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sem
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from Bridgend,S.Wales
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|  Posted 29-11-2005 at 00:31
Having seen a quote that Neolithic / Bronze Age man was less intelligent than us, does anyone have any evidence for this.
Personally I believe that modern man has just a larger reservoir of knowledge due to writing and better language skills.
Any comments or thoughts?
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MickM
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from London
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| Posted 29-11-2005 at 11:57
It is the quote that lacks intelligence. Who said it? I would agree in part with your summation, but would go further & specify technological knowledge as being the main advantage of modern people. The ability to read & write makes communication of that knowledge easier & quicker, but the lack of writing did not prevent technical advances in prehistory & one should not underestimate the effectiveness of an oral tradition in communicating knowledge. It is in the application of the available knowledge that the true comparative test of intelligence lies & there is no evidence to suggest that prehistoric people were any less adept at exploiting their knowledge base than we are today.
[ This message was edited by: MickM on 2005-11-29 11:59 ]
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Thorgrim
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| Posted 29-11-2005 at 19:08
I agree entirely with Mick. Who gave the quote and what evidence did they put forward?
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sem
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| Posted 30-11-2005 at 20:27
The quote is in the last reply to the "Stonehenge Live" debate (28.11.05. 22:17). No evidence was given.
To me it seems a good subject to debate. MickM has a good point.
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Thorgrim
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| Posted 30-11-2005 at 21:41
Ah I see! Thanks Sem. I don't usually read stuff from Anonymous contributors so that is why I didn't see this nonsense:
"Most of the theories I have heard all forget about the brutality and basic understanding the humans had during these times. As we are more intelligence that the humans then I deludes us to think its something less inhuman."
Total crap with no evidence - just bigotted opinion and not worth a reply. How can anyone believe that Stonehenge was built by people less intelligent than us when we still can't figure out how it was done?
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Wiggy
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| Posted 01-12-2005 at 11:12
Quote:
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On 2005-11-30 21:41, Thorgrim wrote:
Ah I see! Thanks Sem. I don't usually read stuff from Anonymous contributors so that is why I didn't see this nonsense:
"Most of the theories I have heard all forget about the brutality and basic understanding the humans had during these times. As we are more intelligence that the humans then I deludes us to think its something less inhuman."
Total crap with no evidence - just bigotted opinion and not worth a reply. How can anyone believe that Stonehenge was built by people less intelligent than us when we still can't figure out how it was done?
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I agree. The idiot might as well have said they had a pet dinosaur called Dino to put the stones up for them. 
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Wiggy
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| Posted 01-12-2005 at 11:27
I don't normally go in for name calling, so can I take back the "idiot" jibe? I think this Guy or Gal is probably writing in what is a foriegn language to them. 
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expatpete
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|  Posted 10-12-2005 at 14:15
What a silly statement!!
If any "modern" person was dumped in the middle of - lets say Dartmoor- with a stone or bronze axe and not a lot else- how long would they survive?
On the other hand if a Neolithic / Bronze Age man was transported into todays world (Beam me up Scottie!) and had to deal with office work, mortgages, computers etc etc in order to live-how long would they survive?
A couple of weeks - maximum!!
Intelligence is what the early folk used to become us for goodness sake!!!
Somewhere whoever made that statement missed the difference between "intelligence" and "knowledge"
Just a thought
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Anonymous
User not Registered | Posted 21-12-2005 at 13:37
The "quote" sounds like a piece of misinformation from a circa 1972 primary school book to me.
We now have a greater acumulated scientific understanding of our surroundings that we had four or five thousand years ago and we have our technologies as part and parcel of that but the "advancements" that we have made are often counterbalanced by abilities that most of us have lost, the abilities to survive without our technologies. Expatpete, you were bang on there, with your first comment on the subject and your comment on surviving Dartmoor, imagine that you also might have to make your own axe in the first place too though. I dunno, we'll be assuming that Neanderthal man could no more more than grunt and scratch his arse next.
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sem
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| Posted 05-01-2006 at 22:49
Sorry folks but I have to add this.
Has anyone read "Inside the Neolithic Mind" by D Lewis-Williams & D Pearce?
They argue that Neolithic man had the same brain as us and that this brain was "hard-wired" with the same thoughts.
READ IT
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Tragic
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from Thetford, Norfolk
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| Posted 07-01-2006 at 18:43
I haven't got a book on hand, but mitochondrial DNA studies used as part of a study of human distribution (if I remember correctly) suggest that modern humans dispersed out of Africa some 60,000 or 70,000 years ago or more. The evidence suggests that these humans were already using art - a suggestion that they were wired like us, prior to their distribution over 60,000 years ago. Wherever they spread - back into Africa, to Southern Europe, to Australia, examples of their art can be found.
If people who distributed all around the World between 8,000 years ago and 70,000 years ago are all pretty much equally smart - then how on Earth could Europeans some 5,000 years ago be dumb?
Personally, I have always considered late prehistoric peoples to have pretty much the same inate abilities as 21st century people.
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