During the Paleolithic Period ("Old Stone Age") from 1 million years ago to 10,000 BCE, a slow revolution took place among the human the family (the designation "homo", as in homo sapiens). Small tools were created and used for basic hunting and gathering techniques, which allowed for greater social interaction and the beginning development of clan-like living. Fire too had been invented, which has as its greatest advantage the provision of shelter from the cold, the ability to keep wild animals away, and a technique by which to preserve and eat more food.
From 10,000 BCE to around 6,000 BCE the Neolithic Revolution ("New Stone Age")took place. Better weapons were created, agricultural techniques were refined, and migration began to turn into more settled living. We begin to see the creation of walls and tombs and temples. It is here in the Neolithic era that ingredients for civilization begin to emerge. With a more settled way of life, a rich culture begins to emerge, and from this culture comes the first beginnings of "history", which by technical definition begins with writing. While much of history can be investigated prior to the written word, it is from the written word that we have our best knowledge of the past.
What we should now consider is whether the development from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic Ages and into the period of true civilization can be understood according to a "logic of nature", or whether the entire course of events was made by chance? And if there is a logic of nature, what does this logic mean for us today?
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