Toward the end of the Stone Age, about 30,000 years ago, there was a dramatic increase [1]($ subscription article) in the number of people surviving long enough to be grandparents (age 30!). The sudden availability of people with greater knowledge had a deep impact on society according to researchers. The archeological record shows an explosion in artwork and ornamentation that occurred around the same time. The larger available and more knowledgeable population might also have led to the establishment of agrarian cultures that would eventually evolve into the fiefdoms and kingdoms of ancient history.
In order to determine the age at which the subject died, the researchers used a new technique of comparing the teeth from contemporary children and extrapolating tooth wear expected over the years.
Keywords: society , human pre-history , culture
[1] "Living Long in the Tooth: Grandparents may have rocked late Stone Age" Science News, July 10, 2004; Vol. 166, No. 2 , p. 20
References (free access)
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