Of Cavemen and Torah

Strange title, isn't it? But bear with me. I was watching Clash of the Cavemen last night. It was pretty interesting and showed and discussed various scenarios of what may have incurred when the first modern homo sapiens, Cro Magnum, started migrating into what is now Europe. The Neanderthals had lived there for close to 250,000 years and adapted impressively to ice-age conditions.

The Neanderthal bodies were practically suited to the harsh conditions. Stocky bodies helped to conserve necessary heat. Expanded chests and shoulders gave the upper-body strength needed for hunting and again were well-suited for ice-age conditions. Their brains were on par with ours.

Cro Magnum and Neanderthal existed side-by-side for approximately 5,000 years. Cro Magnum men did not have the stocky bodies of the Neanderthal. It would seem that based on physical traits alone, the Neanderthals should have been the ones to have succeeded. Instead, it was the relatively puny Cro Magnum, homo sapiens sapiens, who succeeded.

Cro Magnum had tried unsuccessfully to master ice-age Europe. But were unsuccessful in the first attempt. At the time of their first attempt, there were no apparent differences between the tools of Cro Magnum and Neanderthal. The next time around was the charm. What was the big difference this time around? From ancient sites around Europe, there was a marked increase in the sophistication of tools used by Cro Magnum. The Neanderthal tools, for the most part, were unchanged. It was only when sites of Neanderthal and Cro Magnum overlapped that there was an improvement made to the tools of Neanderthal.

Man, according to Genesis, existed in Gan Eden until the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge was eaten. What could have been the knowledge gained by eating this fruit? What monumental leap was made? Man had been using tools for hundreds of thousands of years. Man had been using a primitive language for thousands of years. Man had been using the furs of animals for hundreds of thousands of years. What was the spark that ignited modern humans?

The show, Clash of the Cavemen speculates that around 40,000 years ago, modern man suddenly was able to expand language capabilities. Man could now trade ideas with one another. Man could use language to impart how to weave fabric. Man could now make lunar charts to track the movement of animals that were hunted. Man now made drawings of the animals they hunted. In short, instead of using, man began to create. The show also suggests that for some reason, the brains of modern humans allowed vowel sounds to be spoken. The placement of Neanderthals vocal cords, the lack of the Broca center limited Neanderthals speech. Speech cannot be underestimated.

It is this ability to communicate, to draw, and to create that gave us the advantage over Neanderthal. But what was the spark that made man use it? It is interesting that in Bereshit, it was only after Adam and Eve had partaken of the Tree of Knowledge, that Adam and Eve realized they were naked and sewed clothing for themselves. Self-awareness and the ability to create had been taken.