Compares the “Man the Hunter” theory of human evolution with the theory in the book, “The Hunting Apes: Meat Eating and the Origins of Human Behavior”.
This paper briefly explains the “Man the Hunter” theory of human evolution and then offers a longer, more detailed explanation of the theory on human behavior put forward in Craig Stanford’s book, The Hunting Apes: Meat Eating and the Origins of Human Behavior. The paper also compares and contrasts the two theories and cites some of the criticisms of Stanford’s theory.
“How behavior has evolved from our hominid ancestors to the present day has been a constant concern among anthropologists. Charles Darwin’s paradigm of human evolution lacks direct evidence in fossil record to provide the basis for the reconstruction (Stanford 1999), which leads anthropological researchers to rely much on their imagination to do the job. In the process, biases result and lead to heated debates and further guesses, the most controversial topic of argument being the origin of hominid sex roles and differences – if early hominid male had a different behavioral adaptation from the female and if one dominated the other.”