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The chapter analyzes an important stage in human evolution, the “African springboard” to sapientation (350–70 thousand years ago), which helped to develop the social, cognitive, and creative potential of the subsequent Upper Palaeolithic revolution in western Eurasia. During this period, African hominins, descendants of the Heidelbergians, underwent a series of aromorphoses that led to the acquisition of traits that determined further accelerated evolution. This breakthrough was due to a combination of objective and subjective factors. The main driver of sapientation was the “paleoclimatic pump"- the alternation of dry and wet periods in Africa, which led to periods of depopulation and demographic growth, forcing hominins into constant migration. As a result, the frequency of intergroup conflicts increased, which contributed to the intensification of the exchange of cultural innovations and genes. The author discusses the problems of criteria, causes and timing of the formation of full-fledged “human behavior”. He presents arguments for the importance of forming intergroup alliances. Negotiation and sustainable peaceful relations became possible only with the development of a new set of abilities and skills, including “leading away utterances,” abstract reasoning, supra-group normativity, rituals, and the acceptance of negotiated long-term commitments. Intergroup alliances also involved the establishment of new rules of behavior that limited intragroup violence and extended cooperative norms to members of other groups. Several lines of archaeological evidence support the thesis of widespread exchange and diffusion of technology that began 145–60,000 years ago. Two “bottlenecks” around 150 and 75–73 thousand years ago were milestones of growing sapiens advantage and further complete dominance. The author also presents an explanation for why technological progress slowed in Africa after several waves of migration to Eurasia. Finally, he proposes theoretical hypotheses to test indirectly the main points of the chapter.

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The African Springboard to Final Sapientation and Species Unity

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Nikolai S. Rozov

摘要

The chapter analyzes an important stage in human evolution, the “African springboard” to sapientation (350–70 thousand years ago), which helped to develop the social, cognitive, and creative potential of the subsequent Upper Palaeolithic revolution in western Eurasia. During this period, African hominins, descendants of the Heidelbergians, underwent a series of aromorphoses that led to the acquisition of traits that determined further accelerated evolution. This breakthrough was due to a combination of objective and subjective factors. The main driver of sapientation was the “paleoclimatic pump"- the alternation of dry and wet periods in Africa, which led to periods of depopulation and demographic growth, forcing hominins into constant migration. As a result, the frequency of intergroup conflicts increased, which contributed to the intensification of the exchange of cultural innovations and genes. The author discusses the problems of criteria, causes and timing of the formation of full-fledged “human behavior”. He presents arguments for the importance of forming intergroup alliances. Negotiation and sustainable peaceful relations became possible only with the development of a new set of abilities and skills, including “leading away utterances,” abstract reasoning, supra-group normativity, rituals, and the acceptance of negotiated long-term commitments. Intergroup alliances also involved the establishment of new rules of behavior that limited intragroup violence and extended cooperative norms to members of other groups. Several lines of archaeological evidence support the thesis of widespread exchange and diffusion of technology that began 145–60,000 years ago. Two “bottlenecks” around 150 and 75–73 thousand years ago were milestones of growing sapiens advantage and further complete dominance. The author also presents an explanation for why technological progress slowed in Africa after several waves of migration to Eurasia. Finally, he proposes theoretical hypotheses to test indirectly the main points of the chapter.