# Prehistoric Postures **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 7, 2024, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-postures/1002600 "2024-06-07T17:32:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2024, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-postures/1002600/1 "2024-06-07T17:32:53Z")
Did ancient humans have good posture or were they a bunch of slouchers? Artists’ renderings seem to base the depiction of prehistoric man on whether they wanted to show him as advanced or primitive. “Cave men” are shown as slouching and crouching and dumb while “Homo-Sapiens” are shown as standing tall and straight compared to the older, more primitive, ancestors. Is it possible to tell if an ancient human or prehuman had good posture at all? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2024, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-postures/1002600/2 "2024-06-07T18:09:36Z")
We have to assume they had good posture, for their own skeletomuscular system. It may not have looked like good posture for ourselves, but it’s what they would do naturally. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-postures/1002600/3 "2024-06-07T20:00:55Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Is it possible to tell if an ancient human or prehuman had good posture at all? If enough of the spine can be found, sure. If what you mean by “good posture” is what’s considered good posture in modern humans, I think that goes back at least as far as Homo erectus; though I haven’t time right now to research that properly. One of the skeletons that was first identified as “Neanderthal” was from an individual with serious skeletal problems; later finds made it clear that those weren’t typical. Modern humans sometimes live in caves. Ancient humans sometimes didn’t. I’d be pretty dubious of sources calling people “cave men”. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2024, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-postures/1002600/4 "2024-06-07T20:12:48Z")
If you’re referring to the March of Progress as your Artists’ rendering, you should know that picture’s awfulness is one of the few things that creationists and scientists agree on. Once our ancestors began walking erect, they had to have good posture. That is how our skeletons are put together. The March of progress [![](https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/sites.wustl.edu/dist/1/1202/files/2018/10/MarchofProgressPanels-1ou5fxp.png) ](https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/sites.wustl.edu/dist/1/1202/files/2018/10/MarchofProgressPanels-1ou5fxp.png) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-postures/1002600/5 "2024-06-07T23:56:57Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Artists’ renderings seem to base the depiction of prehistoric man on whether they wanted to show him as advanced or primitive. “Cave men” are shown as slouching and crouching and dumb while “Homo-Sapiens” are shown as standing tall and straight compared to the older, more primitive, ancestors. Not in the last 50 years. Maybe cartoonists and satirists do this, but any science publication would have had a depiction of the ancient Homo species as anatomically correct as possible. Even in that much mocked March of Progress illustration, the Neanderthal Man has an erect posture even though his head is attached sideways. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2024, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-postures/1002600/6 "2024-06-09T06:44:21Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Modern humans sometimes live in caves. Ancient humans sometimes didn’t. I’d be pretty dubious of sources calling people “cave men”. The vast majority of humanity’s ancestors never lived in caves. It’s just that when they drew pictures on outdoor rocks, the pictures faded after a few rainy day, while when they drew pictures on cave walls, a handful of those pictures were preserved - so people mistakenly thought that they only lived in caves.