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for more than 2 million years, the earth was populated with a number of human species, not just one

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from 2 million years ago to around 70,000 years ago, these human species were for the most part unimportant animals living in the middle of the food chain and had a small impact on the environment around them, and they had not done anything particularly influential

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70,000 years ago something began to change:

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Homo sapiens began migrating out of Africa

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as they spread out onto the Eurasia land mass, they drove the other human species (e.g. Homo neanderthalensis [Europe], Homo denisova [Asia/Siberia], and Homo soloensis [Java]) into extinction

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Indications that 70,000 years ago something special was happening to Homo sapiens which gave them new abilities

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INDICATION #1: the ability to migrate

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70,000 years ago, Homo sapiens in East Africa looked just like us

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if you could take a body of a Homo sapiens from 70,000 and gave it to a doctor today to dissect and analyze, he would find all organs in their relative sizes as we have today

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the brains of Homo sapiens 100,000 years ago were also identical in shape and size to ours, yet they did not produce any sophisticated tool, did not accomplish any special feats, and they did not enjoy any advantage over the other human species.

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when Homo sapiens first started to migrate to the Middle East 100,000 years ago, they were driven back by the Neanderthals

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70,000 years ago, Homo sapiens migrated again into and across the Arabian peninsula into the Middle East, but this time they were able to drive the Neanderthals out and continued on to drive all other human species to extinction

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60,000 years ago reached area of what is now Korea

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45,000 years ago, Homo sapiens crossed the open sea from Indonesia and landed in Australia

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no other human species had been able to do this

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had to learn how to make boats or rafts

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15,000 years ago Homo sapiens crossed into North America from Siberian Alaska

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had to learn how to survive in this cold environment

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Sapiens who had evolved to live in the warm and dry temperatures of Africa had to adapt quickly to these new areas in which they were migrating, e.g. India, New Guinea, and Siberia

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that they could do this was an indication that something was happening which gave them this ability to migrate, chase out other human species, and adapt themselves to the new environments

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INDICATION #2: the appearance of the needle

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was able to cross the ocean from Indonesia to Australia, i.e. had developed some kind of sail boat or craft

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later reached other islands such as Japan

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another very important invention that we begin to see in the archeological record about 40,000 to 50,000 years ago is the needle. This may not strike you as a particularly useful invention but it was one of the most influential inventions in the history of humankind. Before the needle, Homo sapiens and the Neanderthal had rudimentary clothes such as skins of bears or deer, but the needle enabled them to attach materials together, dress in layers, make tents and boots, and thus made it possible to successfully live in colder temperature environments which enabled them within 40,000 years to migrate onto all of the six land continents.

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INDICATION #3: the appearance of the oil lamp

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used animal fat in container to keep fire lit

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this enabled Homo sapiens to navigate dark caves as well as create painting in dark caves

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the cave paintings in southern France and Spain date to the time that the Homo sapiens arrived in Europe and began replacing the Neanderthals

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so the oil lamp was a key to an artistic revolution

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INDICATION #4: improvement of older tools

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for hundreds of thousands of years up to about 70,000 years ago, all human species (Neanderthal, Sapiens, Denisova, Homo erectus) were all building pretty much the same stone knives, spear points, axes, and hammers without change.

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then from 70,000 years onward in Homo sapiens, we see continued improvement in these tools

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INDICATION #5: art and jewelry

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40,000 years ago: cave dwelling art

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INDICATION #6: appearance of trade

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INDICATION #7: societies of 100s of people not just dozens of people

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INDICATION #8: first evidence of imagination

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Lion man of the Hohlenstein Stadel

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40,000 years ago

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oldest known animal-shaped sculpture in the world and one of the oldest known sculptures in general

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lion head with human body

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shows that ability for Homo sapiens to imagine things that don't really exist

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lion-men existed only in the imagination of Sapiens

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all of these achievements were a result of a revolution in the cognitive abilities in Homo sapiens

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to communicate

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to remember

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to think

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common speculative theory of why the cognitive revolution happened

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some minor genetic mutation which caused some change in the internal structure of the brain, perhaps bringing two two areas closer into contact

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no matter how the change happened, the more interesting question is what were the characteristics which this change brought about that gave Homo sapiens the ability to develop sophistication more rapidly than other human species