What ever you say. I am just a nut. I have no use. You are the man.
And you're pouting like a child.
NO, play was NOT a integral part of living until there was time for it.
Kids play from the time they're toddlers, and while the type of play may change as one grows older, the play itself doesn't cease. Hunter-gatherers did not hunt and gather, eat, sleep and poop and nothing else whatsoever. They didn't even hunt and gather every single day, as they would sometimes have, uhm, leftovers, duh. There was plenty of time for play. Even wild animals who spend nearly all their time eating will take time out for play.
Ever hear of the "Climate of Invention"?
Sure. Well, I've never heard of
the "Climate of Invention," as if it was a specific epoch in time, but I've heard of
a climate of invention, where circumstances were such that creativity lent itself to inventions. I've also hear that necessity is the mother of invention. Some of the most intricate cave painting were done very deep within the caves, with strong arguments based on the study of more modern hunter-gatherers that they were done in total darkness, so they aren't likely the product of a climate of invention, nor of neccesity.
When man was only involved in hunting and gathering he did LITTLE beyond that.
No one ever cracked a joke while grabbing fish out of a stream? No one ever sang a song while picking berries? What about after the hunt, after the gather? No one sang songs to pass the time on the long walk back to the cave? No one sang songs or beat on hollow logs during those long winter nights? No one did cannoballs into the river just because it was fun? Really?
Cave paintings were mostly primitive RELIGIOUS rederings hoping and praying for better hunts or warmer winters.
Playing it a little fast and loose with the word "mostly" there aren't you? Some were, probably, but some were merely depictions of daily life, a chronicle of the things around them. They may have been done to tell the story of a successful hunt, or they may be for better hunts, or they may be for religious purposes. No one really knows for sure, and there are many theories.
Many paintings are not of animals at all, but human hand prints, some were made by tracing an outline of the hand, some were made by placing a painted hand onto the wall to leave a print. Over all, the number of handprints nearly outnumber the depictions of large animals. Are these the signature of the artist? Or is it merely the need to say, "I was here"? No one knows.
There are also paintings of hunts and hunters, gatherers filling baskets, and of people sitting on the ground beating drums while others danced nearby.
But then again, I NEVER have anthropology in high school or college. I make this stuff up to argue with you and Doug.
That would be my guess. That, or you had anthopology classes but managed to forget it all.
Ever wonder why they almost always depected a pregnate doe in their hunts? It was NOT because they wanted to have sex with female deer. That is a MJ thing.
Considering that they don't, in fact,
almost always depict a pregnant doe, no, I don't ever wonder why they are. Most of the animals in cave paintings were of large animals, like deer, and while some may have been a pregnant doe (often they were horses that are a type that is nearly extinct today but resemble a pregnant doe in many ways) but many of them had full a full rack, so likely not a doe.
Other common animals were bison, horses, antelope, bear, lions and tigers. There are some incredibly detailed drawings in an x-ray style that depicts some internal organs and skeletons of turtles and fish. Some are of the sun, moon and stars. Oddly enough, while many of the drawings of animals are highly detailed, the depictions of humans are nearly uniformly across the planet in stick-people form, and human faces are an extreme rarity.
These were not people who spent every waking moment hunting and gathering. There was clearly time for play, for entertainment, for mental stimulation and learning. The human animal has always played, and the need for it is just as real as the need for sleep.