# How well would a human survive in prehistoric times? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 7, 2002, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824 "2002-07-07T22:25:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/1 "2002-07-07T22:25:04Z")
Okay. I design a time machine. I mean to set it back to say, the first Velvet Underground concert, but since I goofed and forgot to set the flux capacitor, it malfunctions. I’m shot back into say, the late Cretaceous and the time machine blows up. I’m trapped. I forgot to bring tools, and since I have this thing with performing scientific experiments naked, I don’t bring anything but my body fat and a few pimples. How well would a human survive in such a time period? A group of humans - say I brought about fifty friends? How about other time periods? How well would weak, modern me and my similarly weak, modern buddies fare in the last Ice Age, for example? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/2 "2002-07-07T23:30:38Z")
I somehow doubt 50 people is a large enough population base for decent genetic diversity, but I could be wrong about that. For the sake of arguement, I’ll agree that it is. Are you talking about surviving a specified length of time? Or across generations? I’ll assume the latter. And the bring nothing at all, materal-wise? Well then, I suppose it depends on the makeup of your 50 people. Speaking as an American, I suspect if you choose 50 random Americans, they would be dead in a month. OTOH, if you went with a tribe of unassimilated Bushmen, I’d say your chances of survival for quite a few years are good. Now, if you can pick AND train your 50, you’re in a whole different ballgame. You have to weed out people with bad vision or chronic disease, unless they can demonstrate some extrordinary mental ability to make up for it. Everybody must be able to hunt, everybody must be able to run a fairly long distance (5 miles?) non-stop. I imagine you want a polulation aged between 15 and 25, half men and half women. In addition to training them relentlessly with all possible survival information, I suggest tattooing the designs of primitive technology (ore smelters, canoes, etc.) on their skin. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/3 "2002-07-07T23:47:58Z")
When your time machine blew up, did the debris include any sharp, jagged bits of metal? If so, then you’ve got it made. Alternatively, the same goes if you can find any flint. That failing, any rock at all and some wood and I’d say you’ve got a fighting chance. ---
**Author:** ![jawdirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@jawdirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jawdirk)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/4 "2002-07-08T01:20:55Z")
Yojimboguy has it right I think. Unless you or your friends are trained for survival, or you happen to land in a perfect place for survival (i.e. lots of fruit and water and no bad weather or preditors) you will probably die in short order. My guess is you would not be able to find water, hunt, make fire, or guarantee that anything you were eating wasn’t poisonous until it was too late. You and fifty friends might do better just because you would benefit from the experience of half of your friends dying. It would give you more time to learn. I think Ice Age would be fine as long as you were in a temperate region. If you were actually in the snow you would all die. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/5 "2002-07-08T01:46:03Z")
I think a lot depends on how well you’d do if you suddenly found yourself in the middle of the [Pecos Wilderness](http://lonestar.texas.net/~tymoyer/pecos.htm) naked and without resources circa 2002. ---
**Author:** ![lite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@lite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lite)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/6 "2002-07-08T04:39:23Z")
my only input is that you’re be better off with mostly women and maybe 10 men tops, you have to grow the population and take into account a high mortality rate at birth. Since humans are pretty much “worthless” to immediate needs of a clan till maybe 6 or so (when even then they could only gather food and wood) it’s prolly best to get started early so in 14-18 years you have a base of of least double what you started with. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/7 "2002-07-08T04:40:50Z")
They’d do OK. Didn’t you see Land of the Lost 😃 Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/8 "2002-07-08T06:54:49Z")
Don’t forget that modern humans would have no resistance whatsoever to the various microbes and viruses of the period, to which they would be very quickly introduced. On the other hand, the critters would have no taste for humans, either, but bacteria don’t seem to be terribly discerning. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/9 "2002-07-08T08:27:13Z")
You were going to go see the Velvet Underground naked? I didn’t know they made acid that good anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/10 "2002-07-08T10:17:40Z")
If you drop into an ice age, or really anywhere in the Cenozoic, you do have a chance to survive. It will be hard, though. If forget when, exactly, flowering plants arose - I _think_ it was somewhere in the Cretaceous. Anyhow, most of our foodstuffs are flowering plants (fruits and vegetables) or grasses (grains). If you land in a time before either of those arise you will be eating a diet heavy in protein i.e. dino-steaks. Angiosperms just don’t seem to produce edible bits for primates. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/11 "2002-07-08T10:25:46Z")
\>\>\>\>\>Angiosperms just don’t seem to produce edible bits for primates." Yew produces edible fruit. Almost all pine seeds are edible. (and quite teasty). Cycad fruits are eaten on pacific isalnds. Further down the tree bracken is edible. Kelp is edible. ---
**Author:** ![Doc\_Nickel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@Doc\_Nickel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doc_Nickel)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/12 "2002-07-08T11:04:27Z")
Which raises an interesting point… wasn’t the oxygen level lower back then? I mean, wasn’t it _after_ the majority of flowering plants got underway that the oxygen level in the atmosphere started really climbing? Wouldn’t it be like living at extreme altitudes? Even if you brought a lifetime supply of BICs, could you even get a fire going well enough to cook a dinoburger? How about ozone? Would there be enough atmospheric protection to filter out most of the UV rays? How would even an experienced botanist tell what plant or fruit was edible? Would our immune systems, evolved to accomodate and live with any huge number of benign bacteria, be able to handle the primitive pathogens of the time? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/13 "2002-07-08T16:08:46Z")
As far as edible angisperm parts go, I’ll point out that there’s a difference between “edible” and “adequate to meet your nutritional needs.” We evolved to live (at least in part) on flowering plants, and I’m not sure angiosperms could fill the gap. On the other hand, it is possible to live on a diet consisting almost entirely of raw fish, so if you can make a fishing pole, you might solve your dietary problems. Shelter, clothing, etc. are another matter. By the way, if you plan to spend much time fishing at the water’s edge, [watch out for the giant crocodiles.](http://www.sciencenews.org/20011027/fob1.asp) ---
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/14 "2002-07-08T16:20:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spoke- \* > \*\*As far as edible angisperm parts go, I’ll point out that there’s a difference between “edible” and “adequate to meet your nutritional needs.” We evolved to live (at least in part) on flowering plants, and I’m not sure angiosperms could fill the gap. > > On the other hand, it is possible to live on a diet consisting almost entirely of raw fish, so if you can make a fishing pole, you might solve your dietary problems. Shelter, clothing, etc. are another matter. > > By the way, if you plan to spend much time fishing at the water’s edge, [watch out for the giant crocodiles.](http://www.sciencenews.org/20011027/fob1.asp) \*\* Oh, great! Giant crocodiles. Another thing to add to my irrational fear of large bodies of water. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/15 "2002-07-08T16:31:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lite \* > **Since humans are pretty much “worthless” to immediate needs of a clan till maybe 6 or so (when even then they could only gather food and wood)** > **[Why Childhood Lasts, and Lasts and Lasts (Published 2002)](https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/02/science/why-childhood-lasts-and-lasts-and-lasts.html)** > > Research by University of Maine anthropologists Drs Douglas Bird and Rebecca Bliege Bird on productivity and fishing success rates of inhabitants of Isle of Mer concludes that children are just as sucessful as adult men at spearfishing and hand-line... Not exactly worthless: > [@](#): > > At low tide, young and old alike rush out to the reef… Boys and girls — **some of them barely old enough to walk** — gather, spear and fish by hand with equal zeal. > > Shellfish collecting is a physically demanding but relatively simple task, and the surest way to guarantee a meal. Spearfishing and hand-line casting, by contrast, are high-skill enterprises, which require detailed knowledge of the nature and behavior of each type of prey, robust powers of concentration and great dexterity in casting and jabbing. … Yet as Dr. Douglas Bird and Dr. Rebecca Bliege Bird, anthropologists at the University of Maine in Orono, discovered > in their studies of Meriam life, **the proudest spearmen on the island are just barely better than . . . the children.** > > … More recently, the researchers have studied the Mardu people of the Western Desert of Australia, and again **found that children were adept hunters by the age of 5 or 6,** and thereafter success was measured not by age, but by size. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/16 "2002-07-08T17:30:58Z")
Germs shouldn’t be a problem. If you’re going all the way back to the Cretaceous, you should be well before any primates, so there aren’t likely to be any microogranisms capable of affecting humans. Nor would any be likely to evolve, with a target human population so small. Your biggest threat would be from E. coli or any other such nasties you bring back with you. Just make sure your latrine is a few hundred feet from your village/camp and water supply. For poisons, there were a few mammals around at the time (mostly shrew-like things), and you could probably capture a few to use as food tasters. What’s poisonous for a human is likely to be poisonous to a proto-shrew, as well. Besides, you’ll mostly be eating meat, which is very rarely poisonous when fresh, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/17 "2002-07-08T18:36:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Broomstick \* > \*\*If forget when, exactly, flowering plants arose - I _think_ it was somewhere in the Cretaceous. Anyhow, most of our foodstuffs are flowering plants (fruits and vegetables) or grasses (grains). \*\* Flowering plants did, indeed, first arise during the Cretaceous. Grasses didn’t show up until the Eocene (starting roughly 11 million years after the end of the Cretaceous), and true pines (as opposed to other gymnosperms) arose during the Paleocene (just after the end of the Cretaceous). ---
**Author:** ![agentfroot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@agentfroot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agentfroot)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/18 "2002-07-08T21:25:36Z")
i was having a debate with a friend a few weeks ago about whether i could survive in the wild, so we were discussing taking me to a remote forest in canada, as far away from humans as possible. it would be by at least a small pond, and it would have to be in the spring or summer. there, i would strip naked (behind a tree, when nobody is looking), and nobody would be allowed to monitor me until i had made some clothing for myself. the conversation then turned silly as i explained how i’d wrestle a moose, choke it to death, then eat it and wear its skin (it would take a miracle for a 4 foot 8, 130 pound naked girl to kill a huge moose…). anyway, i have almost no survival training (girl scouts doesn’t count), but i’ve read a few books, so if i was transported back to the ice age, i wouldn’t die immediately. the first thing i would do is make clothing. i’m extremely modest, and even if i lived alone in a hot climate, i’d still have to cover everything. after that, i’d test some of the local plants to see how they taste. then i’d hunt for a cave or learn how to climb a tree. i’d probably be trying to remember what ayla did in those “clan of the cave bear” books. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2002, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/19 "2002-07-09T02:33:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by agentfroot \* > \*\* i explained how i’d wrestle a moose, choke it to death, then eat it and wear its skin (it would take a miracle for a 4 foot 8, 130 pound naked girl to kill a huge moose…). > > \*\* Well at least you would have something to barter with because I would pay to see that and I’d even throw in a CAPS key for that poor broken keyboard of yours! ---
**Author:** ![agentfroot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@agentfroot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agentfroot)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2002, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824/20 "2002-07-09T03:07:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > \*\* > Well at least you would have something to barter with because I would pay to see that and I’d even throw in a CAPS key for that poor broken keyboard of yours! \*\* i bet you would! and my computer isn’t broken, it’s my mind that’s broken, and i’m too lazy to use the SHIFT key! now… where’s that damned moose? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-a-human-survive-in-prehistoric-times/117824.md?page=2)