Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Stalking Diary
It is inherently human to hunt — our ancestors did so, half a million years ago, using their problem-solving skills to put food on the table
The woods in which I currently work are new – sitka and Norway spruce planted by man in the present and not-sodistant past. However, it is not uncommon to find remnants of an older Earth beneath the canopy; craggy spines of rock and great boulders erupting from the ground like teeth — glacial reminders of a time when Britain was covered in ice.
Technically speaking, the first humans to set foot in Britain were not the same species as us. Stone tools and a trail of footprints left in mudflats indicate Homo antecessor may have been present between 950,000 and 700,000 years ago. Another species, Homo heidelbergensis, is confirmed to have lived in Britain around 500,000 years ago, and they left evidence of hunting in tool marks on many horse, rhinoceros and deer bones.
Back then, Britain was still attached to Europe, and around 450,000 years ago the climate was made inhospitable by the Anglian glaciation — the harshest of Britain’s glacial periods in which there was thought to be a complete absence of any human species for thousands of years. As it thawed, a great glacial lake was released, tearing through the land to create what would become the English Channel. It left a narrow land bridge behind, allowing for the next chapter in Britain’s human history.
Homo neanderthalensis, our relatives the neanderthals, crossed that bridge. The discovery of a skull in Kent shows they were here around 400,000 years ago. Later evidence indicates that Homo sapiens were present for some of the same time.
The neanderthals left plenty of evidence of their hunting prowess. They were an intelligent species that could communicate well, hunting as a group and likely following migratory species around the great prairies of Britain. We know they were skilful butchers and targeted the likes of reindeer and bison, but they were also capable of hunting mammoth, which could weigh up to 7,300kg — something to think about next time you whine about dragging a red deer across a clear-fell.
Lead debate
Britain also has some of the earliest examples of the levallois technique, an innovative type of stone knapping for making stronger, sharper tools such as knives but also projectiles. I wonder what these ancient craftsmen would think of the copper vs lead debate?
As the climate warmed, birch and pine forests thrived, and the large herds of reindeer began to decline. The species we know today — red, roe and wild boar — thrived in this new habitat and replaced the reindeer in the diets of modern humans.
A warmer, wetter climate provided an abundance of birds and fish — imagine what our salmon rivers would have been like before fish farms and other pollutants. The growing variety of quarry allowed for the invention of a wider variety of tools, eventually leading to bows.
With our high-powered rifles and fancy binoculars, deerstalking today looks very different than it did then. But in its essence, it’s very much the same thing — human beings using their uniquely adapted cognitive ability to outwit a wild animal.
Hunting has been incredibly significant for our genus. It’s a definitive indicator of intelligence because not only did it require a high level of communication between individuals in a group, it also forced these early minds into advanced problem-solving and encouraged the invention of various tools. It helped form the basis for culture and art, as we can see from the ancient depictions of Ice Age game on cave walls in lots of different locations.
It is inherently ‘human’ to hunt. Not only does it connect us all across continents, religions and creeds, it also connects us to those who came before, our ancestors, who survived against terrifying predators and cataclysmic shifts in climate. Their ability to hunt and adapt ensured the survival of our species. We certainly do owe a lot to the old deerstalkers.