Why Civilization Is Older Than We Thought

Complex human societies may be far older than standard accounts assume, and social technology rather than farming may have been the key bottleneck for civilization. Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey has T-shaped pillars weighing about ten to twenty tons each, and archaeologists estimate that moving them required about five hundred workers. Its radiocarbon dates predate the consensus origin of agriculture, while the Sumerian city of Eridu is about four thousand years younger. The argument also points to the Calusa of southwestern Florida, who built mounds, towers and canals by fishing rather than farming, and to stone tools on Crete dated to at least 130,000 years old.