The Comparison between Shellfish and Shell Beads in North and South Africa
Ava Van Natta
Anthropology 2
Professor Acabado
December 1, 2017
What is evolution? The denotative meaning is “the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth”. Simply put, it is the ability to adapt to new environments, thus increasing your rate of survival. This adaptation can be analyzed through physical changes, like growing thick fur for harsh winters, or conscious decisions to change a certain behavior. One’s behavior is typically altered to fit the surrounding environment or to align with the behaviors of others in different …show more content…
This differentiation is best described through the works of two literary articles which detail modern humans behavior in North and South Africa.
The first article titled “Shellfish gathering, marine paleoecology and modern human behavior: perspectives from cave PP13B, Pinnacle Point, South Africa” speaks to the importance of shellfish collecting. The early human diet in South Africa shows a substantial amount of shellfish, exhibited by several Middle Stone Age coastal sites along the west and south coasts. For those living in aquatic environments, shellfish collecting has become a key component of human adaptation. It has also impacted other human developments such as such as higher population densities, greater sedentism, and longdistance migrations by people. This article reports the “abundance of marine invertebrate species from PP13B cave and interpret[s] these abundances in terms of paleoenvironmental changes”, how shellfish is procured in rocky and sandy shores, and what else the collection of marine shells can be used for other than food collection. Archaeologists conducted an experiment to see …show more content…
In North Africa, shell beads were examined to infer modern human behavior. The methods of the shellfish collection included actually attempting to sort through and determine where the shellfish came from and what was most abundant, while the methods of determing the shell beads inferences and evidence of actual human activity. However both are similar in that they both articles reveal how the modern human behavior still has similar lifestyles/ways of obtaining these items. It speaks to the idea that although there will be inevitable evolution in certain behavior, the more things “change”, the more things stay the
Ava Van Natta
Anthropology 2
Professor Acabado
December 1, 2017
What is evolution? The denotative meaning is “the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth”. Simply put, it is the ability to adapt to new environments, thus increasing your rate of survival. This adaptation can be analyzed through physical changes, like growing thick fur for harsh winters, or conscious decisions to change a certain behavior. One’s behavior is typically altered to fit the surrounding environment or to align with the behaviors of others in different …show more content…
This differentiation is best described through the works of two literary articles which detail modern humans behavior in North and South Africa.
The first article titled “Shellfish gathering, marine paleoecology and modern human behavior: perspectives from cave PP13B, Pinnacle Point, South Africa” speaks to the importance of shellfish collecting. The early human diet in South Africa shows a substantial amount of shellfish, exhibited by several Middle Stone Age coastal sites along the west and south coasts. For those living in aquatic environments, shellfish collecting has become a key component of human adaptation. It has also impacted other human developments such as such as higher population densities, greater sedentism, and longdistance migrations by people. This article reports the “abundance of marine invertebrate species from PP13B cave and interpret[s] these abundances in terms of paleoenvironmental changes”, how shellfish is procured in rocky and sandy shores, and what else the collection of marine shells can be used for other than food collection. Archaeologists conducted an experiment to see …show more content…
In North Africa, shell beads were examined to infer modern human behavior. The methods of the shellfish collection included actually attempting to sort through and determine where the shellfish came from and what was most abundant, while the methods of determing the shell beads inferences and evidence of actual human activity. However both are similar in that they both articles reveal how the modern human behavior still has similar lifestyles/ways of obtaining these items. It speaks to the idea that although there will be inevitable evolution in certain behavior, the more things “change”, the more things stay the