A look at the explosive emergence of present day humans. Lecture presented by Dr. Dennis Wilson.

1. Cultural Big Bang: Explosive
Emergence of Present Day Humans
Dennis Wilson, RTB

2. Outline
1. Introduction and Review
2. Advanced Civilization and Human Culture
3. Timeline of Major Events
4. Inventions as a Discriminator (Review)
5. Discussion and Summary

3. First Threshold: Modern Behavior
• When Did "Modern" Behavior Emerge in Humans?
National Geographic News October 28, 2010
• “Around 50,000 years ago, AMH suddenly started leaving Africa....”
• What propelled modern humans out of Africa?
– “The debate is complicated by differing definitions of what constitutes
modern behavior, and differing interpretations of the archaeological record.”
Anatomically modern humans (AMH) emerge
suddenly about 100,000 years ago in Africa

4. Anatomically Modern Humans: Emergence
• First Theory (Great Leap Forward): Sudden
event about 50,000 years ago, possibly as a
result of a major genetic mutation or a
biological reorganization of the brain that led
to the emergence of modern human
languages. (Jared Diamond)
• Second Theory: Not a single technological or
cognitive revolution, rather a result of the
gradual accumulation of knowledge, skills and
culture occurring over hundreds of thousands
of years of human evolution.*
*Sally Mc Brearty (2000). The revolution that wasn’t: a new interpretation of the origin of modern
human behavior (pdf)

5. “Modern” Human Behavior vs. Anatomy
• “Within the grand scope of human evolution,
symbolic behavior was a very recent
innovation.”
• “Before 50,000 years ago, human anatomy
and human behavior appear to have evolved
relatively slowly, more or less in concert.”
• “After 50,000 years ago, anatomical evolution
all but ceased, while behavioral evolution
accelerated dramatically.”
Recall: AMH are different than “Present Day Humans” (PDH)
Evidence of PDH shows up about 10,000 YA in Mesopotamian

6. Outline
1. Introduction and Review
2. Advanced Civilization and Human Culture
3. Timeline of Major Events
4. Inventions as a Discriminator (Review)
5. Discussion and Summary

7. What is an Advanced Civilization?
• A civilization is:
– A society in advanced state of social development
• Where and when did the first civilization begin?
• How and why (origin question) did they begin?

8. Location of 1st Advanced Civilizations

9. • For anthropologists, culture is the full range of
learned human behavioral patterns, e.g.:
– Language, religion, beliefs, institutions, technology,
cuisine, social habits, music and arts.
• Culture is “systems of knowledge” shared by a
relatively large group of people.
– Culture refers to the inner person, a refinement of head
and heart.
– Civilization is making nature bend to fulfill the needs on
mankind.

10. Culture Evolution/Explosion
“We now understand that the time between major cultural inventions
has become steadily shorter, especially since the invention of
agriculture 8,000-10,000 years ago.” www.anthro.palomar.edu
“ Even as our bodies have changed little in the past 50,000 years,
culture has evolved at an astonishing and ever-accelerating rate”
The Dawn of Human Culture

11. Outline
1. Introduction and Review
2. Advanced Civilization and Human Culture
3. Timeline of Major Events
4. Inventions as a Discriminator (Review)
5. Discussion and Summary

12. First Agrarian Civilization
1. 10,000 BC: Domestication of animals
2. 8,000 BC: Agriculture: farmers settle
in fertile river valleys, produce surplus
food leading to small settlements
3. 6000 BC: Sumerians and Egyptians
use irrigation to farm large areas of
land in the fertile crescent.
4. Next Threshold: Rapid (Explosion)
of Advanced Civilizations 3,500 BC
Genesis 2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to
work it and take care of it.
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,
so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the
livestock and all the wild animals

13. Progression of Advanced Civilization
1. Advanced Cities: Use of irrigation in fertile
river valleys > produce surplus food > leads to
increased population > settlements evolve into
cities, which require governance
2. Central Governments: Councils or religious
leaders began to oversee the business of the
cities, which grow into formal (political,
economic and social) institutions
3. Public Works: Government orders projects to
benefit the community, e.g. walls to protect city,
canals for irrigation, storage of surplus food
4. Writing: Writing is needed to keep records on
trade and food storage and to express more
complex ideas such as belief and social order
Cuneiform ~ 3500 BC
Beginning about 3,500 BC

14. Progression of Advanced Civilization
5. Job Specialization: Artisans and craftsmen for
specialized tasks. Others focus on teaching,
scribing, etc. Specialized jobs produce different
social status.
6. Social Classes: Kings, warriors and religious
leader are more respected. Slaves were on the
lowest rung of the social ladder.
7. Religion Threshold: Religious leaders conduct
ceremonies to appease the gods (polytheism)
8. Art and Architecture: Expresses beliefs and
values of a civilization to impress visitors about
the beauty and power of a king or a community.
Artist painting of Lagash

15. Major Sumerian Inventions
• 3500 BC – Cuneiform uses pictures for words and
inscribes them on clay tablets.
• 3300 BC – Metallurgy first bronze - an alloy of tin
and copper
• 3200 BC - Sumerians use the wheel on vehicles
• 3000 BC - Sumerians invent mathematics using a
base 60 number system
• 3000 BC - Looms for weaving fabric began
1 Kings 7:32 The four wheels were under the panels, and
the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand. The
diameter of each wheel was a cubit and a half.
Genesis 4:22 Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged
all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron.
2 Kings 23:7 … the quarters where women did weaving for
Asherah

16. Acts 7:2 …The God of glory
appeared to our father Abraham
while he was still in Mesopotamia,…
Genesis 10:10 The first centers of
his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk,
Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar.
Sumerians and Akkadians (plus Assyrians and Babylonians) dominated
Mesopotamia from ~ 3500 BC to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC.
In 2330 BC, Sargon I of the Akkadians conquers most of the Sumerian
city states and creates the World's First Empire, the Akkadian Empire.
Isaiah 20:1 In the year that the
supreme commander, sent by
Sargon king of Assyria, came to
Ashdod and attacked and captured it.

17. • 2nd Diaspora occurs ~ 5,000 years ago (after the flood?)
– Recall, the earliest civilizations were:
• Mesopotamian Civilization ~ 3500 BC
• Egyptian Civilization ~ 3100 BC
• Indus River Civilization ~ 3000 BC
• Minoan Civilization on the Island of Crete ~ 2100 BC
Present Day Human Migration Routes

18. Outline
1. Introduction and Review
2. Advanced Civilization and Human Culture
3. Timeline of Major Events
4. Inventions as a Discriminator (Review)
5. Discussion and Summary

19. Inventions: Prior to Advanced Civilization
YEARS AGO Milestones involve broad range in time
34,000 – 43,000 Crude musical instruments
17,000 - 28,000 Twisted rope
64,000 - 8,000 Invention of the bow and arrow.
30,000 – 15,000 Earth-fired pottery
“The flutes, made from bird
bone and mammoth ivory,
come from a cave in southern
Germany …”
“Scientists used carbon dating
to show that the flutes were
between 42,000 and 43,000
years old.” BBC 25 May 2012
Divje Babe flute is a
cave bear femur pierced
found in 1995 and dated
at 43,000 years ago.
Neolithic Arrowheads from
the Sahara ~ 50,00BC
First Bow and Arrow: The
earliest evidence from
Western Europe ~ 40,000
years ago. In 30,000 B.C.,
artists left cave paintings of
the bow and arrow.
1st evidence of Complexity- emergent properties

20. Inventions: Onset Advanced Civilization
YEARS AGO Milestones more accurate
12,000 Domestication of animals
10,000 Agriculture invented
8000 Weaving
7000 Irrigation systems developed in the Middle East.
6000 First use of metals - copper smelted for making tools.
5500
Bronze, copper tin alloy, for making weapons and tools
Wheel appears in Mesopotamia by Sumerians
Writing (Cuneiform) invented by Sumerians
5000 Abacus invented by the Chinese.
Jomon pottery
dated 10,500 BC
Extensive evidence of Complexity
OnsetAdvanced

21. Advanced Civilization occurred in an extremely small interval

22. Contrasting Inventions & Inventors
Homo- Erectus, Habilis, etc. 2.5M years of
static tools similar to chimps
“Two bonobo-chimpanzees have shown the
ability to produce and use stone tools like
prehistoric man did 2.6 million years ago.”
University of Haifa, Israel, published in PNAS
(Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences).
Sumerians build ziggurats in 4000 BC; metallurgy
(bronze) in 3300 BC Egyptians build pyramids in 2600 BC
Large
Hadron
Collider

23. Outline
1. Introduction and Review
2. Advanced Civilization and Human Culture
3. Timeline of Major Events
4. Inventions as a Discriminator (Review)
5. Discussion and Summary

24. Summary
• Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) originated in Africa
about 100,000 to 200,000 years ago (ya). [1]
• Migration out of Africa ~ 70,000 ya
– “Some scientists believe that only a few people left Africa in a
single migration that went on to populate the rest of the world.” [2]
• Behavioral Modernity first appeared ~ 50,000 ya [3]
• Present Day Humans appeared suddenly ~ 10,000 ya
– Body, Soul and Spirit
– Integrated (networked) knowledge
– Cumulative learning
– Complexity – emergent properties
– Language
– Extreme skill specialization
1. Fossil Reanalysis Pushes Back Origin of Homo sapiens, Scientific American. February 17, 2005
2. Rincon, Paul (April 24, 2008). "Human line 'nearly split in two'". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-12-31
3. Mellars, Paul (2006), "Why did modern human populations disperse from Africa ca. 60,00

25. Key Dates
100,000 BC: AMH emerge
50,000 BC: AMH migration out of Africa
30,000 BC: AMH push hominids to extinction
8,000 BC: Agriculture invented (Eden)
3,500 BC: Writing invented (God’s word)
2,000 BC: Abraham is born
1,850 BC: God tells Abraham to go to Canaan
1,500 BC: Moses writes Torah
1,450 BC: Exodus from Egypt
Prehistoric
only record
is stones
and bones
PDH emerge Spirit activated
Secular
history and
God’s Story
recorded by
prophets
begins
God’s miracle, existing “dust” becomes
living flesh, spirit created ex nihilo

26. Bara, Yatsar and Asah
• Genesis 1:26: Then God said, “Let Us make [ asah] man
in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them
rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky
and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
• Genesis 1:27: God created [bara] man in His own
image, in the image of God He created [bara] him; male
and female He created [bara] them.
• Genesis 2:7: Then the LORD God formed [yatsar] man
of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living being.
The Hebrew word bara is often translated "create".
The Hebrew word asah is often translated "make".
The Hebrew word yasar is often translated "form".