archaeo Wrote:
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> "In the caves of South Africa's Cederberg
> mountains, an ancient people left a legacy of rock
> art that could teach modern man a valuable lesson
> or two about living in harmony with nature."

Y'know, I always shake my head when I read this. Primitive people were more aware of the environemnt and were more sophisticated in their knowledge of the behavior of animals and plants and the timing of the moon's cycles and some of the planetary motions... or at least more so than Joe Average.

But they didn't live "in harmony with nature." They ran herds of buffalo and other animals off cliffs to get meat from some of them. They tossed things all over the landscape, lived in unsanitary ways (human excrement in heaps and piles is not always good for the water supply, the landscape, or nearby animals), and they often hunted local groups of animals to extinction. They'd burn areas to encourage new growth, and weren't particular about replacing trees they cut down or plants they stripped out.

We could teach THEM a thing or two.

Seriously.