In my previous article [1], I posted a short story about the hypothetical last day of the Turkana Boy [2]. The subject, who I named Chama, is a 1.5 to 1.6 million year old very complete skeleton fossil of a Homo Erectus youth found in 1984 near Lake Turkana in the Kenyan Rift Valley.
In this article I will explain the biological, archeological, and anthropological basis for the construction of Chama’s last day, his family’s behavior, and some aspects of his clan and social group.
Below, I transcribed the paragraphs of the story which I followed with my analysis and commentary.
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.
The introduction indicates it is a fictional account of what could have been the last day of the Turkana Boy. The account is aimed to be consistent with the latest published research of the KNM-WT 15000 fossil, also known as the Turkana Boy or Nariokotome Boy. It also includes other discoveries and studies about Homo Erectus, their stone tools, and footprints of contemporary subjects and specimens in the same or very close locations around the Turkana Lake, in the East African Great Rift Valley.
The narration of the story describes the author’s speculated Homo Erectus thinking capabilities, language development, family, and group dynamics by 1.5 million years before present (BP).
The names “Chama” and “Keh” denote a simplicity in structure and pronunciation of the names, which extends to the rest of the vocabulary. For example, the narrator refers to the parents by their status, father and mother, and names them accordingly Father and Mother, rather than by proper names.
In line with the above approach, although the story is fictional, the underlying hypothetical thought processes, behaviors, family format, group structure, and activities are meant to describe the speculated biological and anthropological features of the characters, family, and group.
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.
This paragraph assumes the Homo Erectus family sleeps together on the ground with very little extra structure. Perhaps there could be some sort of wood hut or skins covering some of their bodies, or serving as cushion below their heads or bodies.
Mother was indeed worried about Chama’s health, and instead of sleeping beside her monogamous partner [3], Chama’s father, she was just closer to her sick boy.
As to Chama’s diseases, it is noted in the fossil’s studies that he had a hernia in his lower back and what it seems like a severe mandible infection [4], which some specialists speculate may have been the main cause of death, or at least a sufficiently severe condition to cause serious problems, likely posing a risk to his life.
The notion that Chama got his lumbar disc herniation by moving big stones, helping his father, describes that Erectus was able to process and work stone [5] [6] and that intra-family collaboration existed in that work.
That the cause of the boy’s herniated disc was lifting a heavy object is analogous to how Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) youngsters may get that same kind of condition [7]. This assumes, as the specimen shows, that the Erectus phenotype was very similar to AMH.
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.
This paragraph indicates that Erectus was sufficiently culturally evolved to recognize indicators of body health and disease. Also, that females may have been more sensitive, or at least dedicated, in a division of labour sense, to such situations, conditions of others, and cultural information.
As to family and group dynamics, the information implies Erectus lived in multigenerational family units, within extended clan groups. This is suggested by the species brain size (900 cc on average), which supports the mental management of groups sizes of around 100 individuals according to Aiello/Dunbar [8].
The fact that Mother’s knowledge is not instinctive but cultural is also denoted by the multigenerational transmission of the information from her grandmother, to her mother, to her. This sort of transmission may have been present in the species for tens, if not hundreds of thousands of years by 1.5 million BP.
The information Mother manages is very detailed as she knows where to sense the temperature, that she is sensing temperature, and the fact that high levels of it are an indicator of unhealthiness. That she regards Chama’s persistent high temperature as not good is also part of this knowledge, and denotes a perception of gravity of the condition as related to time and degree.
As to mental capability, Mother has good memory and can handle several orders of intentionality as she remembers her grandmother even if she is already deceased. She also acknowledges that her grandmother is the mother of her mother.
As to the perception of time and its magnitude, Mother is very advanced because she can think in “seasons”; e.g. the hot season, cold season, wet season, or dry season; to measure longer time scales. She is also able to think in multiple 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.
Naming sons and referring to parents by status is one part of Erectus’ language in this hypothetical scenario, but expression and communication also extended to gestures. The use of a finger over her mouth to order Chama to stay silent indicates the gesture is possible due to morphology and dexterity of the hand, which must have been anatomically very similar or practically the same as AMH [9], and that it has a meaning, e.g. to remain silent, in this case.
As explained before, Erectus likely lived in multigenerational family cores, within larger multi family, but genetically related, clans. Males and females likely had different roles within the family and group. On average, females must have spent more time taking care of the camp, processing and distributing food, hunting and foraging closer to the camp, taking care of offspring, and transmitting information.
As these activities were likely collective in nature, although each mother was ultimately responsible for their own offspring, it did lend itself to more intense and fluid communications between individuals.
The evolutionarily relevant information in this kind of communication, on top of serving as a grooming and bonding strategy, must have included topics as male partner’s deeds and misgivings; children’s health, fitness, and abilities; partner cheating or loyalty, both male and female; weather conditions and seasonal predictions; and the state of the camp and inventory of resources.
Gossip was a very useful informational component of individual and inclusive fitness, but it could be both positive or negative for the individual or family depending on the nature of the information, both socially proximately or evolutionarily ultimately.
For example, it is possible that the knowledge of a child’s severe illness in the clan could be a consideration for ostracism or infanticide [10] as it represented a considerable evolutionary cost to the family in particular and the group in general.
It is assumed; due to a lower development of neoteny [11], large brow ridge, protuberant mandible, and large jaw muscles; that Erectus was generally more aggressive than how AMH is today. This may have been manifested in the form of aggression in the micro relationships between the nuclear family, and macro relationships within the clan, and between clans.
Aggressiveness may have taken the form of violence between couples, but more directional from males to females due to sexual dimorphism; and between both parents and their offspring, as seen below when Chama is confronted by Mother’s orders and threat to eat the food.
As to monogamy, the story assumes that Homo Erectus had already evolved to monogamic relationships to take care of offspring with ever larger brains, which demanded more parental care investment for longer periods of time.
Another reason for long term monogamy in Erectus may have been to raise healthy kids securely to maturity, minimizing infanticide by other males, within a context of scarce resources, which included scarcity of females due to likely higher child birth mortality.
Child birth mortality may have been relatively frequent precisely because of the larger heads of the offsprings, which carried additional risks during birth.
It is indicated Mother is pregnant which may have been a common state of females in monogamic partnerships, which did not preclude some degree of cheating. However, this does not mean that family units were very large with many kids as child mortality must have been high as well.
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.
Keh behaves like a normal older brother and young adult male. Probably an alpha prospect [12] in his family and clan. The fact that he is focused on the next day’s activities with his father and other clan males denotes the division of labour in Erectus, and the importance of male roles in activities such as stone processing, hunting, and perhaps fighting, amongst others. It also denotes the importance the activities were for family and group status, as well as for evolutionary fitness in general.
The “Hill of the Rocks” is an important place for Erectus [13]. The species was very advanced in stone tool manufacture. The Acheulean industry, with its volumes as per archeological discoveries, suggests to this author that there were specialist clans who were more dedicated to stone tool manufacturing than others.
Their sources of “rock of the good one” (e.g. flint, quartzite, etc.) as they were scarce and specific to some locations, must have been closely and aggressively guarded and defended by Homo Erectus groups. As seen further in the story, adequate stone types, industrial knowledge, control of resources, and supply of product were not only critical for survival in terms of direct use (killing, cutting, etc.), but also for relating to other clans in the region economically.
The knowledge of “rock of the good one” continues to indicate advanced multigenerational knowledge, both in males and females, as females must have gauged quality and likely participated in stone tool finishing and re-sharpening.
The fact that Chama, even if he was between 8 and 12 years old, had been with his father at the quarry indicates the above cultural transmission; the fact males divided labour and worked in groups with their kids; that specialization remained within clans; and that the fossil subject could have gotten his herniated disc condition by lifting a heavy object.
Of course, that the herniation was due to the lifting of a rock specifically is speculative. It could have been wood, or other objects, or he could have gotten the injury fighting, from his own parents’ “education” style, falling from a tree, or perhaps from a predator attack.
The list of activities Erectus may have used stone tools for implies they controlled and used fire, that they handled and used wood with high dexterity, and very likely other animal products such as skins and bones [14].
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.
This paragraph describes a key feature and behavior of Homo Erectus hypothesized by this author. If by 1.5 million BP Homo Erectus had grown its brain from 450 cc (Australopithecus Afarensis) to 900 cc, this means that group growth must have been a primary or the main evolutionary pressure for the species.
Larger groups and larger brains implied more complex social structures, monogamy, and therefore more complex political and economical organizational formats of the clans.
As Erectus was an incredibly successful species; not only shown by its long duration in the Homo timeline, its great stone tool industry, but also by its migration to the confines of Eurasia; this must have been enabled by more complex social organization, both on an intra and inter-clan level.
As inter-clan relationships depended much more on utilitarian interactions, rather than on personal or inclusive fitness through relatedness, the division of labour and specialization already present within groups must have permeated across clans, thus genetic boundaries, as well.
This cross-clan division of labour must have been based on fundamental economic activities and resources such as hunting, hunting territory control, stone tool manufacture, “rock of the good one” depo and quarry control, access to good wood, probably wood products, access to water, and other key elements for survival.
Although they must have been important, division of labour could not have been enabled by trust and memory of reciprocity alone. This is because of the limited brain capacity and natural violence, thus lack of trust between clans.
Indeed, economic interactions between untrusting groups was an evolutionary advantage. Conflict is very costly, and even basic forms of trade and division of labour between clans were significant conflict minimization devices, as well as a way to increase output.
In this context, exchange, favors, and reciprocity must have been mediated, to a large extent, by trading valuable durable goods such as stone tools. Stone tools may have been a form of proto-money [15] as well as useful for their specific functions.
An indication of possible trade routes is the circulation of stones tools along extended distances as evidenced by their presence in remote places (between 20 to 50 or more kilometers) relative to the original sources, and the discovery of large caches with unused Acheulean stone tools by archeologists.
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.
The first paragraph above implies Chama was getting worse in his mandible condition.
Mother is implied to have a protective and nursing role, and was a decision maker in that capacity, while the males of the family prioritized their roles as workers and producers.
Although there was sexual dimorphism and division of labour, females must have commanded considerable sway in traditional male chores and activities as well. For example, females must have participated in parts of the hunt, processing animal carcasses, organizing the distribution of food and resources, leading the family and clan, and even in fighting and managing inter-clan conflict.
This was likely due to the absence of males when they died during fights with other males, violence with other clans, or were just rejected, or left.
As children largely became independent late in their development, taking care of offspring during their long maturity periods, as was already the case for Erectus due to their large brains, created demands for females in all partnership, social, and economic conditions.
The same applied for males but in reverse, when females were absent or unavailable for similar reasons.
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.
Small male group or band formation for mobilizing from place to place must have been a common feature in Erectus for reasons of security (protection against inter-clan violence and predators) and team work (hunting, working on stone, etc.).
Bachelor groupings for signaling and socialization must have also been present both in males and females.
This kind of behavior is indicated by archeological discoveries of Erectus footprints around Lake Turkana, especially the ~1.5 million year old ones in Koobi Fora discovered in 2007 [16]. The fossil footprints there indicate roaming male groups walking in coordination and directionality.
Some of the other men; some elders, some younger, and some strong; stayed with the families, women, and children to guard them, as usual.
Also for security reasons, it is unlikely that all men in a clan would embark at the same time in all important activities. As the children and females probably stayed closer to the main camp, it is very likely that some males stayed with them to guard them in case of predators or other clan’s males wondering around.
This also must have promoted intra-clan tensions as cheating must have been enabled by these unavoidable social dynamics.
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.
This part continues to show that Chama had not been well for a while. The main food described is meat and fat, and it is assumed that the supply of food was not steady on a daily basis. It is possible that foraging and hunting of small prey was more frequent, but hunts of large animals to feed the entire clan must have been less frequent. Perhaps weekly.
The fact that Mother uses meat and fat from the previous day’s hunt to feed Chama, means it was likely cooked with fire. The big hunt, fire, cooking, and food was likely a shared collective clan event rather than reserved for the hunter or his family. Indeed, hunting big game, processing, distribution, and consumption was likely a clan wide effort.
As to Mother’s caring role, there is evidence in the fossil record of toothless skulls of Homo Erectus that have shown some sort of long term family or group caring activities [17] as it must have been impossible for such individuals to survive without it. The strategy of premasticating food for children to swallow is observed in modern humans and numerous social animals [18].
If Chama’s mouth problem was so severe as to debilitate him physically, it is entirely possible that his mother or another caring person in the group must have fed him this way, or with other soft foods, for several days or weeks.
In terms of nutritional value, it is worth noting that Mother, just as she knew about health signals, also was aware intuitively or culturally, that feeding her boy with meat and fat would certainly be better for helping him with his condition.
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.
The above segment implies that Homo Erectus individuals were already lean and living on a subsistence basis. If Chama had mouth pain and infection for several days or weeks, it is very likely that his physical strength may have been significantly impaired by the time of his passing.
Note the narrator is aware of time, however he doesn’t use the term “week” as in “weekly hunt”, but uses “hunts” as a time marker by stating “in the past few hunts”, which must have been roughly weekly in real life.
As described before, Mother was aware of the seasons of the past. Erectus must have been aware of time in quantities such as seasons, moons, and days.
In this particular segment of the story, Mother is also shown with some aggressive behavior. In the daily life of Homo Erectus, not being healthy and not eating was much more a matter of life and death than how modern humans may perceive today. Mother also was more aggressive than AMH females due to the same reasons as stated before in this analysis.
A son in pain and losing weight was a very serious matter.
Indeed, it is entirely possible that Mother had already lost a child, male or female, before due to these kinds of vicissitudes. Child mortality must have been high in general, and humans were not free of risks and hazards, such as predators, accidents, infanticide, violence, or illness as in the case of Chama.
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.
In the above scenario, it is likely even a rebel Erectus youngster would follow their mother’s orders. There is nowhere else to go, other than roam to rival clan territory, or just predator territory. Even if Homo was the apex predator by the time of Erectus, a lone child would be extremely vulnerable without his or her family. Juvenile rebellion was likely very contained, and Chama must have been no exception.
If the camp was close to Lake Turkana or a river leading to it, which would have been a standard kind of location of Erectus camps, it is very likely that women, children, and elderly would have gone to the water by themselves. Climate was very hot in the area, as it is today, so finding others in the shores would also be common.
For an 8 to 12 year old Erectus male it must have been an ideal to follow his father’s footsteps in life. In those times alpha and beta male dynamics must have been the norm. All young males must have dreamt of being strong, productive, and fine members of their groups and families. The hierarchies not only involved rank and status, as in all social animals, including AMH, but also age and experience.
Chama’s last moments remain open in the story. He ended up in a shallow part of Lake Turkana, slowly covered by sediments to fossilize and be found 1.5 million years later.
His bones were not damaged by predators nor weapons or sharp objects. Only the herniated disc and his infected mandible. It is possible he just fainted due to his physical weakness and drowned and no one ever found him again.
Or, perhaps he died, and his family and clan just laid him gently in the bank of the lake while mourning him.
References
[1] Chama the Turkana Boy – by Donald McIntyre: https://etherplan.com/2020/10/10/chama-the-turkana-boy/12989/
[2] Turkana Boy – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkana_Boy
[3] Monogamy in Animals – Wikipedia – Sexual dimorphism – Homo Erectus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monogamy_in_animals#Sexual_dimorphism
[4] Turkana Boy: A 1.5-Million-year-old Skeleton – University of the Western Cape: http://planet.uwc.ac.za/nisl/Scientific_methods/attachments/Bahn_Turkana_Boy.pdf
[5] Acheulean archeological industry – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acheulean
[6] Homo erectus – A Bigger, Smarter, Faster Hominin Lineage – Nature Education: https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/homo-erectus-a-bigger-smarter-97879043/
[7] Pediatric Disk Herniation – Children’s Health: https://www.childrens.com/specialties-services/conditions/disk-herniation
[8] Neocortex Size, Group Size, and the Evolution of Language – Leslie C. Aiello and R. I. M. Dunbar: http://etherplan.com/neocortex-size-group-size-and-the-evolution-of-language.pdf
[9] Homo ergaster—KNM-WT 15000 – Michigan State University projects: http://projects.leadr.msu.edu/hominidfossils/items/show/17
[10] Infanticide – Human Behavior – Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/topic/infanticide
[11] Neoteny in Humans – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoteny_in_humans
[12] Alpha – Beta Behavior, Ethology – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_(ethology)
[13] Life history of a large flake biface – Javier Baena Preysler, Concepcion Torres Navas, Gonen Sharon: http://etherplan.com/life-history-of-a-large-flake-biface.pdf
[14] Early Human Culture – Palomar College: https://www2.palomar.edu/anthro/homo/homo_4.htm
[15] Shelling Out, The Origin of Money – Nick Szabo: https://nakamotoinstitute.org/shelling-out/
[16] Bipedalism and Human Origins – Dr. Brian Richmond: Pleistocene Footprints and Human Bipedalism – CARTA: https://youtu.be/1DTPj79HRWA
[17] Toothless Skull Raises Questions about Compassion among Human Ancestors – Sarah Graham – Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/toothless-skull-raises-qu/
[18] Premastication – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premastication
