Posted on 06/21/2011 6:34:59 AM PDT by decimon
Advanced crafting of stone spearheads contributed to the development of new ways of human thinking and behaving. This is what new findings by archaeologists at Lund University have shown. The technology took a long time to acquire, required step by step planning and increased social interaction across the generations. This led to the human brain developing new abilities.
200 000 years ago, small groups of people wandered across Africa, looking like us anatomically but not thinking the way we do today. Studies of fossils and the rate of mutations in DNA show that the human species to which we all belong – Homo sapiens sapiens – has existed for 200 000 years.
But the archaeological research of recent years has shown that, even though the most ancient traces of modern humans are 200 000 years old, the development of modern cognitive behaviour is probably much younger. For about 100 000 years, there were people who looked like us, but who acted on the basis of cognitive structures in which we would only partially recognise ourselves and which we do not define today as modern behaviour.
It is precisely that period of transformation that the researchers at Lund University in Sweden have studied. In the next issue of the well renowned Journal of Human Evolution, they present their new findings on the early modern humans that existed in what is now South Africa, approximately 80 000 years ago.
The findings show that people at that time used advanced technology for the production of spearheads and that the complicated crafting process developed the working memory and social life of humans.
“When the technology was passed from one generation to the next, from adults to children, it became part of a cultural learning process which created a socially more advanced society than before. This affected the development of the human brain and cognitive ability”, says Anders Högberg, PhD.
The technology led to increased social interaction within and across the generations. This happened because the crafting of stone spearheads took a long time to learn and required a lot of knowledge, both theoretical and practical. Producing a stone spearhead also required the ability to plan in several stages. This social learning contributed to the subsequent development of early modern humans’ cognitive ability to express symbolism and abstract thoughts through their material culture, for example in the form of decorated objects.
“The excavations have been carried out in a small cave; the location we have studied is called Hollow Rock Shelter and lies 250 km north of Cape Town. We are cooperating with the University of Cape Town and the research we have just published is part of a larger research project on this location”, says Professor Lars Larsson.
The article is entitled Lithic technology and behavioural modernity: New results from the Still Bay site, Hollow Rock Shelter, Western Cape Province, South Africa. For more information, please contact:
Anders Högberg, mobile 0709-124315 email: anders.hogberg@sydsvenskarkeologi.se
Lars Larsson, mobile 0708-345430 email lars.larsson@ark.lu.se
Men with the best blades got all the dates.
Maybe a good blade was the equivalent to a sports car?
There is some research which indicates that environmental factors may trigger certain genes being turned on and others being turned off.
“Typical response to the qualifiers: “As soon as you see ‘maybe,’ ‘could have,’ etc., you know these so-called “scientists” don’t know shite!” “
Then I’m not typical.
Qualifiers signify a thoughtful process that acknowledges alternative explanations. “Authoritative” answers that are simply hypotheses smack of Algore and his claiming that AGW is fact, and the debate is over.
Guys who could make a good spear blade or arrow point were more likely to bring home dinner, rather than becoming dinner. "Hello ladies, which of you would like to have some of my meat?"
They got to visit foreign lands, meet interesting people, and kill them.
Evolution is a TWO step process: 1) something must mutate 2) something else must die. Most Darwinists skip over the second step.
You're also not the center of the universe.
The point would be that you can never satisfy everyone so you report your findings and leave the rest to the ken of the reader.
“You’re also not the center of the universe.”
I am the center of MY universe, and that’s what matters to me.
The point is, you taking umbrage to my observation is not only futile, it reveals something about you.
If yours was but an observation about the article content then mine was but an observation of your comment content.
I have generally found that evolution requires the active intervention of an “evolutor” to direct the changes between stage 1 (any given working, living, breeding biological system of one or more generations) to a second breeding, living working biological system through a whole series of tens of thousand of accidental, inefficient, unsymmetric, illogical, and un-working half-and-half steps of dubious utility.
8<)
Bump.
Anders Högberg, mobile 0709-124315
Lars Larsson, mobile 0708-345430
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
They give phone numbers?
Those devil-may-care Swedes.
They likely didn't count on this reaching general public forums. Let them hear from half the lunatics in the world and they'll change policy.
The Neandertal EnigmaFrayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]
by James Shreeve
in local libraries
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Zog make sharp spear. Kill many mastodon. Feed wifey who make many little Zogs.
Thanks Robert A. Cook, PE.
Where is Sylvan? That the capitol of Sylvania?
Zog’s Law of Mastodon Feeding.
(1) When Mrs Zog is hungry, Mrs Zog don’t wanna make more little Zogs ....
(2) When Miss Zig sees Mr Zog has food, Mr Zog becomes much more attractive to Miss Zig.
Zog’s Addendum to the Mammoth Law of Attraction.
A woman goes after the richest man she can attract.
A man goes after the prettiest woman he can attract.
Perhaps a more stark winnowing of the weak and dumb than warfare, was the great Toba eruption around 74,000 years ago. It is suggested that only 5 to 10 thousand humans survived the 6 years of “nuclear winter” that probably ensued. The caldera is about 18 by 65 miles, so you can imagine just how much dust there was in the atmosphere. The quickest, strongest, and smartest would have had an obvious advantage in this situation. Leadership and cooperation would also have been critical.
Don't they grow rutabagas and light bulbs in that region?
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