[MAIL] ’Hunting small animals, that are constantly threatened by predators and therefore very quick to take flight, requires a physiology adapted to the chase as well as more sophisticated hunting tools.’’Cognitive activity also rises as fast tracking requires fast decision-making, based on phenomenal acquaintance with the animals' behavior—information that needs to be stored in a larger memory.’
When animal sizes began to decrease, humans also began making other weapons like the bow and arrow, along with domesticating dogs to help hunt prey.
By the end of the Stone Age animals became even smaller. This forced humans to use more energy in hunting than they were able to get back from the meal.
’Indeed, this is when the Agricultural Revolution occurred, involving the domestication of both animals and plants,’ Ben-Dor explained.
’As humans moved into permanent settlements and became farmers, their brain size decreased to its current volume of 1300-1400cc.’
’This happened because, with domesticated plants and animals that don't take flight, there was no more need for the allocation of outstanding cognitive abilities to the task of hunting.’
Professor Ran Barkai from the Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University, said that the human brain has grown threefold, while the chimpanzee’s brain has remained a similar size for seven million years.