Evolution, Social and Legal

Prehistory

Drawing from limited data available about the lives of prehistoric peoples (such as Neanderthals and CroMagnons) and extensive knowledge about today's hunter-gatherers, one can develop a structural model of an average prehistoric group. Such prehistoric groups—“bands”—were invariably small, between fifteen and thirty people; this characteristic drove most developments that occurred during thousands of years of prehistory and in more recent times. Prehistoric groups sometimes experienced harsh living conditions and had short life spans and high mortality rates. For example, only when a child [Page 532]became independent of its mother would it be practical for a woman to give birth again; infanticide and abortion were plausible methods of both limiting the size of the band and ensuring success for its living members.

Groups of prehistoric hunter-gatherers, such as contemporary bands, were mobile, following roaming herds and collecting seasonal foods. There are indications, however, that sometimes they remained in certain places for longer periods: in well-situated caves, protected locations near water, and other favorable places. In regions such as the Dordogne region (France), bands grew larger, living in huge caves, near abundant game and food plants.

Even here, the splitting up of groups was frequent if collection or storage of great volumes of food, needed for the larger groups, was not possible. When groups divided, they likely remained nearby to benefit from the availability of local food and game. Under these circumstances, journeys did not immediately lead to evolutionary changes in their way of life. Nevertheless, groups eventually found themselves in areas with different climates and other flora and fauna. Homo erectus lived in places as diverse as present-day Indonesia, China, and Germany. They adapted and developed new customs and techniques; often the alternative was extinction.

Social Systems, Legal Systems, and Dispute Resolution

New behaviors also evolved in social and legal domains, as groups learned to resolve differences of opinion among their members and societies formed values and norms by which to live. Bronislaw Malinowski (1884–1942) described behavior evident in prehistoric humans that is typical today: a tendency to interpret rules to one's own benefit in the need for development of societal methods to cope with deviant behavior. In hunter-gatherer societies, such mechanisms were limited; the ethnographical record describes disputes for which the only solution for the offended party was to leave and form a separate band. Leadership of these bands usually was incidental; under a given circumstance, a competent hunter, a woman skilled in healing, or a person with insight into the supernatural exerted leadership to overcome a problem. Once the problem was solved—or accepted as inescapable—the leader returned to his or her former position. When disputes arose and mediation did not lead to a solution, the band split.

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