QuoteReplyTopic: Hard Wiring of the Brain/Advanced Cavemen Posted: 04-May-2007 at 22:25
For 10,000 years the humans in the Americas were seperated from the rest of the world, however a number of simularities seem to have happened.
There seem to be two answers. Either they dated back into pre-history before the two groups were seperated or they were independant parallell developments.
Example: both the Americas and the rest of the world developed marriage. Did both groups carry the concept out of Africa 30 millenia ago or did they both independantly develop it, which with such a unique concept must be more than coincidence.
Many more parallells seem to exist. At the same time the Romans were building multistory concrete apartment blocks, in Teotihuacan the Mexicans were doing the same from Adobe. The same ideas in all areas, farming , architecture, tool design, dress, decorations, social customs, legal codes, social organisations seem to repeat again and again in the two worlds.
Question is this because the human brain is hard wired to have the same ideas or is their another reason?
Using your example alone I would say it's hard wired. Animals of certain specie mate for life, it's not hard to conclude that an instinctual act could have been carried on through evolution and it itself evolved. Except it's not that simple, if it was you wouldn't have posted this in the first place
Looking at whole picture, I would have to say that there is some other reason which, is acting in concert with hardwiring. There are ideas here that hardwiring alone cannot be held accountable for. You have to examine animal behaviors to be able to separate them.
The real Spaniard in the Works here is the other reason[ and speaking of Spaniards, he will show up shortly I'm sure. Just a soon as someone mentions pre-Columbian contact] The first likely candidate would be inter cultural communications at some time in the last 10,000-15,000 years.
"Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces".
Unknown.
I'm not sure about this, but the civilizations of America didn't have knowledge of the weel, so if the human mind was wired, how could one of the most important tools of the world didn't make it's appearance in ancient America.
Give me a place to stand and I will move the world.
I'm not sure about this, but the civilizations of America didn't have knowledge of the weel, so if the human mind was wired, how could one of the most important tools of the world didn't make it's appearance in ancient America.
As paul pointed out, they had knowledge of the wheel. I've seen wheeled toys dating back as far as 2000 bce. They certainly had knowledge of the axle and pivot. What they didn't have were draft animals to pull carts. Consequently the wheel was used in other ways.
"Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces".
Unknown.
They sure didn't had an alphabet or something, right?
Over 15 distinct writing systems have been Identified in Mesoamerica alone. With some going as far back as 3000 bce. The Mayan is probably the most commonly known.
"Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces".
Unknown.
As some of you know, I suport the idea of inter cultural contact, however that doesn't mean I am closed to other possibilities. The article below illustrates what I believe Paul is looking at. Which might be called simultaneous discovery.
From Swiss Info-
Swiss archaeologist digs up West Africa's past
A Swiss:led team of archaeologists has discovered pieces of the oldest African pottery in central Mali, dating back to at least 9,400BC.
The sensational find by Geneva University's Eric Huysecom and his international research team, at Ounjougou near the Unesco:listed Bandiagara cliffs, reveals important information about man's interaction with nature.
The age of the sediment in which they were found suggests that the six ceramic fragments : discovered between 2002 and 2005 : are at least 11,400 years old. Most ancient ceramics from the Middle East and the central and eastern Sahara regions are 10,000 and between 9:10,000 years old, respectively.
"At the beginning, the very first piece we found stayed in my desk drawer for years, as I didn't realise how old it was," Huysecom told swissinfo.
Huysecom heads a 50:strong interdisciplinary team, composed of 28 international researchers ? mainly from Germany, Mali, Switzerland, France and Britain : on the largest current archaeological research project in Africa, entitled "Human population and paleo:environment in West Africa".
Ounjougou was selected as the location, "as everything led us to believe that there we could follow the evolution of man, the environment and the climate", explained Huysecom.
The site is an archaeologist's dream: a ravine made up of layers of easy:to:date sediment rich in West African history.
Significant findings
Since the launch of the project in 1997, the team has made numerous discoveries about ancient stone:cutting techniques and tools, and other important findings that shed light on human development in the region.
But the unearthing of the ancient fragments of burnt clay is one of the most significant to date. Huysecom is convinced that pottery was invented in West Africa to enable man to adapt to climate change.
"Apart from finding the oldest ceramic in Africa, the interesting thing is that it gives us information about when and under what circumstances man can invent new things, such as pottery," he explained.
"And the invention of ceramic is linked to specific environmental conditions ? the transformation of the region from desert into grassland."
Grasslands
Some 10,000 years ago, at the end of the ice age, the climate is thought to have fluctuated between warm and cold periods. This led to the formation of an 800:kilometre:wide band of tropical vegetation extending northwards from the Sahel region, which attracted people who slowly moved north from southern and central Africa.
Wild grasses and pearl millet started sprouting on the former desert land. But for man to be able to eat and properly digest the new plants, they had to be stored and cooked in pots.
"Man had to adapt his food and way of life by inventing pottery," said the Geneva professor.
The invention of ceramic also coincided with that of small arrowheads : also discovered by the team ? and which were probably used to hunt hares, pheasants and other small game on the grassy plains.
To date, East Asia ? the triangle between Siberia, China and Japan ? is the only other area where similar pottery and arrowheads have been found which are as old as those in West Africa, explained Huysecom.
"This is important, as they both appear in same way, at the same time and under similar climatic conditions, which indicates that man has certain modes of adaptation to cope with environmental changes," he commented.
Ahead of the final publication of the team's research findings this year, Huysecom is returning to Ounjougou to rejoin his colleagues, in particular those from West Africa "who are extremely proud of the discovery".
He plans to scour the region for caves and other settlement sites to try and find out exactly where the pottery came from so as to determine more precisely the age of the fragments.
"We know [from the sediment] that they are at least 11,400 years old, but they could be 50 or even 1,000 years older."
swissinfo, Simon Bradley
Swiss archaeologist digs up West Africa's past
A Swiss:led team of archaeologists has discovered pieces of the oldest African pottery in central Mali, dating back to at least 9,400BC.
The sensational find by Geneva University's Eric Huysecom and his international research team, at Ounjougou near the Unesco:listed Bandiagara cliffs, reveals important information about man's interaction with nature.
The age of the sediment in which they were found suggests that the six ceramic fragments : discovered between 2002 and 2005 : are at least 11,400 years old. Most ancient ceramics from the Middle East and the central and eastern Sahara regions are 10,000 and between 9:10,000 years old, respectively.
"At the beginning, the very first piece we found stayed in my desk drawer for years, as I didn't realise how old it was," Huysecom told swissinfo.
Huysecom heads a 50:strong interdisciplinary team, composed of 28 international researchers ? mainly from Germany, Mali, Switzerland, France and Britain : on the largest current archaeological research project in Africa, entitled "Human population and paleo:environment in West Africa".
Ounjougou was selected as the location, "as everything led us to believe that there we could follow the evolution of man, the environment and the climate", explained Huysecom.
The site is an archaeologist's dream: a ravine made up of layers of easy:to:date sediment rich in West African history.
Significant findings
Since the launch of the project in 1997, the team has made numerous discoveries about ancient stone:cutting techniques and tools, and other important findings that shed light on human development in the region.
But the unearthing of the ancient fragments of burnt clay is one of the most significant to date. Huysecom is convinced that pottery was invented in West Africa to enable man to adapt to climate change.
"Apart from finding the oldest ceramic in Africa, the interesting thing is that it gives us information about when and under what circumstances man can invent new things, such as pottery," he explained.
"And the invention of ceramic is linked to specific environmental conditions ? the transformation of the region from desert into grassland."
Grasslands
Some 10,000 years ago, at the end of the ice age, the climate is thought to have fluctuated between warm and cold periods. This led to the formation of an 800:kilometre:wide band of tropical vegetation extending northwards from the Sahel region, which attracted people who slowly moved north from southern and central Africa.
Wild grasses and pearl millet started sprouting on the former desert land. But for man to be able to eat and properly digest the new plants, they had to be stored and cooked in pots.
"Man had to adapt his food and way of life by inventing pottery," said the Geneva professor.
The invention of ceramic also coincided with that of small arrowheads : also discovered by the team ? and which were probably used to hunt hares, pheasants and other small game on the grassy plains.
To date, East Asia ? the triangle between Siberia, China and Japan ? is the only other area where similar pottery and arrowheads have been found which are as old as those in West Africa, explained Huysecom.
"This is important, as they both appear in same way, at the same time and under similar climatic conditions, which indicates that man has certain modes of adaptation to cope with environmental changes," he commented.
Ahead of the final publication of the team's research findings this year, Huysecom is returning to Ounjougou to rejoin his colleagues, in particular those from West Africa "who are extremely proud of the discovery".
He plans to scour the region for caves and other settlement sites to try and find out exactly where the pottery came from so as to determine more precisely the age of the fragments.
"We know [from the sediment] that they are at least 11,400 years old, but they could be 50 or even 1,000 years older."
swissinfo, Simon Bradley
"Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces".
Unknown.
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