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by igouy 1364 days ago
16 km — 13 September

10 km — 11 September

16 km — 26 August

21 km — 7 August

Well, you did ask.

That's likely evidence, that once-upon-a-time, it was helpful to go a relatively short distance faster than walking pace.

1 comments

Honestly, thanks for sharing - that's some good distance if I'm doing my conversions right :P

Our skin with its vast distribution of sweat glands coupled with our comparative lack of body hair certainly made us well-adapted to pedestrian movement.

"The hunt takes place during the hottest time of the day, with maximum temperatures of about 39–42 C. Before starting, the hunters drink as much water as they can."

"A prerequisite for persistence hunting would have been the invention of water containers. In contrast to horses and camels, humans cannot consume large amounts of water at one time. Human thermoregulation requires considerable water for evaporative cooling, and this would have made it essential to carry water in containers."

2006 "Persistence Hunting by Modern Hunter-Gatherers"

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260135266_Persisten...

10, 6, 10 & 13.1

Thanks for giving me an excuse to look at the evidence behind persistence hunting speculation once again.

"… the main hunter, armed only with a digging stick, identified the fresh hoof prints of a duiker and followed its trail at a steady, relentless walk for approximately three hours.

The duiker was thereby pushed from one uncommon shade tree to the next in the hot sun. The bare ground beneath each shade tree was pock-marked with duiker tracks from many different animals, which slowed the hunter, who circled the perimeter of the shaded areas and was able to pick out the tracks of the targeted duiker as it left the location.

Toward the end of the hunt, when the tiring duiker was sighted for the first time approximately 250 m ahead, it was running at a right angle to the direction the hunter was walking along its recent trail. Rather than changing direction and walking or running directly toward the fleeing animal or making any effort to maintain visual contact with it, the hunter continued along the hoof-print trail.

At the end, the duiker was standing, incapacitated, beneath a small cluster of trees, with its head lowered and tongue hanging out. The hunter walked up to it, clubbed it with the digging stick, and then carried it back to camp.

In sum, successful persistence hunting by walking requires truly phenomenal tracking skills, with the added risk of dehydration and heat exhaustion even for the physically fit. On days following a walking hunt, Kua hunters typically spent a recuperative day of inactivity in camp."

https://www.originalwisdom.com/wp-content/uploads/bsk-pdf-ma...