Osteodontokeratic industry
Encyclopedia
The osteodontokeratic industry is a theoretical construct of the anthropologist, Raymond Dart
. He proposed that certain jagged animal bones and horns found at the Makapansgat
hominid
site represent pre-lithic artifacts with which Australopithecus murdered and cannibalized his fellow Australopithecines. Accordingly, Robert Ardrey
based his book, African Genesis,and Arthur C. Clarke
his film, 2001: A Space Odyssey
(directed by Stanley Kubrick
), on Dart's idea of man as a killer ape advancing his species by murder.
Dart, however, influenced by WWII, used such language as "blood-bespattered", "slaughter-gutted" and "mark of Cain" (which the prisoners at Nuremberg
had claimed the allies put upon them), bringing his objectivity into question. Subsequently the fractures in the bones were discovered to be post-mortem; that is, they were created by rock falls and other physical events within the cave.
Raymond Dart
Raymond Arthur Dart was an Australian anatomist and anthropologist, best known for his involvement in the 1924 discovery of the first fossil ever found of Australopithecus africanus, an extinct hominid closely related to humans, at Taung in the North of South Africa in the province...
. He proposed that certain jagged animal bones and horns found at the Makapansgat
Makapansgat
Makapansgat is an archeological location within the Makapansgat and Zwartkrans Valleys, northeast of Mokopane in Limpopo province, South Africa. It is an important paleontological site, with the local limeworks containing Australopithecus-bearing deposits dating to between 3.0 and 2.6 million years...
hominid
Hominidae
The Hominidae or include them .), as the term is used here, form a taxonomic family, including four extant genera: chimpanzees , gorillas , humans , and orangutans ....
site represent pre-lithic artifacts with which Australopithecus murdered and cannibalized his fellow Australopithecines. Accordingly, Robert Ardrey
Robert Ardrey
Robert Ardrey was an American playwright and screenwriter who returned to his academic training in anthropology and the behavioral sciences in the 1950s....
based his book, African Genesis,and Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
his film, 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
(directed by Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
), on Dart's idea of man as a killer ape advancing his species by murder.
Dart, however, influenced by WWII, used such language as "blood-bespattered", "slaughter-gutted" and "mark of Cain" (which the prisoners at Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
had claimed the allies put upon them), bringing his objectivity into question. Subsequently the fractures in the bones were discovered to be post-mortem; that is, they were created by rock falls and other physical events within the cave.