Researchers from the Duke University and Durham, North Carolina have made some interesting discoveries based on fossil records that suggest the beginnings of the formation of human society. Based on the study, it was almost 150,000 years after human existence that the ancient humans began to make tools made out of bones, animal antlers, and roughly processed flint. It was also around this time that they discovered how to make weapons, hunting equipment, and grindstones. It was also, apparently, during this period that humankind first discovered fire.
Despite all of these evidences, most experts are still unsure about what the driving force was behind this seemingly technological revolution. The Duke University researchers have formulated a theory that they have published in the journal Current Anthropology stating that, based on an analogy conducted on human skulls from different centuries and from a variety of ethnic populations, there seem to be a direct correlation between the measurement of these skulls to the technological advancements made by humans during different times in history. In fact, during this period when inventions seemed to be sprouting one after the other, it was noticeable that the heavy features of the early humans began to soften to be replaced with the more rounded features of the modern human. Researchers also said that with the softening of the human features, the levels of testosterone in these humans also lowered considerably, which may have also been accountable for them to become more cooperative and sociable as opposed to being competitive and aggressive. These changes in their demeanor would have made it possible for the early humans to work together to create the societal and technological advances for the first time in 150,000 years.
Animal cognition researcher from the Duke University research team, Brian Hare, explains that the hormone driven changes have also occurred on other animals such as chimpanzees, apes, and bonobos. Leading them to believe that seeing similar changes and other animals may help explain human evolution and how we actually got to be the way we are now.
