We have many questions about our past. One of those questions is a rather complex one. It can be summed up thus: if modern humans arose about 200,000 years ago, why did it take another 160,000 years for them to start acting like modern humans?
Specifically, scientists ask (and argue) why humanity took so long to develop the basic cultural skills that signify human cognizance -- our awareness of self within the universe. The most commonly cited metric in prehistoric studies and analyses is art. If early man took the time to be artistic, it meant he was beginning to think beyond his basic needs: breathing, drinking, eating, reproducing, and surviving.
There have been three recent archaeological discoveries which have sparked both debate and the imagination.
The Oldest Known Artwork: Blombos Cave
In early 2002 scientists announced the discovery of 70,000 year-old human art found in a cave in South Africa. Soft ochre stone was apparently carved with an intricate pattern of criss-crossed lines. Some detractors argue the scrapes are just meaningless doodles. But perhaps they represent a picture, say of a range of mountains, perhaps lining a lake or a seashore.
What we can be sure of is that someone took the time to carve lines in a piece of rock. We don't know why. Perhaps it was a bored hunter waiting for a kill and at the end of a day he took his doodles home with him. Perhaps it was a bored child confined to a cave by Mom on a rainy day when there were dangerous animals or enemies close by.
There might be lost significance which cannot be conveyed by the carvings themselves. Perhaps prehistoric artisans had to prove they had certain skills in order to be admitted into a special group of artisans. Maybe carving straight lines on a rock meant something like, "I know how to carve straight lines on a rock -- most people cannot do that." Have you ever tried to draw a straight line on paper? It's not as easy as it looks for many people.
Archaeologists suggest Python cult existed 70,000 years ago
In 2006 a team of archaeologists proposed that African San people worshipped a giant python rock 70,000 years ago. Scientists suggest that 300-400 carvings may have enhanced firelight views (scroll down) of the rock.
The San people believe that humanity descended from a python. Of course, serpents figure in other mythologies -- including the Biblical story of Genesis, where the serpent is the avatar of evil who uses Eve to persuade Adam to commit the first sin against God.
All we know for sure is that someone carved a natural python-like rock formation to look more snake-like. And it occurred around the same time as the ochre stone carving in Bomblos Cave.
Maybe the architect was practicing his design on ochre stone before going to the python rock?
Archaeologists debate whether Moroccan shells are ancient jewelry
Around 82,000 years ago humans living along the coast of northwest Africa in what is now Morocco apparently carried snail shells 50 km inland (that would be about 31.25 miles for those of us who live in the United States). 31 miles may not seem like such a great distance but it's a very long distance for primitive peoples who don't have roads, cars, or safe passage.
The shells, remnants of sea snails whose shells have been found in archaeological digs throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe dating back over 110,000 years, appear to have been pierced as if hung on a string.
Some ancient (but historical) systems of exchange did, in fact, put objects of value (even coins) on strings. But would humans have had a need for a medium of exchange 82,000 years ago? Some scientists argue that since these snails are found in archaeological digs all over the Old World, there is no real significance to the holes in the shells (which could have been created by microbes).
Most recently it has been announced that these odd beads with holes in them have been found in even older layers.
But stop and consider this: these snail shells have been found in archaeological digs all over the Old World.
What Might Have Been 70,000 Years Ago
We have no evidence to sugggest there was a sophisticated human culture 70,000 years ago but we do have evidence that the previous interglacial warming period ended about that time -- probably because of the Toba supervolcano eruption that scientists believe brought on a new period of cooling which either created or speeded the last glaciation period (which lasted from approximately 70,000 BCE to approximately 12,000 BCE).
Scientists estimate that the total surviving human population (then divided between Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens?) numbered maybe only 10,000 people -- about 2,000 mating couples with children and/or aged parents. Those people mostly survived in Africa, it seems.
It may also be that there were more men than women 60,000 years ago when modern humans are believed to have begun leaving Africa. If most of the emigrants were men, what happened to all the women? In the course of 10,000 years one might expect the human population to re-establish its gender-balances.
Tool-making Improved 80,000 Years Ago
In another recent study, scientists argue that tool-making became more sophisticated in southern Africa between 80,000 and 60,000 years ago.
Tool-making cannnot be overemphasized. Scientists have been studying a dry lake-bed in the Kalahari desert where ancient stone axes and other tools were manufactured for 10s of thousands of years ranging from about 150,000 years ago to about 10,000 years ago. The Kalahari desert is located in and near Botswana, which is just to the north of central South Africa.
Another recent find suggests that ancient humans along the coast of South Africa (and near Cape Town) used fire in their tool-making processes about 72,000 years ago. Firing stone tools makes them stronger and more durable. Maybe a fired stone tool was used to etch criss-crossing lines in an ochre stone.
Genetic studies suggest that African Pygmies diverged from other modern humans about 60,000 years ago and that the modern Pygmy groups (East and West) emerged around 20,000 years ago.
It is probably no coincidence that the Pygmy peoples became distinct from other modern humans about the same time that a mostly male population began leaving Africa for other lands. There must have been a great upheaval, something which our science has yet to identify.
Modern Human Culture 60,000 Years Ago
It has been proposed that all modern men are descended from one man who lived in Africa about 60,000 years ago (by contrast, genetic studies suggest our common female ancestor lived about 150,000 years ago). There are certainly a lot of possible explanations (many of them implausible) for how one man living at any given time could become the male ancestor of modern humanity.
For example, Genghis Khan is believed to be the ancestor of about 8% of Asian men and many men outside of Asia as well. I read one estimate that suggested Genghis Khan could have had as many as 30,000 living descendants when he died.
Some scientists argue that modern human migration from Africa began as much as 40,000 years prior to the time of "Adam" -- and that is not inconsistent with the data we have. Other modern human populations could have left Africa, died out in the Toba event, or eventually were taken over by Adam's descendants.
The story of Genghis Khan shows us that immense human population upheavals are plausible. He swept across Asia and conquered most of Asia, establishing what would eventually become the largest empire history has known.
60,000 years ago there need only have been a relatively small population of modern humans in Africa. Adam could have been a dynamic leader who gathered the clans, took all the best women for himself, and fathered a generation of ambitious young warriors. In the ensuing years groups of people could have broken off from Adam's little kingdom, migrating away from his successors' area of control.
Perhaps small bands of warriors went north seeking fame, fortune, and women of their own, each group led by one or more of Adam's sons, grandsons, or great-grandsons.
Toba-event Survivors Outside Africa
We can be reasonably certain that there was more than one group of survivors from the Toba event because Neanderthals continued to exist in Europe and the Near East. These small groups of men were pretty sophisticated, probably as sophisticated as our own ancestors.
For example, around 60,000 years ago Neanderthals developed primitive dental hygiene (although there is evidence people were picking their teeth as far back as 2 million years ago).
Neanderthals have been given credit for all sorts of developments, including artwork, possibly religious rituals, caring for injured relatives, and more. 60,000 years Neanderthals began hunting Mammoths in Britain.
There is probably sufficient data for us to conclude that human groups moved around and exchanged gifts, trophies, and perhaps even mates as far back as 100,000 years ago -- maybe longer.
We don't have enough evidence to show there was anything like an intergroup culture capable of waging war or engaging in large-scale activity, but I wouldn't be surprised if archaeologists begin uncovering more interesting remnants of a history we never recorded.
For another attempt at explaining this, check out Africa 60,000 years ago: The Age of Adam in SF-Fandom's Archaeology and Prehistory Forum.
SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.
No comments:
Post a Comment