Our Early Human Ancestors Ambushed Large Prey by Hunting with Their Terrain (VIDEO)

First Posted: Sep 15, 2015 11:12 AM EDT

It turns out that our early ancestors were ambush predators. Researchers have discovered that about one million years ago, early humans used landscape features to ambush and kill their prey in groups.

The Kenyan Rift region was a popular grazing site for larger animals about a million years ago. Giant gelada, baboons, elephants, hippopotami and other animals gathered in order to take advantage of its locally high nutrient levels and the presence of a freshwater lake. Yet the movements of these animals, researchers found, were confined to particular pathways due to the restrictions imposed by the landscape.

Previously, researchers uncovered a large number of Acheulean hand axes, associated with the butchery of large mammals. These tools indicated that the area was well populated with early humans who returned to the site repeatedly.

In order to better understand what the area looked like at the time, though, the researchers adjusted for the effects of fault motion, making corrections for erosion and the deposit of sediment to see how our ancient ancestors may have exploited the area.

"By reconstructing the topographic setting in the area and examining the trace nutrients in soils there now and interviewing local Massai leaders about current grazing activities, we were able to build up a picture of animal movements around one million years ago," said Sally Reynolds, the lead researcher, in a news release. "The Olorgesailie region was particularly well placed for ambushing larger animals because the landscape limited the routes taken by those animals as they traveled through the area. Areas of higher elevation provided excellent lookout points as well. There was also good access to reliable drinking water and a ready supply of workable stone for the creation of hunting tools, making it an ideal location for hominin occupation."

The findings reveal a bit more about our ancient ancestors. More specifically, it provides a way for researchers to interpret our ancestral record.

The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports.