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The importance of large prey animals during the Pleistocene and the implications of their extinction on the use of dietary ethnographic analogies

Estimates of the human trophic level and dietary quality during the Paleolithic are the basis for many hypotheses and interpretations regarding human evolution and behavior. We describe an additional factor that could have significantly influenced human evolution and behavior, the availability of large prey animals. Given the importance of large prey and the mounting evidence of the decline in its abundance throughout the Pleistocene, we question the reliability of past reconstructions of the human trophic level that were heavily based

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The Mechanical and Material Designs of Composite Ju|’hoansi Arrowheads

In this paper, we elucidate the composite engineering design skills of the Kalahari Ju|’hoansi (San) people, developed over at least tens of thousands of years. In particular, we show that the mechanical and physical properties of materials used by the Ju|’hoansi in the design of arrowheads are intimately linked to their unique geometrical and composite designs. The Ju|’hoansi arrowheads have evolved to become complex engineered units with distinct function-specific purpose. We demonstrate herein that the geometrical designs of the arrowheads

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