{"id":191094,"date":"2025-04-18T15:41:36","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T15:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/anthropology\/what-a-300000-year-old-horse-hunt-reveals-about-early-human-cooperation\/"},"modified":"2025-04-18T15:41:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T15:41:36","slug":"what-a-300000-year-old-horse-hunt-reveals-about-early-human-cooperation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=191094","title":{"rendered":"What a 300,000-Year-Old Horse Hunt Reveals About Early Human Cooperation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>On the edge of a shallow lake in what is now Lower Saxony, Germany, a group of hunters closed in on a herd of wild horses. It was late summer, perhaps early autumn, some 300,000 years ago. The animals had followed a familiar path through floodplain grasses to drink. As they reached the shore, something ancient stirred among the reeds.<\/p>\n<p>Hidden there, armed with wooden spears, the hunters waited.<\/p>\n<p>What unfolded next was no improvisation. It was a coordinated ambush\u2014one requiring knowledge of terrain, animal behavior, and the actions of others. It may have ended in a moment of frenzy, with mares and foals brought down in muddy water, but it was conceived long before the herd reached the lake. It had to be.<\/p>\n<p><span>This is the scene reconstructed by archaeologists from evidence at the site of Sch\u00f6ningen 13 II-4, where thousands of horse bones, butchered with precision and scattered in seasonal clusters, suggest that communal hunting\u2014once considered a hallmark of <\/span><em>Homo sapiens<\/em><span>\u2014was already well underway in the Middle Pleistocene.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re looking at a highly structured social and cognitive event,\u201d said zooarchaeologist Jarod Hutson of the MONREPOS Archaeological Research Center in Germany. \u201cThis wasn\u2019t a matter of chance or instinct. It was cooperative planning.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>The Sch\u00f6ningen horse site has been excavated for decades, but recent analysis<\/span><span> of over 9,000 bones, including jaws, ribs, and long bones, has added depth to the story. The remains represent at least 54 wild horses, many killed in their prime and butchered for marrow, liver, and fat-rich tissue. Tool marks show deliberate dismemberment. Notably, there are few bones from adolescent horses\u2014individuals who tend to break away from family groups and are harder to predict. This absence suggests that hunters intentionally targeted family herds, likely because of their consistent group behavior.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cFamily herds are predictable,\u201d said Hutson. \u201cAnd that predictability made them vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Hunters exploited topography and group structure. Herd behavior was used against the animals. Lake mud became a trap. Juveniles slowed the group. Sentinels likely redirected the herd from higher ground. Kill zones were selected and prepared.<\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F942d54fc-6999-46fc-bd73-e2de0be650f2_643x450.webp\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" rel=\"\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F942d54fc-6999-46fc-bd73-e2de0be650f2_643x450.webp 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F942d54fc-6999-46fc-bd73-e2de0be650f2_643x450.webp 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F942d54fc-6999-46fc-bd73-e2de0be650f2_643x450.webp 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F942d54fc-6999-46fc-bd73-e2de0be650f2_643x450.webp 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F942d54fc-6999-46fc-bd73-e2de0be650f2_643x450.webp\" width=\"643\" height=\"450\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/942d54fc-6999-46fc-bd73-e2de0be650f2_643x450.webp&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:450,&quot;width&quot;:643,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:80858,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image\/webp&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.anthropology.net\/i\/161614324?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F942d54fc-6999-46fc-bd73-e2de0be650f2_643x450.webp&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F942d54fc-6999-46fc-bd73-e2de0be650f2_643x450.webp 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F942d54fc-6999-46fc-bd73-e2de0be650f2_643x450.webp 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F942d54fc-6999-46fc-bd73-e2de0be650f2_643x450.webp 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F942d54fc-6999-46fc-bd73-e2de0be650f2_643x450.webp 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><figcaption class=\"image-caption\">Since the 1990s, scientists at Sch\u00f6ningen (shown) have recovered more than 1,000 stone artifacts and thousands of horse fossils.Julian Stratenschulte\/Picture Alliance via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>This was not the work of scattered foragers. It was an enterprise.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the most famous finds at Sch\u00f6ningen are the wooden spears\u2014some of the oldest known in the world. Ten have now been recovered, along with dagger-like sticks, splitting tools, and over 1,500 stone implements. But there&#8217;s no sign of fire. No hearths. No burned bones. If the hunters ate on-site, they likely consumed raw organ meats before transporting other parts elsewhere.<\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37022cab-3696-42a2-bc46-652f4ddec9e0_680x327.webp\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" rel=\"\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37022cab-3696-42a2-bc46-652f4ddec9e0_680x327.webp 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37022cab-3696-42a2-bc46-652f4ddec9e0_680x327.webp 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37022cab-3696-42a2-bc46-652f4ddec9e0_680x327.webp 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37022cab-3696-42a2-bc46-652f4ddec9e0_680x327.webp 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37022cab-3696-42a2-bc46-652f4ddec9e0_680x327.webp\" width=\"680\" height=\"327\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/37022cab-3696-42a2-bc46-652f4ddec9e0_680x327.webp&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:327,&quot;width&quot;:680,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:12352,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image\/webp&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.anthropology.net\/i\/161614324?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37022cab-3696-42a2-bc46-652f4ddec9e0_680x327.webp&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37022cab-3696-42a2-bc46-652f4ddec9e0_680x327.webp 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37022cab-3696-42a2-bc46-652f4ddec9e0_680x327.webp 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37022cab-3696-42a2-bc46-652f4ddec9e0_680x327.webp 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37022cab-3696-42a2-bc46-652f4ddec9e0_680x327.webp 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><figcaption class=\"image-caption\">Wooden spears found at Sch\u00f6ningen in northern Germany are among the oldest spears in the archaeological record.MINKUSIMAGES, Christa Fuchs, Matthias Vogel, \u00a9 NLD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The spears, carefully carved and balanced, were not crude clubs. One, known as \u201cSpear II,\u201d measures more than 2 meters long, with a weighted base and tapered point\u2014reminiscent of javelins used by athletes today.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThey understood aerodynamics, even if they couldn\u2019t have named it,\u201d said archaeologist Ashley Lemke, who studies ancient hunting strategies. \u201cThey were building tools with specific forms and purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The hunting party at Sch\u00f6ningen may have included dozens of individuals\u2014possibly men, women, and children\u2014each with a role. Some drove the herd. Others delivered the kill. Still others butchered and distributed meat. If this sounds familiar, it should: similar strategies were observed among 19th-century Plains societies in North America and forager groups in sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0da5013e-6ab7-48e3-a56d-b04b54f7bffb_680x362.webp\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" rel=\"\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0da5013e-6ab7-48e3-a56d-b04b54f7bffb_680x362.webp 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0da5013e-6ab7-48e3-a56d-b04b54f7bffb_680x362.webp 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0da5013e-6ab7-48e3-a56d-b04b54f7bffb_680x362.webp 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0da5013e-6ab7-48e3-a56d-b04b54f7bffb_680x362.webp 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0da5013e-6ab7-48e3-a56d-b04b54f7bffb_680x362.webp\" width=\"680\" height=\"362\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/0da5013e-6ab7-48e3-a56d-b04b54f7bffb_680x362.webp&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:362,&quot;width&quot;:680,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:18232,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image\/webp&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.anthropology.net\/i\/161614324?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0da5013e-6ab7-48e3-a56d-b04b54f7bffb_680x362.webp&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0da5013e-6ab7-48e3-a56d-b04b54f7bffb_680x362.webp 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0da5013e-6ab7-48e3-a56d-b04b54f7bffb_680x362.webp 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0da5013e-6ab7-48e3-a56d-b04b54f7bffb_680x362.webp 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0da5013e-6ab7-48e3-a56d-b04b54f7bffb_680x362.webp 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><figcaption class=\"image-caption\">Studying aspects of horse teeth revealed the sex and age of hunted horses and even the timing of hunts. The large canine tooth near the front of this lower left jaw (shown from two angles) indicates the horse was male.Aritza Villaluenga<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cCommunal hunting creates bonds,\u201d said Eug\u00e8ne Morin, who has studied cooperative hunting among Indigenous groups across continents. \u201cIt\u2019s about food, but it\u2019s also about coordination, signaling, memory, and trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Those intangible elements\u2014the ones that don&#8217;t fossilize\u2014are what make Sch\u00f6ningen extraordinary. The bones hint at more than biology. They suggest anticipation. Division of labor. Perhaps even storytelling after the hunt.<\/p>\n<p>Sch\u00f6ningen isn\u2019t alone. Sites like Gesher Benot Ya\u2019aqov in Israel (780,000 years ago) and Gran Dolina in Spain (400,000 years ago) also show evidence of systematic, group-based hunting. In Spain, Neanderthal ancestors drove bison off ledges. In Israel, prime-aged deer were repeatedly harvested from lakeshores.<\/p>\n<p>In Germany, more recent Neanderthal groups left behind evidence of hunting elephants at Neumark-Nord\u2014massive undertakings that required teamwork and foresight. Across these contexts, a pattern is emerging: early humans and their relatives hunted not as scattered opportunists, but as organized, tactical cooperators.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThey weren\u2019t wolves or orcas following instinct,\u201d said Antonio Rodr\u00edguez-Hidalgo, who has studied communal hunts at Atapuerca. \u201cThey were planning, strategizing. That kind of behavior demands symbolic thought.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>And perhaps even language.<\/p>\n<p>For decades, archaeologists framed the emergence of modern human behavior as a sudden cognitive shift around 50,000 years ago. Art, ritual, language\u2014all seemed to bloom at once. But the record now suggests a more gradual evolution, one that began hundreds of thousands of years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>At Sch\u00f6ningen, no art has been found. No graves. No beads. But there is strategy, collaboration, and memory\u2014a set of behaviors that, in many ways, define our species.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cThe idea that planning, cooperation, and innovation belong only to <\/span><em>Homo sapiens<\/em><span> doesn\u2019t hold anymore,\u201d said Mark White of Durham University. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing tactical, discerning, highly effective hunters in much earlier periods.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Morin, E., et al. (2024).<\/strong><br \/><span>&#8220;Why do humans hunt cooperatively? Ethnohistoric data reveal the contexts, advantages, and evolutionary importance of communal hunting.&#8221; <\/span><em>Current Anthropology<\/em><span>, 65(5), 876\u2013921.<\/span><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1086\/732354\" rel=\"\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1086\/732354<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Rodr\u00edguez-Hidalgo, A., et al. (2017).<\/strong><br \/><span>&#8220;Human predatory behavior and the social implications of communal hunting at Gran Dolina.&#8221; <\/span><em>Journal of Human Evolution<\/em><span>, 105, 89\u2013122.<\/span><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jhevol.2017.01.007\" rel=\"\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jhevol.2017.01.007<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., et al. (2023).<\/strong><br \/><span>&#8220;Widespread evidence for elephant exploitation by Last Interglacial Neanderthals on the North European plain.&#8221; <\/span><em>PNAS<\/em><span>, 120(50), e2309427120.<\/span><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2309427120\" rel=\"\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2309427120<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>White, M., et al. (2016).<\/strong><br \/><span>&#8220;Shoot first, ask questions later: Interpretative narratives of Neanderthal hunting.&#8221; <\/span><em>Quaternary Science Reviews<\/em><span>, 140, 1\u201320.<\/span><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.quascirev.2016.03.004\" rel=\"\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.quascirev.2016.03.004<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the edge of a shallow lake in what is now Lower Saxony, Germany, a group of hunters closed in on a herd of wild horses. It was late summer, perhaps early autumn, some 300,000 years ago. The animals had followed a familiar path through floodplain grasses to drink. As they reached the shore, something [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":191095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11767],"tags":[74551,23222,5508,4655,1064,5132,13640],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-191094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anthropology","tag-300000yearold","tag-cooperation","tag-early","tag-horse","tag-human","tag-hunt","tag-reveals"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What a 300,000-Year-Old Horse Hunt Reveals About Early Human Cooperation - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=191094\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What a 300,000-Year-Old Horse Hunt Reveals About Early Human Cooperation - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On the edge of a shallow lake in what is now Lower Saxony, Germany, a group of hunters closed in on a herd of wild horses. It was late summer, perhaps early autumn, some 300,000 years ago. The animals had followed a familiar path through floodplain grasses to drink. 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