Quote:
Originally Posted by SimplySagacious
|
Picasso was given a tour of the Lascaux caves to look at the cave art. When he came out he was asked what he thought. "We have learned nothing" he said indicating that the art from 40k years ago was just as good as what was produced now.
The stone age people in many respects were more inventive than today as most of todays inventions are actually remodels or upgrades of existing technology. In the stone age, they were starting from scratch so there was nothing that came before to build on or improve.
Using just what they could find, they discovered which rocks made the best tools, where to find the best material, how to use fire as a tool to harden wood and cook food, how to make fiber from plants and then make thread or yarn, and then how to weave it to make clothing instead of just using skins. Recent discoveries in Eastern Europe show there was a very sophisticated textile production and trade going on over 30k years ago!
How to make clay pottery and it's associated uses were discovered. Medicine and the study of the human anatomy and how to cure disease were explored. There was a lot of magic involved, but modern science has discovered treating the whole person psychologically as well as physically are essential which many of the old ceremonies did.
They explored and populated the world during some of the most bitter ecological events in history, the Ice Age.
The Clovis peoples from Iberia crossed the Atlantic Ocean on sea ice 25,000 +/_ years ago hunting walrus, seals and deep sea fishes until they reached the outer banks and down into what is now Maryland in North America and lived all across the North American continent until the Younger Dryas period, and with their reduction in population and the receding glaciers, about 17,000 years ago, the Folsom people from Asia were able to migrate to North America.
The paleo peoples had to make use of the plants, animals and stone that they had, but they still discovered that they could smelt copper and gold out of rock for tools and ornamentation.
Permanent settlements, agriculture, animal husbandry, domesticating dogs, goats, sheep, cattle, horses, learning to use animal power to increase their production.
They are the ones that started government with the advent of permanent towns. Division of Labor and Specialization. They built monuments like Stonehenge, and even the Egyptian Pyramids were built before the advent of iron.
Go back to ancient Mesopotamia and you find mathematics, writing,(cuneiform), and huge towers and fortifications built of nothing more than mud bricks.
Everything these people did was the first time it had been done. They couldn't stand on the shoulders of giants, they were the giants.
No, they didn't fly or go to the moon, but they are the foundation of those achievements as well because they always questioned and pushed to learn new ways to do something.
They were very impressive people as a whole.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
that's a great article.
