Cradle of Man

Welcome to what I hope will be an extremely enduring and enjoyable project for us all.


In this thread, we will be retelling the story of man – all the way from the start. More precisely, we will constructing the history and intricacies of a fictional world (map credit which goes to NK and Thlayli) from the point in its history corresponding roughly with what our archaeologists might refer to as Out of Africa II, when Homo sapiens began its migration out of Eastern Africa and across the world as we know it.


Over the course of its lifespan, this project will track numerous details of the world; starting with the initial population movements of humanity away from its cradle and the development of varying archaeological cultures, then progressing into the development of historical cultures, varying language families, the development of agriculture, writing, and early sedentary societies. The vast webs that connect humanity will be traced; some, such as population genetics, will be more on my end, while others, such as the eventual religions of these societies, will fall under the control of the participants of this project.


Over time, this will all become a very significant amount of information to track; and given that large amounts of it will not be relevant for long periods, I will be keeping some of the exact ways these phases will work under wraps for now. Rest assured, though, all will be made clear as it needs to.


At least in the very first phase of this project, we're going to be tracing the initial movements of mankind outside of its homeland, and the major archaeological cultures that developed from this period. In this world, that homeland is here:



What you see on that map is the spread of Homo sapiens at the start of our project; a region with a climate and terrain similar to our world's Great Rift Valley, where mankind arose historically; that is, a warm area comprised of lakebeds and river systems, wetlands and grassy and lightly forested regions. Large wildlife in this region includes species such as wild canids, large flightless birds (both predatory and non-predatory), otters, crocodilians, large wild felines, hyenas, elephants, and other primates. Smaller wildlife is rarely mammalian (with a notable absence of rodents), but rather dominated by reptiles and small birds.


This area is home to the Maseroi culture; people who have command of fire and use stone tools such as hand-axes and stone points, though tools such as atlatls (and certainly bows) have not been developed (and in our world, would not be for tens of thousands of years). They probably have small boats capable of moving small groups of individuals up and down rivers, but not much else. Domestication of both animals and plants is unconceived of.


In this initial phase of our project, participants will be helping direct the initial movements of mankind and the archaeological cultures which spread with them. To do this, you simply need to briefly describe and name the archaeological culture you want (you may simply use an existing one), and indicate where, generally (either on the revealed portions of the map, or along the fringes into the unknown) you would like your migration to travel. In each update, I will map these. Please keep in mind you are indicating desired changes in your archaeological culture; limitations of the environment and realism in your advances and changes may result in a slightly different culture than you expect.


Additionally, I would like to emphasize my use of participants rather than players at this point. While you do design and direct the cultures, at least in this stage, you do not control them; other participants may alter and move derivations of cultures you design, as well. Similarly, there are no sign-ups atm; you are free to participate as much or as little as you want currently, with the limitation of no more than once in between my updates (which should run fairly frequently for this phase of the game). At some point, we will have “players” rather than “participants,” and there will be very much concepts which are “yours,” but that remains a ways away still - have patience.


Major thanks in development goes to Thomas, as well as SK for originally linking me this map.


Also, for those wondering, this project does not signal the end of Children of Adlivun, which will continue to run.

(Please do not post until you see the final reserved post)

Previous Updates

Dawn of the Neolithic

Reserved.

Reserved x3

You may now post. I will try to run updates pretty quickly at this phase; it is completely unimportant if you miss one, since you are not "commanding" a culture nor can you be "dropped" or "miss out" from inactivity.

Maseroi B Culture:

The Technological Package of the people living at the (NORTH) end of the river valley as they moved northwards along the river, came to include distinctive Fishing Weirs. Because of that growing dependence on fish for their diet, the distinctive Maseroi A handaxes developed biface edges patterned without the alternating "Saw Edge" of earlier handaxes, allowing for easier butchering.

Sub post

Maseroi C Culture:

This group, which dwell a little farther from the water (Northeast), developed other ways to supplement their diet. They began to throw rocks and branches on small reptiles that inhabit the place, rather than hit them directly. A very rudimentary hunting gradually being improved, since some of them began to adorn and even carve the objects they use to get their food.

Some individuals even express some friendly competitiveness in the hunt.

Maseroi D culture:

This group migrated west-southwest. They started to develop a unique hunting culture in the savannas, involving the use of atlatls that were able to take down the animals of the savanna from greater and greater distances, and as such their diet began to consist more out of game.

Maseroi E Culture:
This group lives in one of the multiple forests in the area. They have a semi-permanent home in a cave near a group of bushes with edible berries as well as a small pond, which they use to attract animals for hunting.
(Is this too advanced?)

Wave 1​

Maseroi A is just the continuation of the original Maseroi culture.

Maseroi B is a northern variant of the Maseroi culture which is notable for early development of stone fishing weirs, as well as serrations in their stone knives.

Maseroi C, in the northeast, is distinguished from Maseroi A by its distinctive artistic style and a similar adaptation of serrated edges as Maseroi B, though it maintains a predominantly terrestrial diet closer to the older culture than its river-tied neighbor.

Maseroi D, in the west, crossed the ridge separating the original valley that Homo sapiens evolved in and entered the dense forests to the west. Perhaps their most notable distinction is the development of stone slings, which allowed them to hunt at a distance. With this advantage, their diet has shifted to include a greater proportion of meat, as they are now better able to target some of the larger species of flocking flightless birds.

Maseroi E is the easternmost branch of the culture, showing a semi-nomadic lifestyle with fewer migrations than those of the other branches; caves and other natural formations in the wooded foothills of their territory are often used as seasonal shelters.

The territories the B, C, and D variants of Maseroi culture have pushed into are all notably warmer, more humid, and more densely forested than that of their original homeland.



For those wondering, I wanted to spit out this update so quickly for three reasons:
1) To show how fast this is *able* to progress, though not necessarily how fast it will
2) To give a bit more variation in cultures for people to play with
3) To allow those who posted already all another shot at elaborating cultures, should they want to


EDIT: Updated to include Maseroi E

Maseroi B2

An offshoot of the Maseroi B, developing downriver. An ever-moving community that developed spears for fishing. Archaeological evidence for this has been found along the river, concentrated at several points and indicating regular fishing spots along their migrations up and down river.

Maseroi A2
Much like their brothers to the north, these group survived mainly on the produce of the inland lakes, but their diet also included the fleshy stems of the floating plants. These people have started to live in the small island in the middle of the lake. They also revere certain flowers that grow only in the lakes.

Dandakoi

From the Maseroi D culture, these people have begun to adapt quite well to life in the tropical forests, such that there is a now clear distinction between them and the other Maseroi cultures. Combining bark, wood, and stone, Dandakoi hunting tools are superior to any others found in the contemporary time period.

Maseroi E2

Due to overpopulation in the Maseroi E territories, some individuals migrated crossing the eastern mountains. During their pass through the mountains, some covered their skin with animal fur, to protect them from harsh climatic conditions.

Acheulite

The Acheulite archaeological culture is clearly related to the Maseroi, in particular the "B" and "C" variants, but are distinct enough in the archaeological record that researchers have given them a new name. Those groups that had migrated northwards have left very little lithic record, aside from small number of production sites, at which significantly smaller version of the Maseroi B hand axes were found. These were presumably predominantly hafted.
While some sites have bone that was carved into stylized figures (though only a very small number of these have ever been found) every Acheulite site has a significant ochre deposite. The purpose is unknown, though presumably symbolic.

Raal'ladokeroi:
The Maseroi E experiment with ranged weapons such as slings; this as well as their semi-nomadic lifestyle separates them into a truly separate culture. As well, a recent discovery at a Raal'ladokeroi cave shows crude bone carvings using the stones in the cave.

Masunke is an offshoot of Maseroi A. Evidence for their existence has been found mainly to the south, where remnants of stone tools and weapons that bear a resemblance to ice-picks have been found.

Acheroi is a group that emerged from Maseroi C, who migrated further north, expanding their hunting activities and starting to better adapt to the most forested areas. During their migrations, the felling of these forest areas to erect temporary rudimentary camps started to become a common habit, reducing the pace of their migrations. They continued to develop their art of sculpting and began to imitate their neighbors by improving their throwing objects (some use of Slings?).

Wave 2​

Maseroi B2 is the later stage of the Maseroi B sub-culture, notable for the development of barbed fishing spears.

The Dandakoi culture is believed to have descended from the Maseroi D culture, and is distinguished from its predecessor by a heavier reliance on wooden tools, possibly due to the abundance of forests and dearth of stone in the area it arose in.

The Masunke culture branched off from Maseroi A in the southern stretches of the grasslands where the species evolved, though the distinction was largely centered around differences in the construction of stone tools, rather than their actual design.

Maseroi E2, a later development of the Maseroi E culture, is debatably distinct from its parental class; the reasoning from the distinction comes from very contested evidence of what may be sewing needles found at the easternmost edge of Homo sapiens's range during this era.

Slings developed as part of the Maseroi D culture progressively moved eastward throughout mankind's range, giving rise to the Raal'ladokeroi culture where they met aspects of Maseroi E and the Acheroi culture in regions previously marked by Maseroi C sites.

In the far north, the Acheulite culture developed from Maseroi B, with evidence of artistic use of many tropical pigments being noted in artifacts from their culture.

The remainders of the original Maseroi A subculture show evidence of a diet more plant-based than previous periods by this era, and so some classify the remaining sites of this culture as Maseroi A2



It should be noted that high populations and lower supplies of food in the more eastern and mountainous regions of the map are pretty major pressures on the sites there.