21 June 2015

The archeological illogic

That archeology has developed its own tools and research methods is laudable. Frequently, though, their conclusions based on field work sound somewhat flimsy. like in this case.
Researchers found four teeth in the Qesem Cave near Rosh Ha'ayin (not far from Tel Aviv), and they were astonished at test results that conclude the fossils to be some 400,000-years-old. The significance of this is that it's possible that the origin of prehistoric man is in Israel, and not in East Africa. And an additional surprise is that prehistoric man was mainly vegetarian and not carnivorous.
Every clearly thinking person who visited his dentist office will confirm that virtually the same picture, calling for regular flossing or other kind of dental self-care, graces her/his dentist's waiting room.

So, first of all, we can be fairly sure that the dating (400,000 years) should refer to the first known dental office in history. Knowing how reluctant normal people are regarding visiting their dentist, we could safely call 500,000 years as a base date.

As for that nonsense re prehistoric man being "mainly vegetarian", the learned professors were trying to pull a fast one, but here it comes:
[Professor] Gopher explains his vegetarianism by the disappearance of elephants in our region about 400,000 years ago, which forced the species, who ate them, to find an alternative source of food. In addition, roasting meat in caves caused constant smoke which bothered them and probably hurt their health.
Surely professor Gopher will be first to admit that in a situation where it is too late to go shopping and there is nothing in your fridge but a few cucumbers, bell peppers etc., this is what you have to gnaw on, don't you?

So there...

0 comments: