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9.8 Option - The Human Story: 5. Cultural development

Syllabus reference (October 2002 version)
5. Cultural development has been a significant feature of human evolution	Students learn to: describe the cultural changes that occurred as humans developed into efficient hunters in organised cooperative groups discuss possible impacts of this cultural development	Students: process and analyse information from secondary sources to compare humans with other primates in terms of: care of young length of juvenile stage development of, and size of, social groups the development and use of tools communication systems and assess the evolutionary significance of the similarities and differences identified

Syllabus reference (October 2002 version)

5. Cultural development has been a significant feature of human evolution

Students learn to:

describe the cultural changes that occurred as humans developed into efficient hunters in organised cooperative groups
discuss possible impacts of this cultural development

Students:

process and analyse information from secondary sources to compare humans with other primates in terms of:
- care of young
- length of juvenile stage
- development of, and size of, social groups
- the development and use of tools
- communication systems
and assess the evolutionary significance of the similarities and differences identified

Extract from Biology Stage 6 Syllabus (Amended October 2002), © Board of Studies, NSW.

Prior learning: HSC module 9.3 (subsection 1).
Science Stages 4–5 syllabus: Outcome 5.8 (content 5.8.3 a).

Background information:
The cultural development of humans is difficult to study because many cultural activities do not leave any record. By studying our closest relatives in the animal world, we can gain insight into how our ancestors might have lived. Humans share many behavioural patterns with other primates but to different degrees. Tool use and complex communication are the most advanced in humans.

process and analyse information from secondary sources to compare humans with other primates in terms of:

care of the young

length of juvenile stage

development of and size of, social groups

the development and use of tools

communication systems

and assess the evolutionary significance of the similarities and differences identified.

Choose which primates to study. It would be good to choose at least one from each group (prosimians, new world monkeys, old world monkeys, apes and humans). Look in books, encyclopedias, CD ROMs and on the Internet for information.
Process the information by assessing the reliability of first-hand and secondary information and data by considering information from various sources.
Analyse the information you have gathered and processed by identifying relationships as well as any contradictions between the different sources.

You may choose to visit a zoo and collect first hand information on primates. Use this and secondary information such as the webpages below to find information on humans and other primates. A table is given as a model for the type of information required.
Assess the evolutionary significance of the similarities and differences identified. To do this consider how closely related the different primates are and when they are first believed to have appeared in the fossil record.

Red fronted lemurs Smithsonian National Zoological Park
Howler monkey Enchanted Learning
Baboons Amboseli Research project
Orangutan Enchanted learning
Gorillas About Gorillas. Click on Basic Gorilla Life and Gorilla Facts
Chimpanzees The Jane Goodall Institute
Social structure Palomar College

Useful information

Care of the young is shown in all groups of primates. Primate offspring are born helpless unlike most other mammal babies. They need a large amount of time and effort to ensure the survival of the young.

Length of the juvenile stage can last as long as 12 years in primates. During the long juvenile stage primates learn the rules of the social group they are living in.

Social groups are common in primates. Most primates are social animals who interact daily. Most tend to feed and move in groups. The different primate groups have different social groups.

The simplest group is the noyau which is a single female and her offspring. The male’s territory overlaps with several females but they do not live together. This type of group is common in lemurs and orangutans.

Monogamous groups consist of one male and one female and their offspring. This is seen in gibbons who do not have sexual dimorphism.

Polyandrous groups consist of a single breeding female and several males who help in the rearing of the young, for example, marmosets.

Polygynous groups consist of one male and many females with their offspring. These groups have well marked sexual dimorphism for example, gorillas where the male is much larger than the female.

Multimale/multifemale groups are large with much competition and fighting. There is usually a complex hierarchy within the group for example, baboons.

Fission/fusion groups exist in chimpanzees where groups merge and separate throughout the year. In chimpanzees many males (who are usually brothers) and female groups show this type of organisation.

Humans tend to live in family groups, usually monogamous but some cultures practice polygamy (polygynous). Some cultures have extended families such as grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins living together. Humans also often live in communities such as villages or cities.

Tool use is rare amongst non-human animals. Chimpanzees are known to make simple tools to gather food, for example, they will poke a stick in a termite mound. Some termites grab the stick, the chimp pulls the stick out and eats the termites. The only technology involved would be the choosing of the correct sized stick and stripping side branches off it. Humans are extraordinary toolmakers and users. They shape and develop tools, some extremely complex. This is assisted by the upright posture, the enlarged brain and advanced speech mechanisms.

Communication systems are used actively by primates. They communicate by body posture, facial expression and combinations of sounds. Humans have the greatest communication of the primates because of the complex speech patterns. They are also able to communicate using symbols such as writing. Today human communication has extended to telecommunication, including satellite communication around the world.

A summary of comparisons of some characteristics of some primates

Primate	Care of young	Length of juvenile period	Social group	Tools	Communication
lemur	mothers care for young for 5 to 6 months, gestation 2-5 months	2 years	some lead solitary lives, some have large stable groups, some in fluid associations, and others in small grouping. Most lemurs show female dominance, unique in non-human primates.	no	scent markings and body language including tail waving
howler monkey	very little care by mothers but sibling females care for young, males sometimes assist	female 5 years, male 7 years	live in groups of 1-2 males and several females with their offspring (up to 16 in a group)	no	very loud vocal signals that can travel to about 10 kilometres
baboon	close relationship. gestation 6 months	5 to 6 years	multimale,multifemale	no	vocal signals
orangutan	close relationship, gestation 8.5 months	female 10 years, male 11-13 years	noyau -can also be referred to as dispersed polygyny with one male having a range that overlaps that of several female ranges	little	vocal signals
gorilla	very close- other females may assist, gestation 8.3 months	female 10 years, male 11-13 years	polygynous- one male mates with several females	little	complex vocal signals
chimpanzee	very close-older sisters often help with care of the infant, gestation 8.5 months	4-5 years	fission/fusion	yes	complex vocal signals and can learn symbols
human	very close- both parents look after young and other family members usually also help, gestation 9 months	12 years	family	yes	complex language and complex thought-therefore complex toolmaker and user

One evolutionary significance of the similarities and differences of primate behaviour is that the primitive primates have fewer similarities with humans and have developed much less culturally. The dependence on scent markings and body language instead of oral communication would be an important factor. The more complex the social groupings and the methods of communication the more advanced culturally are the primates. The long juvenile period and care of the young have allowed a group of unspecialised mammals such as humans to dominate the Earth. The differences that have occurred relate to the advanced use of tools by humans and the level of communication that enables human to pass on complex information between people and therefore from generation to generation.

Rethinking the role of affiliation and aggression in primate groups , University of Illinois

describe the cultural changes that occurred as humans developed into efficient hunters in organised cooperative groups

Humans developed into efficient hunters through cultural changes such as communication, social grouping and the use of tools. To hunt in organised groups there had to be communication. To develop their hunting skills and improve their techniques they had to have the ability to pass on information.
“Incidental tools” were the first tools to be used. These tools were stones, sticks and other such items that the early humans found lying around. This level of hunting would have not been very different from that used by some apes today and wouldn't have involved complex social groups.
By about 100 000 years ago humans had developed the first stone tools to be fashioned. These included the stone and anvil which was used for breaking bones open to get to the marrow deep inside. They were also using bone and wood implements. As time went by, these modern humans made such specialised tools as bone needles, to sew animal skins together for clothing using sinews as the thread, bone fishhooks and nets, to catch fish, hand axes for cutting meat, stone chisels to carve and shape bone. Early humans participated in close range kills, meaning that they literally had to be within a metre of their prey when they attacked it. These more complex tools would have developed due to the people living together in social groups and communicating new ideas to others in the group.
The bow and arrow and the spear, which appeared after 20 000 BC, allowed the early humans to hunt and kill their prey from a distance. This would have made hunting safer and would have made it more difficult for herbivores to detect the hunters and flee before being killed. Rawhide and sinews were used to haft stone points to the spears and other implements such as axes and arrows. These more advanced tools would have developed due to the humans communicating ideas between each other and the desire to make hunting safer and more efficient. This ended in approximately 4000 BC, with the coming of agriculture and the domestication of animals.

discuss possible impacts of this cultural development

Humans developing into efficient hunters in organised cooperative groups has lead to the agrarian, industrial and technological revolutions. Accompanying these changes were specialisation of labour and much closer community living. The rapid spread of infectious diseases was one consequence of closer living but better medicines and sanitation have contributed to a massive increase in the human population.
The rapidly expanding population has lead to a reduction in biodiversity as many species have become extinct due to human actions such as habitat destruction. Human actions have also led to pollution of the land, water and air.
There have been social changes such as increased care of the elderly, sick and young and an increase in the length of the juvenile period. The much longer life expectancy of many humans has brought problems such as increasing health care and a smaller working population to support the elderly.