Paleolithic Evidence Shows
That Homo Habilis
Could Have Learned Weaving
From Weaverbirds (Ploceidae)
Additional Evidence That Basket Weaving
May Have Begun in the Early Paleolithic Era
INTRODUCTION
I have argued that basket weaving and a woven-fiber technology began very early, as early as Homo habilis or earlier, perhaps two million years ago. I have asserted this, in part, because these relatively intelligent creatures (Homo habilis or other hominins) who were walking upright, could have seen well-built birds' nests in their environment as a model for containers that they could make and use to carry large amounts of vegetables or fruit or fish with their free hands. 'Weaverbirds' or Ploceidae, common in Africa today, make the best-engineered nests which could have served as a model for early humans if fossil evidence could be found that confirmed they lived at the same time as early hominins.
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SUMMARY OF THE EVIDENCE FOR
AN EARLY WEAVING TECHNOLOGY
Around 2 million years ago at the famous Olduvai Gorge, the first stone tools made by hominins, known as Oldowan stone tools, were discovered in what has been designated as Bed I which is the oldest layer at the Gorge. Fossilized remains of Homo habilis (perhaps the earliest hominin) were also found. And in addition fossilized remains of weaverbirds (Ploceidae) were found in Bed I. Weaverbirds are known for their elaborate and well-engineered nests which they placed in the open, so they were clearly visible. This means that Homo habilis (and probably other hominins) could have been aware of the nest constructions of these birds and could have used both the shapes and the weaving techniques as models for their own woven objects such as baskets.
EVIDENCE
"For the period of human evolution between 2.5 and 1.5 million years ago, Oldowan lithic artifacts [ED: discovered in Bed I at the Olduvai Gorge] remain a primary indicator of human behavior."About The Oldowan Stone-Tool Industry
Reti JS (2016). "Quantifying Oldowan Stone Tool Production at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania." PLoS ONE 11(1): e0147352. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0147352
"Such implements were made by early hominins (probably Homo habilis at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania)."Fossilized Weaverbirds (Ploceidae) Found In The Bed I Layer At Olduvai Gorge
Oldowan Industry, Prehistoric Technology. Encyclopaedia Britannica,
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Oldowan-industry. Accessed 10/26/2019.
"Passeriformes are one of the most common groups at Olduvai during Bed I [my emphasis] (NISP: 3683 in Matthiesen, unpublished conference notes), with at least 11 families including ...the Ploceidae [ED: weaverbirds] (Brodkorb, 1985)..."ABOUT WEAVERBIRDS
Prassack, Kari A., Pante, Michael C., Njau, Jackson K., de la Torre, Ignacio. The Paleoecology Of Pleistocene Birds From Middle Bed II, At Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, And The Environmental Context Of The Oldowan-Acheulean Transition. Journal of Human Evolution, Volume 120, July 2018, pp. 32-47. Accessed 10/26/2019. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10050429/1/Prassack%20et%20al%20Final%20Oct.pdf
"The idea of interlacing materials together to create a weave was probably inspired by nature; by observing birds’ nests, spider webs and various animal constructions..."
"The History of Weaving". Wild Tussah, 2014. https://wildtussah.com/history-weaving-2/. Accessed 10/26/2019.
Weaverbirds build their nests out in the open, so early hominins or Homo habilis would almost certainly have been aware of them.
"The weavers build their homes quite in the open where they can be seen of all men."
"As a preliminary to the construction of the nest proper, the birds wrap a considerable amount of fibrous material around a chosen limb or frond...The small strips are not only wound round the branch but are plaited together so securely that it is impossible with ordinary effort to separate them." "In every large colony are found what look like unfinished nests--that do not in building get further than this perch or roost stage, looking, as Jetdon says, like an inverted basket with a handle."
Wood, CA. "The Nest of the Baya Weaver Bird." The Auk, Vol. 43, No. 3 (Jul., 1926), pp. 295-302. Oxford University Press, DOI: 10.2307/4075422. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4075422
A cluster of weaverbird's nests showing how visible they are/were.
"Weaver birds build exquisite and elaborate nest structures that are a rival to any human feat of engineering."
"Having selected a good location for his nest, the weaver bird starts to loop and weave strands of grass or strips of leaves around the ends of one or two branches in a tree. Having created a looped basis for the nest body, the weaver bird then builds the hollow body before adding the tubular entrance last."
"Weaver Birds," Eden, UKTV, https://eden.uktv.co.uk/animals/birds/article/weaver-birds/. Accessed 10/26/2019.
"Weaver birds use a variety of plant materials to build their nests, including strips of grass, leaves, twigs and roots. A weaver bird has a strong, conical beak, which it uses to cut blades of grass that it will use in nest-building. The weaver bird can tie real knots in nest material with its beak and its feet."A Study In Cameroon Shows The Wide Variety Of Materials Used
Weaver Birds - Animal Facts, Ploceidae. AnimalFacts,https://www.animalfacts.net/birds/weaverbirds.html. Accessed 10/26/2019.
"...plant-types on which weaverbirds were commonly observed nesting or picking nesting materials, oil-palm (22.9%), coco-nut (13.5%), maize (16.6%), Elephant-grass (10.7%), pear(8.5%), mango(9.4%) and plantain(10.0%)."
Melle ekane Maurice, Nkwatoh Athanasius Fuashi, Viku Bruno Agiamte-Mbom, Tim Killian Lengha. "The nesting ecology of weaverbirds in Ekona farms, Southwest Region, Cameroon." International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology (IJEAB), Vol-2, Issue-5, Sep-Oct- 2017, ISSN: 2456-1878. Department of Environmental Science, University of Buea, Cameroon. http://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijeab/2.5.29
"Take a look at the knots the Red Headed Weaver can tie...
Using his beak and feet! They seem rather complex not to mention strong."
One species of weaverbird uses, "...remarkable nest construction [; it is in the] behaviour of Malimbus Rubriceps in which nest material is “prepared” for use in building before the bird takes it to the nest." "The fabric of the nest is often remarkably strong and pliant."
Crook, John (2008). A Comparative Analysis of Nest Structure in the Weaver Birds (Ploceidae). Ibis. 105. 238 - 262. 10.1111/j.1474-919X.1963.tb02498.x. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-919X.1963.tb02498.x
Building a nest from scratch (left to right).
Adding to the early structure.
A more advanced stage of the construction.
The finished bird's nest.
Detail of the above finished bird nest.
BBC VIDEO
BBC Home Making: Weaver Bird
"Probably one of the most complex and elegant bird nest
is build by Weaver bird.....see it for yourself....."
HOMO HABILIS AND WEAVERBIRDS
These birds were quite clever and their construction methods were excellent models for hominins. Many anthropologists believe that early humans had the ability to imitate and to learn. If Homo habilis was good at imitation, then it is quite likely that they were able to imitate the designs and constructions they saw in nature. An early simple basket could have begun as a copy of a bird's nest.
Learning And Teaching Via Imitation
According to the Evolution of Culture, very few animals possess the ability to learn via imitation. But the genus Homo was/is one of them. (The Evolution of Culture, Volume 4. Linquist, Stefan, Editor. Rutledge, 2017.)
"The first obvious signs of imitation are the stone tools made by Homo habilis about 2.5 million years ago, although their form did not change very much for another million years. It seems likely that less durable tools were made before then, possibly carrying baskets, slings, wooden tools and so on."
Blackmore, Susan. "Evolution and Memes: The human brain as a selective imitation device." Cybernetics and Systems, Vol 32:1, 225-255, 2001,Taylor and Francis, Philadelphia, PA.
Imitation And Homo Habilis
"In a study of teaching novices to produce Oldowan-like artifacts, Morgan et al. (2015) examined the premise that, in view of its probable social transmission, stone toolmaking spurred the evolution of teaching and language in our lineage..."They concluded, however, that Oldowan toolmaking may have depended on imitation and emulation (observational learning) for transmission among groups and across generations, which they refer to as “low-fidelity social transmission” and suggest this as a reason for the relatively low rate of change in the Oldowan over many hundreds of thousands of years, while contending that Acheulean technology may have required teaching or “proto-language.”
Toth, Nicholas & Schick, Kathy (2018). "An overview of the cognitive implications of the Oldowan Industrial Complex, Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa." 53:1, 3-39, pp 17-18. DOI: 10.1080/0067270X.2018.1439558
"What was it these early stone-knappers knew that chimpanzees can't get?" Wynn asked. "I think one thing was that early hominids were much better at copying motor procedures — we can watch an individual perform a motor task and mimic it. Chimpanzees are terrible at that — they see a task and have to reinvent the wheel. This gets back to mirror neurons and the copying of behavior." Quotation from paleoanthropologist Thomas Wynn of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Choi, Charles. "Human Evolution: The Origin of Tool Use." LiveScience, November 11, 2009. https://www.livescience.com/7968-human-evolution-origin-tool.html. Accessed 10/26/2019.
Since we know for certain that hominins could make stone tools, it is reasonable to assume that they could also create other objects as well.
Therefore I believe it was virtually impossible for early hominins to have been unaware of the bird nests made by these birds and in addition, they probably observed the methods these birds used such as tying knots, splitting grass and using a variety of light fiber materials.
These nests not only served as examples and models for weaving and baskets, but the birds also showed hominins how to create such a structure. In the following picture gallery, you can follow how a bird starts with a few simple strands that are added onto until a large enclosed object is created. Today basket weavers call this a 'random weave' because there is not a basic overall structure, the way basket weaving is practiced today.
Weave A Basket Out Of Vines:
The Random-Weave Technique
The Random-Weave Technique
A complete tutorial from Mother Earth News
"Even first-timers can create intricate baskets with the random-weave technique."
The weaverbirds offered Homo habilis a complete tutorial on fiber construction. Watching a bird making a nest showed exactly how to build such a structure. The birds found and used a mixture of light materials which they interwove into a strong and resilient object. They split fibers with their beaks and attached fibers using strong knots. So Homo habilis would have seen the steps it took to build, the materials needed, and the weaving techniques to hold it together in a solid structure.
Occasionally these nests would fall to the ground so Homo habilis could have seen and examined these close up. It is also possible that Homo habilis was able to knock some of these down from the trees where they were hanging and used them for containers and baskets by themselves.
A nest that fell down. Notice the wide strands that were used to make the nest.
The Importance Of Walking Upright With Two Free Hands
Walking upright meant that early hominins such as Homo habilis had two free hands. It is logical to assume that baskets or containers would have been adopted early as they allowed hominins to carry more goods which would increase their chances for survival.
"The single most important physical specialization that our ancestors the australopithecines evolved was the ability, unique among mammals, to habitually walk on two legs. "Whether this adaptation was in response to the encroaching savannah, the need keep a cool head, or - more likely - to free up their hands, it happened millions of years before the sudden acceleration of our brain growth. When the weather became seriously worse 2.5 million years ago, their behaviour and physical form were appropriate for the next step. Their hands were free, their head was smart and cool, and their intelligent, cooperative exploitation of a wide range of foods, including meat, was still the rule. The dry climate merely turned up the selective pressure on the savannah primates to make the best of diminishing vegetable resources..."
Oppenheimer, Stephen. "Origins." Extract taken from 'Out of Eden' 2003. Bradshaw Foundation. Paleoanthropology, http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/origins/origins_big_brains.php.www.bradshawfoundation.com/origins. Accessed 10/26/2019.
"In The Descent of Man, Darwin (1871) explained that hominids started walking on two legs in order to use their hands. He states in his book, ‘However, the hands and arms could hardly have become perfect enough to have manufactured weapons, or to have hurled stones and spears with a true aim, as long as they were habitually used for locomotion.’
"Some might acknowledge that the evolution of bipedalism is responsible for the supposed superiority of humans as compared with other animals, because it permitted the manipulation of nature at will."
Ko, Kwang Hyun. "Origins of human intelligence: The chainof tool-making and brain evolution." ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTEBOOKS 22 (1): 5–22. ISSN 1408-032X. Slovene Anthropological Society 2016.
Baskets Are Tools
"Tools may have allowed hominids to be more adaptable, extract food from a greater range of areas." Quotation of Thomas Plummer, paleoanthropologist at Queens College, New York.
Choi, Charles. "Human Evolution: The Origin of Tool Use." LiveScience, November 11, 2009. https://www.livescience.com/7968-human-evolution-origin-tool.html. Accessed 10/26/2019.
If Baskets And A Woven-Fiber Technology Are Also Seen As Tools
(Along With Stone Tools) It Might Explain Gaps In Our Understanding Of Evolution
"Tools are the products of our brains, and we have millions of stone tools," Wynn added. "What we need are more creative ideas on how to extract understanding from them, and what they tell us about our evolution." Quotation from paleoanthropologist Thomas Wynn of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Choi, Charles. "Human Evolution: The Origin of Tool Use." LiveScience, November 11, 2009. https://www.livescience.com/7968-human-evolution-origin-tool.html. Accessed 10/26/2019.
AFTERWORD
However, I also argue that this did not lead directly to basket weaving as we know it today but rather baskets that were made with a "random weave" which is more in keeping with the bird nest model, as mentioned earlier.
And while basket making probably did develop, the baskets might have been quite simple.
Simple Timor basket for drinking.
Simple basic basket with narrow strands.
Simple basket made with wide strands.
Making a Primitive basket | How to make a primitive basket
"This basket made from palm leaves.
Easy to make and easy to use from your survival time.
Basket is essential when you bring something small size.
In this video I show the perfect and easy way to make a primitive basket."
I believe that random weave basket making and simple basket construction may have continued for a million or more years.
Then perhaps after a million years hominins (possibly Homo erectus) began to understand the power of the right-angle weaving design in which one set of fibers was placed at right angles to another set of fibers or one set of tree branches was placed at right angles to another set of branches. This discovery was remarkable because this structure was not common in nature.
“There are no right angles in nature.”
Antoni Gaudi, architect.
The discovery of right-angle structure was one of the most important discoveries ever made. Today, for example, the framing in modern skyscrapers is constructed using the same basic horizontal and vertical design.
A spider web may have been an inspiration for weavers.
Here is a traditional basket as seen from the bottom showing its similarity to a spider web.
This fundamental and crucial idea of right angles gave objects both strength and flexibility. The inspiration for this innovation could have been gleaned from spider webs that are constructed in this manner.
As I pointed out in my previous blog, this simple idea eventually led to the construction of not just a huge variety of baskets, but a slew of objects from small to large, from sandals to boats and houses. And it is the fundamental structure of all fabrics and clothing. Of course, we know this happened, however, we just don't know when it began and how long it took to develop.
When there were a lot of processes, such as weaving,
and those processes became complicated,
and those processes became complicated,
I believe this resulted in the beginnings of a fully developed language. See my blog.
The Origins of Language:
When, Why and How
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