Containers

The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard is a classic.

He talks about the spaces in the home, its intimacy and cosiness, and of being enclosed (but not shut in).

He refers to the way that cupboards, wardrobes, boxes, shells, fruit skins, etc

both protect and make cosy what's inside, but also arouse human

exploratory behaviour by partly hiding their contents.

These two would have co-evolved –

'hiding' and 'exploring' driving each other's emergence.

And while this would have happened long before

humans came on the scene,

there is a theory now that a key feature

of human evolution required the

ability to find treasure where no other animal could.

As a scavenger Homo habilis would have arrived on the scene of a kill

after most of the flesh had gone, eaten by lions and hyenas.

But inside the bones there was bone marrow,

a rich source of food. But not

accessible unless one has strong jaws and teeth –

or the ability to use tools.

Chimpanzees today can be seen

opening large nuts, cracking them on a stone ‘anvil’ with another stone

- primitive tools. Homo habilis did the same for bone marrow.

Fortunately refrigerators, cash registers and

Christmas presents are easier…