by tucojuanb on March 13th, 2010

tucojuanb

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Why is it that we have modern human fossils going back 30,000 years, but no evidence
of civilization or writing until 4000 BC?

30,000 BC to 4000BC is a long time with nothing to show, compared to civilization on grand
scale from 4000-2000BC? What gives? Did people just all wake up smarter one day?

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Answers. 2 helpful answers below.

  • by Talimze on March 13th, 2010

    Talimze

    Not really. Inventing a system of writing actually takes a lot of work, and a group of humans is not going to do it if they don't have to, especially since merely surviving was a full time job for them. No, something like writing would not have been invented until people started to settle in (semi)permanent farming communities, which happened about 10,000 years ago. Even then, inventing a writing system would still be too much work without proper motivation. That's why the first types of writing we found were administrative records; basically tax records, which had evolved from the use of symbolic stone tokens.

    So, it's not really about humans not being smart enough to write until 6,000 years ago. It's just that they had no reason to. Human groups throughout history generally only change their ways or invent new things when they need to. For instance, the Aztecs knew about metal and the wheel, yet they still used obsidian swords and travois. Why? Because it worked for them.
    People won't change if they don't need to. It's too much work.

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  • by Moongrim on March 14th, 2010

    Moongrim

    Actually we have some evidence for those gaps.

    My personal opinion? We've not found much of them yet.

    I think the first step towards "civilisation" took place when someone noticed that fermented fruits made the females more " inclinced" and took steps to procure more of it.

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