Most anthropologists agree that modern behavior emerged around 45,000 years ago, dramatically changing how people thought and lived.
| BEFORE | AFTER |
| Left no clear evidence of art or jewelry, but did collect lumps of reddish pigment (ocher). | Routinely produced ornamentation and art (shell beads, rock figurines, cave paintings), often with symbolic significance. |
| Buried their dead simply. | Fashioned elaborate graves, implying burial ritual. |
| No evidence of cultural ethnicity: artifacts similar across contemporaneous groups for thousands of years. | Distinct cultural/ethnic groups, possibly conscious of group identity, as suggested by stylistic differences in artifacts. |
| Used refined stone-flaking techniques to make a limited range of tools. | Invented many clever tools, including projectile weapons, fishing equipment and water canteens. Worked with bone and ivory as well as stone. |
| Hunted in groups for relatively docile mammals such as antelope. | Used new weapons to hunt larger, meatier prey such as buffalo. |
| Often sheltered in caves, but readily ceded them to intruding bears and wolves. | Often sheltered in caves, successfully fighting back aggressive animals. Also built the first sturdy, organized, well-heated huts, enabling survival in Eurasia’s coldest climes. |
| Low population density, plodding technological advancement. | Higher population density, driven by rapid innovation. |
