Suddenly Chama heard the loud screams of an old woman. They seemed just like the scary sounds his brother Keh always made to spook him, but this time they were different, they sounded like the real thing.
As the screams grew louder, he turned his body taking a deep breath and woke up. He had been dreaming. A bad nightmare.
As he rose, Mother, who was sleeping beside him to take care of him in the last few days, woke worried. It was the middle of the night. Chama had been complaining and crying in the last few days; not only for the pain in his back when he tried to help Father moving the larger stones, but for the horrible pain in his mouth.
Mother touched Chama’s forehead, feeling the sweat and how unusually warm it was. Not a good thing in her experience and the teachings of her Mother and Grandmother, who passed away seasons ago.
She, decided to just hug Chama and put her finger over her mouth as indicating him to not make a lot of noise. The other families; especially other mothers, grandmothers, and wives; love to gossip about what they hear or see at night. And, the last thing Mother wants is to upset Father, as he always overreacts and gets aggressive, sometimes physically, when he is annoyed, feels tired, frustrated, or, even worse, jealous of other men.
Mother is pregnant. She needs sleep, too.
Keh woke up, but didn’t even bother, and just turned around and continued sleeping. Tomorrow he thinks he’s going with Father, some of the other adult males, and their sons to the Hill of the Rocks, where they usually work.
In the hill they find large rocks of the good ones; like the one Chama tried to lift the other day hurting his back; on which they work, breaking and chipping them, making smaller sharper rocks. They use these stones to kill animals or intruders from other clans, cut meat, break bones, cut and shape wood, light fires, and other useful things for the family and the clan.
Sometimes, when they can reach some kind of peace or no fight period, Father and other clan men meet men from other clans. They give them these useful sharp stones. The others usually let them hunt and forage around their parts of the land and hills for several days when this happens. Sometimes, they just give them some skins or wood of the good one in exchange.
In the morning, Mother woke up to see Father and Keh ready to go, but Chama stayed lying on the ground. He didn’t sleep after his upsetting dreams, but the main cause was the pain in his mouth. He had been feeling hot and cold, and sweating all night.
Mother waved at Father and Keh, indicating that Chama would stay with her this time. He can always further learn from Father and his older brother to work the rocks later in the dry season. For now, he seems sick and this pain in his mouth has been getting worse in the last few days.
Several of the men in the clan, including Father and Keh, formed a group, as usual for security, and started walking toward the Hill of the Rocks. They took several sharp stones and wood spears in case they found dangerous animals or enemy clan members on the way.
Some of the other men; some elders, some younger, and some strong; stayed with the families, women, and children to guard them, as usual.
When Chama decided to stand and move he was very thirsty. Mother tried to feed him some leftover meat and fat that the families had shared from the previous day’s hunt.
As she had been trying for some time; she put the meat and fat in her mouth, chewed it herself until it was well cut and softened by her teeth, so Chama could just open his mouth and swallow it without much biting or chewing himself, avoiding his increasing pain.
Unfortunately, although he had been eating some in the past few hunts, it has always been much less than what he usually ate before the pain came.
After spitting without eating this last bit of food Mother tried to give him, she got upset herself and forced him to grab what he just spat from the dusty ground and swallow it.
It is not wise to contradict Mother. Chama submitted, grabbed the food, swallowed it fast so it would hurt less, and left angry for the lake. He can always find some other kids there, drink some water, or just lay on the shore, thinking about how he wants to be like Father and Keh, how he will someday be a strong warrior, a fine rock knapper, and a great leader of his family and clan.
References
– Turkana Boy – by Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkana_Boy
– The Remote Lake That Tells the Story of Humanity’s Birth – by Melissa Hogenboom – BBC: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20151207-the-remote-lake-that-tells-the-story-of-humanitys-birth
– Discoveries at Lake Turkana – by National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/discoveries-lake-turkana/
– In The Footprints of Our Ancestors – Dr. Brian Richmond: https://youtu.be/T1a9sQb8riE
Images
Analysis
Bellow is a link to my followup article where I explain the biological, archeological, and anthropological basis for the construction of Chama’s last day approximately 1.5 million years ago, his family’s behavior, and some aspects of his clan and social group:
Analysis of Chama the Turkana Boy Story
