There was the danger of fierce animals and turbulent weather, which could lead to a violent death. Also, life expectancy was probably short compared to our standards today. Hobbes can be given credit for the observation that there was a danger of violent death and life was brutish and short. However, the life of man may not have been necessarily "solitary and poor." Human nature requires comfort, companionship, and cooperation. Therefore, the people traveled in groups. I believe it is a human need to be social, and therefore there is not guarantee that the life of the primitive people was solitary. Also, "poor" is a very subjective and relative term on which to judge the lives of the people of the past. What is poor? Does poor indicate the amount of wealth one has, or does it indicate the amount of wealth that one has in his heart? I think that in our society today, there are many people that are materialistically wealthy but very poor socially and spiritually. In order to be an elevated human, one must be able to give and love. There are the real riches of life. The primitive people may or may not have had these riches in their life, and it certainly would hard to determine this. There is evidence that the Paleolithic people expressed reverence toward nature. Whether it was out of fear or out of gratitude one cannot say. But there was some feeling of veneration for another being. So there is not official indication that Hobbes" opinion that the lives of the people was poor is completely true. However, some parts of his opinion, such as their lives being brutish and short, do hold some amount of truth.
The transition from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic Age involved an emerging Cro-Magnon culture. One of its features was the paintings found in caves and caverns that depicted wild animals and images of women (Hollister xli). The paintings were quite vivid and unique, which suggests that the primitive people felt an urge to eject their abilities of art and creation.
