I've heard it might have been one of the earliest methods of hunting and the reason why people are so good at long-distance running today.
It's a simple question but I've wondered this since I saw a depiction of this in a documentary in which modern hunters used a plastic bottle to carry water. If it really was one of the earliest methods of hunting then there might have not been that many methods to carry water, no?
Human's ability to thermoregulate is superior enough to most other mammals (their ability to sweat), that they can hunt an animal over the course of a few hours without losing much water. A small container with a litre or so of water would have been sufficient to keep them hydrated.
Source below, with some quotes.
"A prerequisite for persistence hunting would have been the invention of water containers. In contrast to horses and cam- els, humans cannot consume large amounts of water at one time. Human thermoregulation requires considerable water for evaporative cooling, and this would have made it essential to carry water in containers (Scott 1984)."
"When chased, the animal outruns the hunter and then stops to rest in the shade. It is forced into an intermittent running pattern by the contrasting needs to avoid the hunter and to avoid fatigue and heat stress. Although intermittent running provides brief rest periods, it may be less economical than continuous running (Carrier 1984). Compared with contin- uous exercise, intermittent exercise has (for humans) also been shown to elevate core body temperature and decrease evaporative heat loss as a result of reduced sweating (Ekblom at al. 1971). Whether the prey ran at a pace set by the hunter or chose to run intermittently, the end result would have been inefficiency. A hunter whose cost of transport did not vary with running speed would likely have had a substantial ad- vantage over a prey animal with restricted, energetically op- timal speeds in each gait (Carrier 1984). During the persis- tence hunt, the hunter needs to run at a fast pace when tracking is easy but slow down when tracking is difficult— sometimes losing the trail, sometimes walking to regain strength. His speed is determined not only by his physical speed and endurance but also by how fast he can track the animal. Flexibility in running speed allows a human hunter to pursue an animal persistently at various speeds, depending on his fitness, the heat, and varying tracking conditions."
"Carrier (1984) presents a convincing theory that explains how humans are able to run down antelope. Some of the most important points may be summarized as follows: In mammals generally, evaporative cooling is accomplished by two separate mechanisms: (1) respiratory evaporation occur- ring at the nasal mucosa, buccal, and tongue surfaces (pant- ing) and (2) evaporation of sweat from the general body surface. The flexibility and possibly the total effectiveness of panting as a means of evaporative cooling may be limited in a running mammal. The amount of heat that can be lost through evaporation from the respiratory surfaces severely limits the maximum rate of heat dissipation during running in animals that rely solely on panting (Carrier 1984; Taylor and Rowntree 1974). The sweat glands of humans are dis- tinctive for the high secretory level at which they operate. No other species is known to sweat as much per unit surface area as humans (Eichna et al. 1950; Schmidt-Nielsen 1964; New- man 1970)."
Hi, while it's possible that you'll get answers here, questions on early humans are worth x-posting to /r/AskAnthropology
First, it is important to remember that persistence hunts, at least the best documented ones from the Kalahari, are only undertaken under specific environmental conditions. The weather must be warm enough for the prey to overheat, but not so warm that the hunters will themselves overheat pursuing their prey. Experienced hunters factor in the weather, the terrain, and their ability to complete a hunt when deciding on this time consuming, but high yield, hunting strategy. If they follow the prey too far afield, or if the weather conditions change, or if they run out of resources, like water, they will call off the hunt in favor of other hunting strategies.
Second, the burden of the work is distributed throughout the persistence team over the course of the hunt. Older hunters will track and run ahead early in the chase, with younger hunters replacing them as they become fatigued. Even though the hunt is exhausting, one hunter alone is not racing at full speed for the entire pursuit, providing time to grab a quick snack or drink as needed.
Finally, in the highly popular Life of Mammals Attenborough-narrated documentary the footage shows persistence hunters drinking from plastic containers. In the past animal skin bladders, gourds, ostrich eggs, and other containers would be used to hold water. The reason the hunters were supplied with water in the first place is a bit of a funny story about the mix of truth and fiction in modern documentary film-making. The hunters shown on screen do perform persistence hunts, but that day of filming was too hot. They would not have undertaken a persistence hunt because of the danger posed by the weather. The documentary film crew wanted to film a hunt anyway, so they assisted the hunters by using a vehicle to scan for fresh tracks, unloaded the hunters from the vehicle when they spotted the prey, and supplied water to the hunters during the pursuit. The methods are all real, the actual execution was a little modified for ease of filming.
How did they go on these long persistence hunts and then find their way back home?