“In Africa . . . about 150,000 years ago . . . the first modern humans, Homo sapiens . . . appeared. . . .

Then, about 47,000 years ago, Homo sapiens, who had always looked like us now began to behave like us as well. After that time, their sites are flush with carvings, figurines, and other art. They performed elaborate burials. They decorated their bodies and clothes with shells, beads, and the teeth of animals. All of this implies a rich culture, a focused intelligence, and a probing, seeking, imaginative life, none of which had been present before.

There is no apparent reason for this sudden change. Richard G. Klein of Stanford University believes that the change was the result of a neurological change in the brains of Homo sapiens that occurred about 47,000 years ago. Specifically, he believes that this sudden neural alteration created the ability to speak a complicated language. Without language, symbolic thinking would have been impossible. With language, people did begin to think symbolically, and all our art and culture, our music and myths and tales, and all our religions are the result.”

—Gregory Curtis, from The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World’s First Artists, 2006.