ABSTRACT
Historians estimate that the “hunter-gatherer” stage of human societies began around 500,000 years ago and lasted until about 11,000 years ago (Serpell 1999: 40). While there are problems with using living or recent hunter-gatherers as representatives of our pre-agricultural ancestors, a “remarkable degree of consistency” in attitudes and beliefs toward animals exists among present-day huntergatherer societies. Animals are perceived as being fully rational, sentient, and intelligent, with bodies animated by non-corporeal spirits or souls (Serpell 1999: 40). Hunted animals must therefore be treated with proper respect and consideration. Serpell locates the origin of contemporary hunting rules and rituals in these beliefs (Serpell 1999: 41). These respectful beliefs may have been fueled in pre-historic times by the fact that a number of carnivores were large enough to prey on stone-age humans. These carnivores include some of the sabre-tooth cats, as well as the prehistoric wolves, hyenas, and bears (Kruuk 2002: 103-14).
