Didn't it get really hot in Africa 60,000 years ago, and they didn't have AC, so some people left Africa and started eating grains and building factories and having world wars? No good can come of this heat wave.

But yeah, I would guess that we use streams and ponds for cooling purposes a lot less than our paleo ancestors.

I can tell you what Africans and Indians do in places where the temp surpasses 40 C -- they sit in the shade. They sleep outside. They move as little as humanly possible during daylight hours. If something needs to be done, they'll do it at 3am when it has cooled down a bit.

I'm an adventure guide. I currently work (outside, without AC, sleeping in a tent mon-fri) in North Carolina (the heat index was 126 two days ago!) and have worked in Dubai and Oman (where the temp hits 110 by April and 140 in August) Here are a few things I do:
1. wear a BIG hat. a big dorky old lady hat. It keeps your face in the shade :)
2. keep something like a bandanna handy that you can soak and wear. the evaporation cools you off
3. stay in the shade. Find a space in the shade with a little breeze
4. get low. dig a hole and sit in it, get under a rock. the ground is cooler than the air
5. get in deep water. jump into a large body of deep water. it will be cooler than the air. watch out for rocks and sharks
6. lay around during the hottest part of the day
7. use an insulated water bottle. it will keep even water out of the tap cooler longer. add ice if you can
8. drink water constantly. like a gallon a day.
9. wear breezy, lightweight, light colored, fast drying clothes that have long sleeves. sounds hot but trust me. your skin will be in the shade.
10. Also, an umbrella is a great way to take shade around with you! Make sure your umbrella is opaque and a dark color.
11. If you know you're going someplace without shade, take a silver (yes SILVER) tarp with you. You can set up a tarp using some tent stakes, rope and poles or vehicle or any large object (boulder, hill etc) On the beach we set up tarps with kayak paddles as poles and rope. Blue/orange/green tarps let too much light in and essentially turn into an oven. Silver stops the light from coming through to create real shade.

In the United Arab Emirates, the traditional buildings have these weird towers coming up from the middle. The tower has openings like windows on all four sides at the top and bars running across them. I asked about them when I was there last. Turns out they used to wet cloth and hang the wet cloth from those bars. The tower was high enough to catch a breeze. The wet cloth would cool down the air, which would fall downward. The main seating/living area of the home was situated beneath the tower to make life bearable. AC before AC was invented! You can utilize this in your house. Moisten a t-shirt or a pillowcase and use clothespins to put it over a floor fan. Also in UAE, everything opens really early in the morning, like around 6:30 or 7, and closes from 11 to 3:30 and then opens up again from around 4 till 10pm. No one does anything during the hot part of the day. Too bad the hot parts of the US can't switch to that schedule.

That's easy! They found a cave. They're always nice and cool, even when it is blistering hot above ground.

its hot here, too- index is about 107 today. im by the coast, but its too hot at the beach today. i also dont have AC and will never, ever get it. i cant stand the stuff, but i do have a small window unit in my kiddos room set at 75. sometimes i wuss out and chill out in there for a while, but honestly coming out of the AC is such torture that i would rather just power through.

i would imagine that people would seek shelter and just take it easy on abnormally hot days. its important to conserve energy when its like this outside if you dont have a reliable water source. i like to lay low, myself. i get very sleepy in the heat....seems like its telling me something.

stay cool out there, and please check in on your elderly neighbors.

Our ancestors were better adapted to handling heat than we are today, they did not have a/c and did not spent almost all of their time protected inside buildings and by wearing a lot of clothes. They probably were smart enough to rest during the hottest part of the day and were more active in the mornings and late afternoon/evenings. They were probably naturally better hydrated than we are today as they did not drink things that had diuretic properties or take prescription drugs or have messed up metabolisms. Overall they were way more in tune with their environments than we are to day.

It's abnormally hot and humid around Chicago too! We did the sitting in a river thing (tubing) on Wednesday and it was AMAZING how cool we were. We didn't feel the heat at all, just bobbing along in the water. I would guess if water were available, they would have utilized it.

This is not currently a problem in Scotland. One day recently the temperature got as high as 24 C (74 F), that was a very hot day.

Perhaps they just sat in their cave if they had one, they are cool whatever the weather.

Or went for a swim and sat in the shade.

Being naked probably helped, there were less social rules about clothing.

Become nocturnal.

I reckon people who live in tropical areas that are hot all year round do get more accustomed to the heat.

I expect our higher latitude paleo ancestors reacted to heat waves in a similar way to us, they sat in the shade and complained about how hot it was.

Concrete creates micro-climates hotter than what you'd find in nature. Unless you're in the desert shade and wind would make hot environments tolerable.

My house is in a horrible spot and even though it will be windy outside, the wind won't hit my house and it heats up to like 100F during the summer. Sometimes I feel like my brain is melting.

Maybe they traveled someplace a little cooler.

Maybe they weren't obsessed with how "dirty" the human body was and shed the animal pelts!

Haven't you heard? Global warming. Our ancestors never faced anything like this. They were more concerned about getting fires started on those frigid July mornings!

One thing to consider is this. In wooded areas there is at least a 10° drop in temperature from the open, industrial worlds we live in now (the blacktop and metal doesn't help things, either). To anyone who has ever spent some time in the woods, you know that is just plain feels cooler, to the point of being relieving, on even the hottest days.

At least where I live in Pennsylvania, there are enormous boulders sprinkled throughout the woods. nestling down beside or between some of the guys, in under an overhang, really provides a lot of relief from the heat. If our ancestors were fortunate enough to have access to caves, they are considerably cooler. They maintain a more or less constant temperature all year, which makes them great refuges in both the summer heat and the frigid winter.

Take a cloth like a scarf or bandana and soak it in cold water put it on head.... Works like a champ we used this method in Iraq.

I think... naps during the hottest part of the day. Being near water as as the spray would evaporate in air and cause cooling, or climbing into the water. Eating water rich veg, plants, and fruit. Make fans out of leaves maybe?

It "felt like" 101 at 7am here in NY this morn. Melt city..

It depends where it was, our ancestors did evolve to accommodate the climate. I am from Europe, and do much better in cold/mild temperatures, I don't stand heat well. Now, as I live in Baltimore, I just sit inside and enjoy the AC. I am fine that it's not really natural... The heat is not natural to me either ;-) and as I am packing before a big over-sea move, I can't afford napping and taking it easy.

I will have to go out a few times, probably carrying stuff as I am selling/getting rid of my furniture and most of other things over this week, and really carrying anything heavier in over 100*F is just brutal. I will try to minimize my outside activities as much as possible. I feel really bad for people whose job forces them to be outside, like mail delivery.

Take a pillowcase or a tea towel and dampen it, then tie it loosely around your neck. The evaporation will cool the blood flowing in and out of your brain. Also, spray water on your limbs.

get over to the wave pool at six flags. reenactment at its finest.

Hunter/gatherers in hot regions skipped their Crossfit sessions on scorching days. They pulled on their Vibram FiveFingers for protection from the blazing sands instead of going barefoot. They pulled up whatever grew from the ground for sustenance instead of chasing down game.

One would think there would be plenty of vegetation to hide from the sun. Ever gone for a walk in the woods? Now imagine what our current world would be like if we didn't remove all that vegetation to build houses/roads/etc etc. Nearly everywhere you walk, there would be trees and vines providing shade. We'd be nice and cool.

Try it sometime :-)

Gin and tonic usually works - and lots of it.

My "beat the heat" options:

Fast. Usually when I am in the later hours of my 16 hour fast I start to get pretty cold as my body reverts heat from my extremeties. This is a decent beat the heat option for the mornings.

Ice water where I mostly keep eating the ice

Cold showers

And my favorite... Cliff diving!

I agree with Josh. They were better conditioned to the heat. They weren't spoiled by air climate controlled environments and by driving around in cars. They had to walk or run wherever they wanted to go, whether the temperature was comfortable by our standards or not. I often wonder how people did it 50-60 years ago without AC, when they were not found without a jacket and tie, but they managed. It is all a matter of what you are used too. I also agree with those who mentioned micro-climates in cities. The concrete and metal, along with the heat expelled by those very same AC units into the outdoors creates those hotter micro-climates in highly populated areas.

The same way people in equatorial regions do it now: they're just plain adapted to it. I was visiting my brother in Texas last year (in July...yeesh). There were some migrant laborers building a brick wall/fence around a pool across the street. It was 110 degrees (and wicked humid) and they were out there laying brick, wearing jeans and sweatshirts. They had no moist rags, no fancy underarmor gear, and they had no shade. They could just handle it.

I spent most of my childhood in the subtropics. This is what we used to do when it was 37 degrees, incredibly humid, and it felt hot even in the shade:

1) Go to the nearest Circle K store

2) Stand in front of the open drinks freezer bitching about the heat until we noticed the clerk staring at us with an expression of hatred.

Seriously, though, you do get used to the heat and learn to not care so much about the fact that you feel sticky and gross all day long. Splashing your face with cold water helps, so does wearing the absolute bare minimum of clothing and no shoes :) Maybe Paleo people just learned to suck it up too, not go out in the sun in the middle of the day, etc. I also agree that the city environment with all the cars and concrete makes it feel MUCH worse, and that's something they wouldn't have had to deal with, obviously.

I have to say living down in Orlando, Florida feels like living directly on the sun - When I walk each day I'm drenched from head to toe when get home. The humidity down here is killer and I really hate it when I'm trying to look pretty! Shade is a must and like someone else said, the cool rag on your neck. I bought these Cool Wrap scarf things to take on a Disney world trip last summer and they are awesome!

Mid NC here and it's miserable outside. I'd agree with a lot of the other posts and just take it real easy as much as possible when it's this hot out, stick to the shade and go swimming when you can. I walk my dog as early in the morning or as late at night as possible to avoid the heat (he's a big boy and can't stand the heat either.) Cold showers work wonders and stay hydrated!!!!