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DConstructed t1_j53lfxj wrote

Reply to comment by RedditIsPropaganda2 in Prehistoric Fashion: Cut Marks On Ancient Bones Reveal The Trends 320.000 Years Ago - Archaeology Magazine by mikaelnorqvist

I read a hypothesis that said since they didn’t have a way of recording things they had to have excellent memories.

If you are a hunter, gatherer you have to be able to remember successful hunting grounds of the past and how to return to them. Some could be quite far away.

Could be true. Who knows.

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ComfortablyAbnormal t1_j53sub1 wrote

I mean, for most of history, the vast majority of people were illiterate and worked on memory as well.

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DConstructed t1_j53t7yp wrote

True. And once they had spoken language passed down lore.

I believe the implication in the article was that they more or less needed maps in their heads. I don’t know how that compares to other forms of memory.

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GrandBed t1_j544soy wrote

They could have also had maps galore written on animal skins, papyrus or a hundred other types of parchment. It’s just not anything that would have survived today.

That’s why we should all build large megalithic structures, so in 100,000 years we aren’t viewed as being as dumb as we might be.

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DoctorSalt t1_j54hn39 wrote

"wow, they needed all the megalithic structures for something we just use our brains for. They must've been dumb"

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notblackblackguy t1_j55bnh7 wrote

Saw a study recently that showed London cab drivers have enlarged hippocampus due to memorising the streets of London

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Torodaddy t1_j56av3m wrote

aren't you born with whatever sized brain you have?

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notblackblackguy t1_j56g9hu wrote

The paper:

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.070039597

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Torodaddy t1_j576ca1 wrote

the study is biased, they should of used for control brains of taxi drivers that were just starting out versus veteran drivers. All the study is saying is taxi drivers have larger hippocampus you can't use this to say it grew. It's like saying basketball players grew tall because they play basketball

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DConstructed t1_j56fbbn wrote

That’s really interesting. Do you have a link?

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notblackblackguy t1_j56fj51 wrote

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2022/feb/london-taxi-drivers-brains-being-scanned-alzheimers-research#:~:text=Previous%20studies%20have%20shown%20that,confusion%20associated%20with%20the%20disease.

That's the article which has a link to the source paper at the bottom.

And the actual paper: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.070039597

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Lil_Cato t1_j53vuvv wrote

I can remember how to drive to at least 100 different restaurants without a map

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NeObi-WanKenoLetItBe t1_j53yvj6 wrote

Oh yeah? I can walk into another room 10 feet away and not know why the hell I went there.

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Onedaynobully t1_j54gibl wrote

Well, I can think of something I'd like to do on my phone, open the app for that and then forget what I was doing

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bmalek t1_j54j8v2 wrote

ADHD crowd represent!

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Volunteer-Magic t1_j566spo wrote

The what crowd? Sorry, I was thinking of a tv show I haven’t seen in 5 years

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JBredditaccount t1_j54lzuq wrote

At least you make it to the room. I walk halfway to somewhere and then forget where I was planning to stand around wondering why I was there.

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automatvapen t1_j54c3o7 wrote

There was a study on London cab drivers and their ability to remember every street and addresses in their daily work. Their brain masses had increased and where bigger than your average joe. Can't remember the name of the study, but it does show that brain matter increases when you need to remember a lot of stuff.

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newtoon t1_j54j12u wrote

implying that my brain is shrinking that all I remember today is how to type my question / location in Google.

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CptHammer_ t1_j54x8co wrote

>they didn’t have a way of recording things

They did though. Not only the same method as any other animals, but they also had at least pictographic writing and tally marking.

A recent discovery shows what we're considered random tally marking of cave art, was probably moon cycles counting from the animals natural reproductive cycle, next to pictures of those animals. Possibly an indication of when and where to hunt for them, aka the good months and near these drawings.

The tally marks line up with animals that still exist. This gives us a lot of insight into the extinct animals pictured.

Keep in mind, if this information is useful to us today, how much more useful it was then. This is also the minimum amount of recording and communication, there likely was more.

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