I mentioned in my last blog post that I might be descended from Tolkien-esque Hobbits in my love of mushrooms. But what about the homo floresiensis “hobbits” that may have occupied the Malayan archipelago tens of thousands of years ago? Might I be one of their descendants?
I can explore such a scenario in Phil Eklund’s boardgame Origins: How We Became Human. In a previous post, I outlined the game basics. Today’s post is a session report of one such game from the point of view of the Hobbit player; think of it as “replaying the tape” to see how human history might have evolved.
In Eklund’s notes, the game begins circa 120,000 years ago with an estimate of 120 game turns representing millennia. This game only took 37 turns – the game moves quicker with experienced players and there’s not as much wallowing around doing nothing in seemingly “dark ages”. As mentioned in my previous post, Eklund’s is based on the idea that early primates relied on instincts; encephalization led to a bicameral age; this gave way to an age of faith and the rise of major religions; finally the Renaissance moves mankind into an age of reason. I will mark these eras in my account below from the perspective of the Hobbit sages. I also apologize for my poor picture-taking skills (my hands shake!). Without further ado, here we go!
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Once upon a time, maybe a hundred millennia ago, when the Age of Instinct ruled…
Turn #1: Hobbits imitate warning cries. The “lookout” becomes an established profession in early society.
Turn #2: Rituals and the making of figurines are imitated from peoples in the west.
Turn #3: Hear stories of meat storage techniques in the permafrost but have not yet experienced such cold. Learn novel behavior through the encephalization of Broca’s area in the brain. Rumors abound of a white-skinned warlike tribe sweeping in from the west.
Turn #4: Learn wood-carving from northmen (encephalization of the limbic area) and develop copper age technology. Totemism leads to encephalization of the neocortex and development of language skills. The dog and water buffalo are domesticated but this also brings zoonotic disease!
Turn #5: Development of flakes and choppers established the new profession of butcher. News arrives of creatures going extinct in the north and the disappearance of another ancient species (homo erectus) who were northern neighbors.
Turn #6: The priestess becomes an important role in society. Migrations north into China begin.
Turn #7: The thrusting spear is invented for hunting and males in the society become dominant demanding sex for supplying food.
Turn #8: A new fad takes hold: cave art!
Turn #9: In China, attempts to domesticate rice fail. Arrival of whiteskin tribes from the north and west allow imitating bone points and learning how to make boats. This allows expansion towards northern Australia.
Turn #10: More failures in rice domestication. Imitation of mammoth bone dwellings from the newcomers. The concept of anthromorphism is developed leading to further language skills and encephalization of Wernicke’s area, entering Era II, the Bicameral Age.
We’re perhaps at roughly 20,000 B.C…
Turn #11: A dry desert climate sweeps through the globe. To the Hobbit descendants, this makes much of Australia and the Gobi desert in Asia uninhabitable. After learning the maritime technology of sails and rudder from the whiteskins, the first crossing of the Bering strait into the New World is achieved!
Turn #12: A new Golden Age of Obedience is ushered in. Culturally, body paint becomes a new marker in societal norms. The Camelops in North America is too ferocious to be domesticated and goes extinct. The golden age is shattered when tax riots sweep through bringing a new Dark Age. [Hobbit descendants are the first to enter Era III, the Age of Faith, much earlier than the other groups.]
Turn #13: The volcano Kikai erupts near Japan devastating the communities in that area. Diptheria spreads and infects the tribes in China. More tax riots cause a thinning and dispersal of the population.
Turn #14: News of gold deposits, other riches, and the building of pyramids in East Africa, trickles in. But for the tribes in China and the Malay archipelago, things continue to be bleak. Food sharing becomes important in these dark times, and there is no news from the Americas.
Turn #15: The dark times continue with more food sharing.
Turn #16: Imitate status clothing from East Africa.
Turn #17: News of new developments in Mesopotamia: the Alphabet and the Code of Hammurabi. From these bringers of foreign news, learn to make baskets – weaving becomes a professional trade. The Chinese tribal relatives begin to grow in strength.
Turn #18: Hear of growing populations in South Africa and migration of a previously unknown people group into the Indian Ocean and West Asia. Chinese tribes expand northeast to the Bering Strait.
Turn #19: Hear of West Asian cities falling to invaders from the Caucasus who have invented the battering ram. Quickly learn such technology and enter the Bronze Age. Seond migration into the Americas.
Turn #20: The Caucasus invaders enter China. Meanwhile new foreign migrants arrive from Indian Ocean reaching Malaya and establishing tin mines. Make a large raid into Indochina and develop chariot burials as a custom. Chinese tribes flee towards the Bering Straits in the face of the invaders. American migrants move east and south searching for greener pastures.
2,000 B.C. thereabouts…?
Turn #21: Bubonic plague sweeps through West Asia bringing devastation. Capital city in Flores suffers raids from Javan pirates even while weaving becomes more widespread. American tribes migrate south into Mexico.
Turn #22: Racism sweeps through west and southeast Asia resulting in population dispersion; news of the destruction of Samarkand arrives with an ill foreboding. Human effigies come into vogue. A third wave of migrants crosses the Bering strait displaced by foreigners entering and establishing territory in northeast Asia.
Turn #23: Remaining Chinese tribes migrate to Borneo. More raids. Rule by a God-King is established in the Americas. The ceramics kiln is invented leading to a new honored profession: the glazier. Silver mines are established in central America.
Turn #24: Significant global warming takes place leading to widespread tropical weather. Flores capital abandoned. Attention turns to the remaining descendants in the Americas where mead-drinking prestige cults take hold and the temple administrator becomes a position of power. Armed population buildup on the west coast attempts to slow foreigners arriving from across the Pacific Ocean.
Turn #25: Temple administrators gain more of a foothold spreading globally across all cultures. Biofuel is successfully extracted off the Baja coast. Windmill technology is developed by the Hobbit descendants ahead of any other groups. Invaders arrive from Russia leading to war. Maize is cultivated although the climate is unsuitable for large scale production. Islam is exported to Malaya where it takes root.
Turn #26: Swayed by heroic legends, some leave the Americas hearing of booming opportunities in Hawaii. Malaria spreads across the Americas. Buddhism is exported across East Asia. Pythagorean mathematics developed. The population continues to increase leading to migrations into Canada (with hay technology) and into South America.
Turn #27: A measles epidemic sweeps across Europe. The Hobbit descendants enter a Golden Age of Feudalism. A sizable metropolis is established to support prospecting for oil in Venezuela.
Turn #28: A second wave returns to Asia looking for opportunities and the attraction to Buddhism and “higher” culture. Learn iron smelting from allies who migrated from southeast Asia to Alaska establishing trading links.
Turn #29: A third wave for “brain drain” leaves for Asia. Pottery becomes popular. The dragon kiln is invented. Squash is cultivated in Argentina and new cities are established on the east coast of South America.
Turn #30: A fourth wave of “brain drain”. News comes back of a wave of divorce among former allies and there is no more news out of Malaya. However the Americas continue to thrive with the building of the Royal Road, the elevation of couriers and stone masons, and the building of monumental ziggurats. An Ice Age sets in and the Canadian colonies are lost.
200 A.D., maybe...
Turn #31: Manure fertilization becomes widespread. Specialized farming takes root. But the rise of a Dictatorship leads to the population melting into the jungles to escape the oppressive new “government”. [Hobbit descendants enter Era IV, the Age of Reason.]
Turn #32: A more permanent feudal system takes hold across the Americas. Slaves are brought in to increase production.
Turn #33: Toys are invented and fuels growth of Argentina.
Turn #34: Oil is successfully produced in large quantities in Venezuela. Rail technology is invented. Drugs and anaesthesia are discovered. Trading monopolies begin. Things are looking bright!
Turn #35: Hear news of oil flowing in the Middle East. Spearhead the formation of oil companies and OPEC. Rio starts to boom!
Turn #36: The United Nations is formed with leadership from Australasia. Tambora erupts! Meanwhile, there is huge growth in Mexico and sports becomes huge business and entertainment. The Americas move into a Golden Age of Justice. Guest workers from Asia return home to join in the bright prospects of further economic development.
Turn #37: A flu pandemic spreads throughout Asia, but antibiotics and vaccines are quickly developed. Out of Asia, the Monsanto process leads to industrial-scale agriculture. The stock market is established. Fast food and suburban sprawl take hold. Media conglomerates grow. There are advances in electricity and modern physics. Krakatoa erupts!
And here we are today! [At this point the game ended with the Neanderthal descendants winning with 36 points after playing a flurry of Era IV cards. The Hobbit descendants are in second place with 25 points.]
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