Arborealism
The climbing frame we bought last year is coming into its own.
The girls, now aged five and a quarter and very nearly three, have been demonstrating their agility with increasing confidence.
It's easy to see how naturally the desire to brachiate, hang and perch comes to small humans. In adults these abilities seem limited to gymnasts, free climbers and circus performers. But not entirely: curious to discover some further insight into climbing. I came across a very fascinating article by an anthropologist who studies human locomotion. He went to spend time with the Batek tribe in Malaysia. He describes and attempts to explain what he witnessed here.
(It's billed as a 19 minute read)
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There are only a few Batek people left now and the way of life as described above has gone. They were nomadic foragers in the forest but the trees have been logged, their single water source is contaminated and, forced to engage in a cash economy, they are dying from diseases to which they have no resistance. See here
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