The First Storyteller

Can you imagine what it would be like to not know what you looked like? I imagine this was the case back when we humans lived in caves. Aside from seeing one’s reflection at a watering hole or in a bowl of heated animal fat, I’m not sure our Paleolithic ancestors ever had an opportunity to examine their own faces. What would that have been like? Not being aware if you had wrinkles, acne or mono-brow…and not caring even if you did? It seems that would have been pretty liberating. In fact, one of the only yard-sticks cave-dwellers could have used to physically critique each other was by how healthy another dweller looked. But considering the living conditions, everyone probably had missing teeth, scars on their face and bodies, and terrible breath. My theory is that in addition to having all your working body parts, confidence was the thing that originally made people sexy. And additionally, that confidence would have been much easier to spot way back when. Once again, I will use the story of “Cavegirl Claire” to further explain what I mean.

After some deliberating, Claire had decided she wanted to partner with a certain boy in her tribe called Amir. This boy had an air about him. He strode when he walked – shoulders back and chin thrust out. He looked at others directly in the eyes when he passed them. When there were misunderstandings or altercations between himself and others, he stood his ground. And if he witnessed things that did not seem fair to him, he made his opinions known. Amir was dripping with confidence – and that made Claire’s toes curl. When Amir was younger, he had been the tribe member who was usually sent to collect the fire. Before an especially resourceful forager called Greta had figured out how to make fire from tools and rocks at their campsites, Claire’s tribe would need to keep an eye out for lightening strikes and wild fires. When a fire was spotted, Amir would leave camp and collect a starter fire or two. It was risky, but he did it for the good of the group. Since he was a fast runner, he was certainly fit, but he also knew more of the terrain than other foragers since he had traveled in so many different directions. As a result, Amir had become an especially valuable hunter and confidant to Jerome, the leader of Claire’s tribe. Jerome had come to depend on Amir’s expertise while they were on hunts. A confident cave-dweller was also more dependable in a pinch; more likely to help out a fellow hunter/forager when help was needed because that cave-dweller knew exactly what they were doing and was not afraid to do it. Amir had proven he was not only useful, but reliable. He had won the respect of Jerome, so he had every right to feel confidant.

          Now even though Amir was no longer needed to collect the fire, his relationship with Jerome had allowed him to do something else that was good for Claire’s tribe: Amir had become their storyteller. I picture her, sitting in one of the larger caves near a small fire on an especially eventful evening. The hunters had just returned with a kill and much of the tribe is gathered to hear how it happened. Amir is painting more bison onto the wall of the cave – it must have been an especially large herd they had been tracking. Claire appreciates Amir’s attention to detail and effort to include others as he begins his story. He is expressive and dynamic. He uses his body and his voice to share all he can about what happened during the hunt. Where they were. How each hunter contributed. What sounds he heard. What sacrifices were made. How much blood was spilled. He is not afraid to distort his face…share how he felt…totally…completely. The entire group is riveted, and Claire can barely contain herself. Amir’s stories inject life into the tribe and bring them all closer together. And Claire wants to get closer to Amir. She sees him as dependable and powerful. She believes Amir could make her feel safe. Possibly even happy.

Fast forward 40,000 years and imagine Claire as a modern-day fan of an actor, watching a movie in a theater. There is very little light and there are people all around her. She may be sitting with friends or by herself. She might have the same feelings toward a character or specific performance as a cave-dweller in Claire's situation. A movie-goer could be carried to another place and time. Included in a story. Feel safe yet exhilarated. Not only that, the structure of the movie itself might mirror the happenings of a hunt with its setting, characters, conflict, climax and resolution. She is focused on the main character and watches him interact with others. She feels like she knows something about him. And he is probably healthy-looking and strong. It could be that the stories we humans tell each other have actually not evolved very much. But the stakes for a cavegirl were a lot higher than those of a fangirl; if a fan chooses an inauthentic performer or story to fander, they can just change allegiances and fander someone or something else. But if Claire chooses wrong, she could die. Thankfully for Claire, living face-to-face in a small band of people made detecting confidence pretty easy for a cave-dweller. The information Claire had about her potential mate/storyteller was much more accurate than the information a typical fan has about a modern performer today.

Up Next: Modern messages about success get out of hand in "Claire Goes to Hollywood."

References

Nicholson, W. (1998). Fire and Cooking in Human Evolution. Beyond Vegetarianism, Online. http://www.beyondveg.com/nicholson-w/hb/hb-interview2c.shtml

Schank, R.C. & Abelson, R.P. (1995). Knowledge and Memory: The Real Story (pp 1-85). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, New Jersey.

Taylor, B. (2017). Before Orion: Finding the Face of the Hero. Aquila Media Group.

Zimmer, C (2017). Oldest fossils of Homo Sapiens found in Morocco, altering history of our species. The New York Times, Online. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/07/science/human-fossils-morocco.html


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