Abstract

The question is discussed whether -prehistoric man was sophisticated enough to carry crayfish from one water system to another in postglacial times in order to obtain a lasting and serviceable protein source. Are we here in presence of a first primitive transplantation breeding or even a sort of semi-domestication long before mammals and birds have been domesticated? Could this explain the expansion of Astacidae to some hardly accessible waters? About 20,000 years ago the glaciers began their withdrawal and the melting ice created lakes, rivers and streams. Men left their unhealthy caves to live in tents or huts on or near waters. They studied the migrations of game and fish and started to use and bait traps. Food supply got better organized and continued to improve. Crayfish was excellent food: easy to catch even by women and children, by the feeble and old and then to be grilled on hot stones or in ashes. Soon it must have been clear that live crayfish could be transported over land in closed baskets without the need of water and could easily be stored the year round in water, this being a great help in times of need. While fish could reach new lakes swimming upstream or having their spawn transplanted on the feathers of spawn-eating water fowls, our crayfish was a bad upstream-walker and had poor chances for air transportation. Since 40,000 years the so-called primitive man already had a fully developed brain using it for sophisticated work such as tool-, weapon- and trap making, as well as for art and last not least for observation of migration-habits and reproduction of animals. Doesn't it seem logic that this skilled fisherman could have transported crayfish to new water systems?

Supplemental Documents

• There are no supplementary documents for this article

Cited By

Citations: