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The Ādam Paradox Hypothesis 16
Part I — The Paradox in the Record
Chapter 3
Sparks That Fade
Engraved ochre, beads, pigments: local symbolic episodes that vanish.
Introduction: The Flicker Before the Flame
The paradox of human origins sharpens when we move from bones to
artifacts. Fossils tell us the body was ready. Endocasts tell us the brain was
large. But archaeology tells us the mind was silent—except for occasional
sparks.
Long before 70,000 years ago, scattered sites reveal powerful hints of symbolic
thinking: pigments ground for body painting, shells strung as ornaments, bones
engraved with deliberate designs. These are the earliest glimmers of the
symbolic mind.
And yet, they are not continuous. Each episode appears like a flare in the
night, bright but short-lived. Archaeologists call this the continuity problem:
symbolism emerges, then vanishes, leaving no cumulative tradition until much
later.
This chapter follows three strands:
1.Pigments and Early Symbolism — ochre at Pinnacle Point, Kapthurin,
and Sibudu.
2.Ornaments and Engravings — beads and designs from Qafzeh,
Blombos, Diepkloof.
3.The Continuity Test — why sparks fail to stabilize, and why fire comes
only later.