Birth of the human race

I put the birth of the modern human species, Homo sapiens sapiens, at about 50,000 years ago. Around that time, there seems to have occurred a quantum change in social evolution. Beforehand, a hundred thousand years could go by without any noticeable change in the form and technique of stone tools. Afterwards, there was a process of continual development, from stone tools to the Saturn V.

I ascribe this change to the emergence of proper language. No doubt, for a million or more years, the genus Homo had had language skills somewhere between that of modern humans and what chimpanzees have been able to achieve. However, I equate the appearance of 'full' language, implying subtle gradations of syntax and the ability to express any concept, with the achievement of full humanity. Having said this, the crucial innovation was probably not in language per se, but in some more abstract cognitive skill, such as symbolic thought. For instance, a clear distinction between our species and the closely related Neanderthals was that the Neanderthals produced little or nothing that can be called art, whereas early humans were already producing art that stands comparison with modern work. The newly acquired capacities for both art and true language might therefore be traceable back to some novel mental aptitude, common to both.

I admit, such an attempt to pin down the reason for and birthdate of modern humanity is to some extent prejudice and guesswork. There will always be archaeologists pushing back the date of human origins. Nevertheless, one has to have some kind of baseline, and the 40,000 BC date for the emergence of our species is a traditional one in the literature. In speaking of 50,000 years of human existence, I am rounding up this traditional figure in anticipation of future discoveries.