Not necessarily ~where~ humans found water – I understand it was lakes, streams, etc. – but our bodies seem so unnaturally built for hunching over a lake and drinking water. We don’t have 4 legs like other animals so we can’t do it very easily and I imagine it would hurt your back to be leaning over water like that. Did they scoop it up with their hands or something? I’m just curious if anyone definitively knows the answer to this. Thanks
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I frequently drink water just by cupping my hands together and drinking out of the gap formed by my palms. It’s not hard. I assume there are other techniques.
Theres a hunter-gatherer tribe in Africa that still live like how the first humans would. They drink by lowering their face to the water and drinking.
Those guys are insane. They look skinny but can run three miles straight in the African sun chasing an antelope. On YT theres a guy who documented living with them and their day-to-day lifestyle, going in baboon hunts with them, watching how they harvest honey, etc.
Watch other great apes drink water. Should help clarify the mechanics.
Sometimes tools are used (leaves for example) sometimes cupped hands and sometimes its just face in puddle. Generally whatever is deemed to be convenient at the time. There are a lot of videos available
This does bring up a good point, I assume. There’s probably a limit to how far a person or group can travel until they figure out how to bring water with them. I wonder if this was ever a deciding factor when two tribes fought each other.
There’s archaeological evidence that animal bladders were used as water pouches! I don’t remember how far back – but they’re water tight naturally.
I grew up in the country, in the summer I would just lay on my belly and put my face in the water. Did my chest get wet…sure, but in the summer it’s dry in 5 minutes anyway. Or it’s so hot you’re already drenched from sweat.
Winter would be the bigger challenge with ice and having a way to melt it.
Well… If you’d need to drink water without a cup. How would you do it?
Actually this is something you can easily figure out. Take a toddler who can walk and drink themselves. Put down a bucket of water, and watch how they drink it. They are too young to have learned more complex behaviours and culturally tied behaviours. They run purely by instinct.
What I have observed kids do in the park when they decide that that muddy pool of water is most delicious thing, the squat down and cup it with their hand and sip it.
Toddlers are amazing way to research basic human behaviour. Too young to have learned cultural behaviours, but old enough to act themselves and with instinct.
a handful of dried grass dipped into the water. I think I saw or read of rural Africans doing this
A reference I remember in the bible. [https://biblehub.com/esv/judges/7.htm](https://biblehub.com/esv/judges/7.htm)
There’s reference to men drinking from a pool of water, some lapped water like dogs, some cup their hands and bring water to their mouth.
Certainly that would lend a clue to some methods people drank water even in somewhat civilized time.
I’ll guess hand scooping because that is exactly what you would do if you were lost in a forest for days and then came across a stream. Without thinking I’ll bet you’ll just hand scoop from instinct.
How do other primates do it? How does a silverback gorilla drink?
Edit: I looked up gorillas and … they generally don’t drink water! They eat juicy things and don’t need to supplement with water. I guess if you ate a lot of grapes you wouldn’t get thirsty.
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