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The Ādam Paradox Hypothesis 132
Katanda: Harpoons That Fed the Many
In the Katanda region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, excavations
revealed a series of finely crafted barbed bone harpoons dated to ~90,000 years
ago (Brooks et al., 1995). These are not crude sticks but sophisticated fishing
technology, designed to catch and secure large fish such as Nile perch.
Why do harpoons matter for demography? Because they signal surplus. A small
group of foragers can subsist on shellfish or small game. But barbed harpoons
enable the harvesting of riverine and lacustrine resources at a scale capable of
feeding many more mouths. Surplus food is a prerequisite for sustained
population growth. It also allows specialization: if some members can produce
more food than they consume, others can invest time in tool-making,
ornamentation, or ritual.
In this sense, Katanda foreshadows what becomes common after 70,000 years
ago: technologies that scale population by producing not just subsistence but
abundance.
Diepkloof Rock Shelter: Tokens of Exchange
Another extraordinary signal of numbers comes from Diepkloof Rock Shelter
in South Africa. Here, archaeologists uncovered hundreds of fragments of
ostrich eggshell containers engraved with repeated geometric motifs — cross-
hatching, parallel lines, punctate designs — dated to ~65,000 years ago (Texier
et al., 2010).
These containers were likely used to store water — essential for survival in arid
conditions. But the engravings were not functional. They were symbols. More
strikingly, similar motifs appear across widely separated sites, suggesting they
served as tokens of identity or exchange.
When small groups interact only with close kin, no such tokens are needed. But
as networks expand, trust must be symbolized. A decorated ostrich eggshell
could mark group membership, encode ownership, or seal an exchange. In
effect, these objects acted as social contracts in portable form.