ABSTRACT
The pre-men lived in Africa, a few million years ago, in areas of abundant vegetation. To shape a clearer image, we could also call them the ape-men, since many of their characteristics were probably fairly similar to those of the modern man-apes. They walked on all four limbs. But they could also stand erect. Walking erect held the further advantage of freeing the hands for the gathering of food, and for the ever more frequent use of tools. With the advance of gender specialization – the males becoming hunters, the females’ gatherers – everything changed. This relationship, entirely unknown among the apes, was a revolutionary novelty, and encouraged by an equally radical redefinition of sexuality. Relationships with children helped the male to develop a more complex mind, which in turn became part of the process in which natural selection produced more males who showed paternal attitudes.
