Homo sapiens have been provably around for a minimum of 120,000 years?

Question

So how can it be that civilisation only got started 7000 years ago? Doesn't it seem rather unlikely that people who were in all probability smarter than we are today( Based on the premise that 100,000 years ago stupid people died, whereas now they breed like rabbits), sat around banging flints together for over 100,000 years. I think there must have been some catastrophe or "Global flood" that erased evidence of previous civilisations and that the evidence we are left with is that of the rebuilding of civilisation.

Answer 1

You need a large population to develop a civilization. The more people you have, and can support, the more chance you have of developing a culture. The factors affecting global human population are very simple. They are fertility, mortality, initial population, and time.

The US Census Bureau has estimates of the world population throughout history

10,000 years ago between 1 and 10 million

8000 years ago 5 million  

6500 years ago 5  to 10 million

5000 years ago 5 to 20 million.

4000 years ago 7 million

3000 years ago 14 million

2000 years ago 27 million

1000 years ago 50 million

http://www.census.gov/

Until 1800, when improved medicine and sanitation was developed, the average lifespan of humans was between 20 and 35 years. Even the introduction of soap has impacted population. Much of the rise in life expectancy has been due to reducing infant mortality. For most of history, children often died, women died giving birth and it was a lucky few that reached old age.

Consider the Black Death. It's estimated 40% of the population of Europe died during three years in the 1340s. Throughout history many other plagues likely swept through human populations. It's estimated 90% of the Native American population crash after 1492 was due to imported European diseases.

Most human groups, up until the rise of cities, were extended families with perhaps 30 people. All had to work and often were nomadic so as not to exhaust the food resources.

One agriculture started. the people became settled. They needed to build storage areas to protect the food crops, houses to live in and needed develop ways to function in larger groups.

While agriculture lead to settlements and civilization, it was extremely hard on the people. Grinding grain on stone leaves rock dust in the food. This wears the teeth out. Cavities abounded. Children's bones often show malnutrition. Diseases such as Tuberculosis, yaws, osteroarthritis and syphilis appear.

Dependence on crops can be dangerous. It's estimated that some 50% of the calories consumed by the worlds population is from wheat, rice and corn. The potential disaster is shown by the Irish potato famine in the 19th century killed over a million people. The Anasazi civilization fell apart after an extended drought in the Southwest.

Sum it up; 100,000 years ago a few thousand  (or hundred)modern humans leave Africa. No doubt many died from climate, and disease. The low numbers meant a slow population growth. Limited food resources kept numbers down. There wasn't much time for art and permanent buildings weren't feasible if you'd just be moving on. Agriculture helped produce more food and it lead to building permanent structures.You still need a surplus of food to support non-productive people (priest, soldiers, artists, laborers, don't grow food) Disease could wipe settlements out.

Given, people were just as smart then as now. However, they used the first technologies and didn't have the resources we enjoy today. It was a long, hard slog to get to civilization.

Answer 2

If you've read McKenna, he thinks a magic mushroom spore fell from space 7,000yrs ago and the mushrooms gave us the ability to empathize and reason to become human. It would explain a lot these questions as to why so many civilizations and religions have the same starting date.  RScott

Answer 3

There were several catastrophes...

The most noticable one, was the largest volcanic eruption in the past 2 million years, the Mt. Toba volcanic eruption, 74,000 years ago, which caused a 6-year "nuclear winter" (Mini-Ice Age), during which it's estimated, only 2-10,000 humans worldwide survived!

The main reason though, was the discovery of agriculture. Civilization means "City" in Latin. Prior to that, humans were exclusively Hunter/Gatherers, and the earth was plentiful.

At the end of the last Ice Age (Ca.10,000 years ago), wild game was sparse, and surviving populations had to be innovative. Planting grain required remaining in the same place for a few seasons. The storable food which resulted, allowed many people to live in one place. Houses were built. Engineering and sanitation were addressed. Field irrigation was discovered...The rest, is History!

Answer 4

There are a number of submerged cities that date back  to the ice age, but since they were coastal, are now under about 100m of water, due to the ice melting when the ice age ended. There's one off the Bay of Cambay, and there's a submerged stone temple off the coast of Okinawa.

http://members.toast.net/rjspina/Japan's...

The oldest on-land town is Catal Huyuk in Turkey, at 9,500 years. The submerged city off India is tentatively dated to over ten thousand years old. Anything any older than that would be under about 100+ metres of melt water, and unlikely to be found. So any civilisations probably were disrupted by a global flood, in a sense.

The European Trypillian civilization was working copper, and building cities about 7000 years ago, but since they were wood houses, they didn't leave much of a mark for us to see.

http://www.trypillia.com/info/index.shtm...

Answer 5

It was when agriculture developed to the point that large concentrated populations could be supported with crops that "civilization" started with the formation of cities and specialized production of the necessities of life.

Answer 6

The previous posters beat me to it.  I've always been fascinated by anthropology, and if I weren't such a wimp, I would have gone into the field.  But that's the trouble, I was afraid I'd have to go into the field and dig.  I'm also lazy.

Answer 7

Are you kidding?

There's still "human slavery" going on in the world, not to mention savage wars between tribes wielding machetes and knives who attack each other in mass and slaughter thousands of people in one night...

Sheesh!  In my opinion...we still need to work a little more on getting civilization actually going the way it's suppose to work...

We're just babies...and baby?!?

We've got a long way to go...dontcha' know...

Answer 8

It is believed that there was a cultural barrier that needed to be passed before humans could create tools. Different civilizations took different times to break this barrier. In Africa it was broken somewhat 150k, the rest of the world 40k+. Fact is that while they were anatomically equivalent it took archaic sapiens a while to overcome some of the basic human condition qualities.

Answer 9

Yes, that happened. Without records, anything could have happened. I wonder if the myths and legends might be based on truth. Maybe technology was far beyond what we have today.

They learned to think, some say. But what is thinking? I am not sure just what thinking is. My cat can think. You know, solves problems. Makes lots of decisions and adapts and make adjustments. Tries new ways to get what she wants. Is that thinking. She cannot do calculus or surf the web but she has no need. She only worries about the vicious tom cat that lurks outside. She provides a wonderful example for me to study. Keeping it simple is very appealing. I worry to much and she only worries about immediate threats and, otherwise, gets everything she wants. Am I better off or is she? Thinking and fretting over unnecessary things may be what thinking is. I think Buddha realized the same thing. Cravings for the unnecessary may be a curse. I wonder which of us has the most fun and contentment. She has good mental health but I am not sure about me.

Answer 10

Good movie coming out titled: 10,000BC and it explores some fictional ideas for civilizations before we had knowledge of them.  They may not have had written records or they could be buried somewhere.  Who knows?  Very interesting.  

This concept of rebuilding an entire civilization after a prior one ending was covered in a novella by Dr Isaac Asimov, titled: Nightfall.  Ingenious premise and story. It wowed the critics so much that they voted it the very best science fiction story ever written.  You may want to pick it up, I think you will find it fascinating.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightfall_%...

In 1968, the Science Fiction Writers of America voted Nightfall the best science fiction short story ever written prior to the establishment of the Nebula Awards in 1965 and included it in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964.

Answer 11

I have just read all the previous answers.

Now I have

an image.

A tall, round,

Layer Cake.

the layers

are separated

by an assortment

of fillings.

These fillings

are civilizations

destroyed,and

melted down.  

The next layer

is the new

rebuilt civilization.

There could be more,

or maybe

it is finally time,

for the icing.

Answer 12

Civilization as a term started that long ago, but humanity has been around for longer.. Civilization is just the organization of our societies.  Its when we became "civil" and started forming governments, currency, etc.

I love your rabbit line though... True huh?

Answer 13

"Global flood" my 10 foot pole.  Even stupid people, at a billion to one odds, can give birth to a Mozart.  The beginning of the god problem started 100,000 yeas ago with Baal, and it has been hanging up progress ever since.  We would have had the Internet by 1030 A.D. if it werent for the "A.D."

Answer 14

Wow i wonder if our brains are any bigger now days than back then?i hope so some of us missed the larger brains of yester year but i get by pretty well i guess.

Answer 15

I agree that it seems unlikely that ancient civilizations were smarter than us . However for their day the Egyptians and the Inca's were advanced for their day . If not for the setbacks suffered by these earlier civilizations it makes one wonder where we would be today , perhaps a lot more advanced then we now are I would say . Since it's happened many times before the destruction of civilizations that is , the probability it may happen to us as well at some point looms large . For instance global warming or nuclear war  may cause history to again repeat itself and all that may be left is a wondering band of survivors without means and quite dumbed down by current standards. This has likely happened many times over the millennium and likely will continue despite our greatest efforts . In essence I believe there will always be forces capable of our destruction which are far beyond our capabilities to stop, however a nuclear war would be an exception .

Answer 16

I ordered ham and eggs and what are you serving?

Take 12 Tylenol and call me in the morning.....unless a flood shows and Jehovah's witnesses ring your bell again.

Answer 17

Things like how the Eygyptians came up with a ready made and workable form of 'writing' (To use the term loosely for heiroglyphs) with no apparent developmental period.

How suddenly the incas were able to build earthquake proof stone edifices that have stood for millenia and even now we still struggle.

Same with the pyramids (bl@@dy Eygyptians again) in that the Great Pyramids actually appear to have heralded a DECLINE in building standards.

Where did the Piri Reis (Turkish guy I think) map originate? It accurately depicts the landshape UNDER the Antarctic ice, which has been there for at least 20,000 years.

Ooh, got loads of stuff like that.

Answer 18

INNIT, YA WAT?!! got lite? me smoke.