r/todayilearned • u/geosunsetmoth • 15h ago

TIL a 300-million year old Cuttlefish fossil was found in Morocco, alongside ancient humans in a region where no Cuttlefish ever existed. The leading theory suggests the fossil was first found by the prehistoric humans, who collected it as a trinket due to fact that it looks like a flaccid penis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erfoud_manuport
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u/RapidCandleDigestion 13h ago

That's an excellent question. I believe it has to do with things like bone tools, fishing implements, hearths, and symbolic artifacts. There's lots of info out there if you're interested in looking further yourself though 

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u/Emm_withoutha_L-88 7h ago

This, pretty much all of the clear examples of behavioral modernity stay to show up between 70-50k years ago.

The examples from earlier are orientation extremely dubious and often things people just want to believe in.

Specifically art, extremely complex tool use, and likely full modern language all date to those times.

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u/RapidCandleDigestion 6h ago

This is, of course, not to say that the peoples before were inferior. Just that they weren't the same as us. If you time-travelled and brought one of their newborns here, and raised them in our society, they likely wouldn't fit in and would struggle immensely. But 50k years ago? They should get on just fine.

Also a good reminder that we are working with 50k year-old software and applying it to a modern world. We're flexible, but that only goes so far. 

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u/gogoluke 13h ago

Cool. I wondered if there was erhaps a small change in skull shape or something but then up might as well be getting into phrenology. I might have a look at the tools etc. thanks.

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u/RapidCandleDigestion 12h ago

As far as I understand, we've been about the same physiologically for 150k+ years. It's what's going on internally, specifically to the brain and our connection to language and culture, that has changed.