So as through a glass, and darkly

The age long strife I see

Where I fought in many guises,

Many names, but always me.

THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY by Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.

Most fossil evidence suggests that biologically modern human beings (species Homo sapiens) first appear about 120,000 years ago. Cro-Magnon man, with prominent chin, a sharply rising forehead, and a gracile skeleton existed some 40,000-10,000 years ago.  These ancestors of ours did not differ at all from modern man and were an infant from that period somehow transported to the 21st Century, it would likely grow to adulthood indistinguishable from any of us. 

Though these humans were modern in anatomy their lifestyle changed very little from their predecessors such as Homo erectus and the Neanderthals. They used the same crude stone tools. Archaeologist Richard G. Klein argues that almost everywhere, whether Asia or Africa or Europe, before 50,000 years ago all the stone tools are very much alike and unsophisticated. However after 50,000 years ago there is sharp increase in the diversity of artifacts. For the first time bone artifacts, and the first art appear in the fossil record in Africa. The first evidence of human fishing is also noted from artifact in places like Blombos cave in South Africa. After 50,000 years ago, firstly in Africa, it was found that he could easily sort the human artifacts into many different categories, such as projectile points, engraving tools, knife blades, and drilling and piercing tools. These new stone tool types have been described as being distinctly differentiated from each other as if each tool had a specific name. 3000 to 4000 years later this technology would then spread to Europe resulting in a population explosion of modern humans and also the extinction of the Neanderthals. The invaders commonly referred to as the Cro-Magnons left many sophisticated stone tools, cave art and Venus figurines. This shift from Middle to Upper Paleolithic is called the Upper Paleolithic Revolution.

In understanding our human nature, what is most important to remember is that while technology has altered man’s environment over the many epochs, his biology remains the same. A child of the Upper Paleolithic era (between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago) would be impossible to tell apart from a child born today.

Up until only around 10,000 years ago, all humans lived as hunter-gatherers (with some communities persisting until this day). They generally lived in small, nomadic groups. The advent of agriculture prompted the Neolithic Revolution. Access to food surplus led to the formation of permanent human settlements, the domestication of animals, and the use of metal tools. Agriculture also encouraged trade and cooperation, leading to complex societies. Villages developed into thriving civilizations in regions such as the Middle East's Fertile Crescent.

Around 6,000 years ago, the first proto-states developed in Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus Valley. Military forces were formed for protection, and government bureaucracies for administration. States cooperated and competed for resources, in some cases waging wars. Around 2,000 – 3,000 years ago, some states, such as Persia, China, and Rome, developed through conquest into the first expansive empires. Influential religions, such as Judaism, originating in the Middle East, and Hinduism, a religious tradition that originated in South Asia, also rose to prominence at this time.

---