He may have come down from the trees, but prehistoric man did not stop swinging. New research into Stone Age humans has argued that, far from having intercourse simply to reproduce, they had sex for fun.
Practices ranging from bondage to group sex, transvestism and the use of sex toys were widespread in primitive societies as a way of building up cultural ties.
According to the study, a 30,000-year-old statue of a naked woman -- the Venus of Willendorf -- and an equally ancient stone phallus found in a German cave, provide the earliest direct evidence that sex was about far more than babies.
Okay then.
First, duh.
Second, eh. I've posted on the Pornographic Venus of Willendorf before and find it a bit unconvincing. Don Johanson had a chapter in his book on our supposed hairlessness being a product of our inherent randiness. Forget who the anthropologist was that was propounding that theory -- Owen Lovejoy springs to mind, but don't quote me on that -- but his basic contention was that we lost our hair so us guys would be able to see yon maidens' ample bosoms. (Not that I'm complaining about the basic facts of the matter, wink wink, nudge nudge Say no more) Awfully hard to demonstrate.
Third, no, I'm not posting any of my famous Artists' Conceptions either.