ABSTRACT
It is certain that for the greater part of his existence on earth man was a hunter of animals and a gatherer of plant products, for it was not until some ten thousand years ago that he invented agriculture and domesticated a few kinds of animals. During the tens of thousands of years in the hunter-gatherer stage of his evolution man was still part of wildlife – just another species living in small groups based upon the family; each occupying a limited territory. The effect of his activities upon the rest of wildlife was probably negligible, for he could not have become a dominant species before families united into clans and tribes in which the cooperation of individuals, in a species physically weak compared with other animals of smilar size, brought the large animals within reach as regular prey. The coherence of the family was probably in large part due to the long period of childhood with a consequent necessity for prolonged parental care, which strengthened what ethologists call the ‘pair bond’. The evolution of language also strengthened this bond, and made possible the cooperation of family groups for common interests.
