[alpha male]]. [[Bonobo]]s (''[[Pan paniscus]]'') have also been observed to occasionally engage in group hunting,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.livescience.com/9601-bonobos-hunt-primates.html |title=Bonobos Hunt Other Primates |work=livescience.com |year=2008 |access-date=5 August 2012 |archive-date=15 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115002501/https://www.livescience.com/9601-bonobos-hunt-primates.html |url-status=live }}</ref> although more rarely than ''Pan troglodytes'', mainly subsisting on a [[frugivorous]] diet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/vecase/Behavior/Spring2004/laird/Social%20Organization.htm |title=Bonobo social spacing |author=Courtney Laird |access-date=10 March 2008 |work=Davidson College |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123151613/http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/vecase/Behavior/Spring2004/laird/Social%20Organization.htm |archive-date=23 January 2008 }}</ref>
Indirect evidence for [[Oldowan]] era hunting, by early ''Homo'' or late ''[[Australopithecus]]'', has been presented in a 2009 study based on
an Oldowan site in southwestern Kenya.<ref>Plummer, T.W., Bishop, L., Ditchfield, P., Kingston, J., Ferraro, J., Hertel, F. & D. Braun (2009).  "The environmental context of Oldowan hominin activities at Kanjera South, Kenya".  In: Hovers, E. & D. Braun (eds.), '' Interdisciplinary Approaches to Understanding the Oldowan'', Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 149–60.
Tom Plummer, [https://popular-archaeology.com/article/the-hard-stuff-of-culture-oldowan-archaeology-at-kanjera-south-kenya/ "The Hard Stuff of Culture: Oldowan Archaeology at Kanjera South, Kenya"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114233205/https://popular-archaeology.com/article/the-hard-stuff-of-culture-oldowan-archaeology-at-kanjera-south-kenya/ |date=14 November 2021 }}, ''Popular Archaeology'', June 2012.</ref>

[[Louis Binford]] (1986) criticised the idea that early hominids and early humans were hunters. On the basis of the analysis of the skeletal remains of the consumed animals, he concluded that hominids and early humans were mostly [[scavengers]], not hunters,<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Binford | first1 = Louis | year = 1986 | title = Human ancestors: Changing views of their behavior | journal = Journal of Anthropological Archaeology | volume = 4 | issue = 4| pages = 292–327 | doi = 10.1016/0278-4165(85)90009-1 }}</ref>
Blumenschine (1986) proposed the idea of ''confrontational scavenging'', which involves challenging and scaring off other [[predator]]s {{em|after}} they have made a kill, which he suggests could have been the leading method of obtaining [[protein]]-rich meat by early humans.<ref>Blumenschine, Robert J. (1986) ''Early hominid scavenging opportunities: Implications of carcass availability in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro ecosystems''. Oxford, England: B.A.R.</ref>

Stone spearheads dated as early as 500,000 years ago were found in South Africa.<ref>Monte Morin, [https://web.archive.org/web/20121118111851/http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/16/science/la-sci-hafting-spears-20121116 "Stone-tipped spear may have much earlier origin"], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', 16 November 2012</ref> Wood does not preserve well, however, and Craig Stanford, a primatologist and professor of anthropology at the [[University of Southern California]], has suggested that the discovery of spear use by chimpanzees probably means that early humans used wooden spears as well, perhaps, five million years ago.<ref>Rick Weiss, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/22/AR2007022201007.html "Chimps Observed Making Their Own Weapons"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115000701/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/22/AR2007022201007.html |date=15 November 2021 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'', 22 February 2007</ref>
The earliest dated find of surviving wooden hunting [[spear]]s dates to the very end of the [[Lower Paleolithic]], about 300,000 years ago. The [[Schöningen spears]], found in 1976 in [[Germany]], are associated with ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thieme |first1=Hartmut |year=1997 |title=Lower Palaeolithic hunting spears from Germany |journal=Nature |volume=385 |issue=6619 |pages=807–810 |bibcode=1997Natur.385..807T |doi=10.1038/385807a0 |pmid=9039910 |s2cid=4283393}} [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v385/n6619/abs/385807a0.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721162135/http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v385/n6619/abs/385807a0.html|date=21 July 2017}}.</ref>

The [[hunting hypothesis]] sees the emergence of [[behavioral modernity]] in the [[Middle Paleolithic]] as directly related to hunting, including [[Mating|mating behaviour]], the establishment of [[language]], culture, and [[origin of religion|religion]], [[mythology]] and [[animal sacrifice]]. Sociologist [[David Nibert]] of [[Wittenberg University]] argues that the emergence of the organized hunting of animals undermined the communal, egalitarian nature of early human societies, with the status of women and less powerful males declining as the status of men quickly became associated with their success at hunting, which also increased human violence within these societies.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nibert |first=David |date=2013 |title=Animal Oppression and Human Violence: Domesecration, Capitalism, and Global Conflict |location= |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |page=10 |url=https://cup.columbia.edu/book/animal-oppression-and-human-violence/9780231151894 |isbn=978-0231151894 |access-date=18 April 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326110123/https://cup.columbia.edu/book/animal-oppression-and-human-violence/9780231151894 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, 9000-year-old remains of a female hunter along with a toolkit of [[projectile points]] and animal processing implements were discovered at the [[Andes|Andean]] site of Wilamaya Patjxa, [[Puno District]] in [[Peru]].<ref>{{cite news <!--|authors=Randall Haas, James Watson, Tammy Buonasera, John Southon, Jennifer C. Chen, Sarah Noe, Kevin Smith, Carlos Viviano Llave, Jelmer Eerkens and Glendon Parker -->|author=Randall Haas |display-authors=etal |title=Female hunters of the early Americas |publisher=Science Advances |volume=6 |issue=45 |year=2020 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abd0310 }}</ref>