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P. 143
The Ādam Paradox Hypothesis 120
Synthesis
The evidence now converges. For over 150,000 years, anatomically modern
humans possessed the hardware of cognition — brains as large as ours, bodies
indistinguishable from ours. Yet their symbolic record was intermittent and
fragile. At Blombos, engravings vanish with cultural shifts. At Qafzeh, burials
are followed by silence. At Pinnacle Point, pigment use is episodic. Then, after
~70 ka, the pattern changes. The sparks become fire. Symbols persist, multiply,
and spread globally.
Gradualism cannot explain the silences. Demography cannot explain the origin.
Mutation models lack mechanism. The threshold model alone accounts for the
synchrony.
Bridge to Chapter 12
If Chapter 11 has shown the ignition of symbolic cognition — the fire of
symbols, burials, art, and monuments — then Chapter 12 must explore the
consequences.
Once symbols stabilized, populations expanded. Networks stretched across
continents. Trade intensified. Demography was not the cause of symbolism but
its effect.
The next chapter will therefore turn to demography and networks: the numbers,
migrations, and social webs that grew in the wake of the threshold, shaping
humanity
’s destiny.
