Periods of Advanced evolution?

epenguin

Once it can be done at all, either there is a false start and a reversion, or progress would be quite rapid. And if there is really a question of biology, that there are those genetically up to it in the population and those not, then if this is a successful, advantageous breakthrough, the selection pressures change to strongly favour the smart ones.

So theoretically there could well have been, I would not be surprised, a period of rapid change. Moreover MORE RAPID THAN EVER SINCE. Because we have not got abler since.

It has been said that in art "Since the cave paintings we have done different things. But not better things."

Czcibor

Hmm.... 20 years needed for mastering art... What about the same guy painting the caves as a kid and as the best artist of a whole clan? ;)

I can think about a few more ideas:
-change of tastes (religion/magic believes) within tribe;
-more or less successful artist in each generation; (by occasion why do we assume that all surviving paintings should be the best? Why shouldn't survive some low quality sketches?)
-actually capturing breakthrough in archaeological data (rather unlikely, but we theoretically could be lucky)

By occasion - is it possible to date paintings so precisely?

Evo

No, it is not and this has already been debunked.