Today we’re joined by Seth Chagi of World of Paleoanthropology to review a stone age classic: Quest for Fire (1981) hits almost all the caveman movie tropes, but to be fair, it probably originated most of them. We talk about the origins of controlled use of fire, “conlangs”, and how this movie has become more scientifically accurate over time.

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In this episode:

Watch Quest for Fire on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MV1H_bAt-E

Nonhuman ape sense of humour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJarjlRVZzY

Bonobos laugh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhlHx5ivGGk

Bonobo sex: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bonobo-sex-and-society-2006-06/

Sabre-toothed cats’ coat patterns: https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/laelaps/did-saber-cats-have-spotted-and-striped-coats/

The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Naked_Ape

Anthony Burgess created the Ulam language: https://www.anthonyburgess.org/quest-for-fire/quest-for-language/

Australian firehawks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zcJs16aZ5s

Were there any human tribes who didn’t have the ability to start fire? https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnthropology/comments/872kfd/is_it_true_that_ther_arewere_isolated_peoples_who/