Showing posts with label new discovery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new discovery. Show all posts

Thursday, November 2, 2023

Discovery: Prehistoric Baskets By Nomadic Hunter-Gatherers


A MAJOR DISCOVERY OF DIRECT EVIDENCE:
Well-Preserved Baskets Are Found To Be 
2000 Years Older Than Previously Thought
&
The Ideas of Rick Doble who predicted this


New radiocarbon dating has determined that prehistoric artifacts, based on a basket weaving technology, found in the 'Bat Cave' in Spain (Cueva de los Murciélagos, Albuñol, Granada) are 2,000 years older than previously believed. The oldest are about 8,500 BP and related to early nomadic Holocene hunter-gatherers in Europe. 

Baskets/containers made by pre-Neolithic nomadic hunter-gatherers
found in the dry 'Bat Cave' in Spain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cestillos_de_esparto_(29319999262).jpg

Detail of above.


Detail of above.


SUMMARY OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS DISCOVERY
-- This new dating means that a kind of threshold has been crossed; it means that the oldest artifacts were made by nomadic hunter-gatherers and not Neolithic people as had been previously thought.
-- Until recently it was assumed that basket weaving and woven-fiber technology began in the sedentary Neolithic time period and that this kind of advanced technology would not have been possible for nomadic hunter-gatherers.
-- The sophistication of the oldest baskets also indicates that this technology had been developing in the Paleolithic era for a long time, as it would taken many years for this kind of craftsmanship to develop.
-- It also means that at the beginning of the Neolithic era, the technology was already quite sophisticated. The Neolithic people inherited a woven-fiber technology that had been well developed by nomadic hunter-gatherers and which they could add to or improve upon and which was also crucial for the establishment of the Neolithic way of life.
-- In both cases, it shows considerable skill and good designs.
-- Having direct evidence of complete well-preserved artifacts means that this technology can now be studied in great detail which will also reveal a good deal about the abilities of nomadic hunter-gatherers.
 
“The quality and technological complexity of the basketry makes us question the simplistic assumptions we have about human communities prior to the arrival of agriculture in Southern Europe,” the study's leader, Francisco Martínez Sevilla, said and was quoted in the original SCIENCE ADVANCE article.

A complex and skilled process:
"The ancient humans crushed the grass to make twine to braid baskets, bags and sandals. The grass had to be dried for 20 to 30 days before it was rehydrated for 24 hours to make it pliable — a complex and skilled process."


THE DISCOVERY IN DETAIL

Anthropologists have known about these various woven-fiber items for decades but they were believed to be Neolithic. Now, however, this new dating shows that the oldest items were made by nomadic hunter-gatherers before the Neolithic era and are direct evidence of that fact. These items are well made and show a highly advanced technology.

This is extremely important because it places the time of the production of sophisticated basket weaving and woven-fiber technology long before the Neolithic era. The discovery of an advanced technology means that it usually came from a technology that had been developing for many years prior. This indicates that an earlier version was probably available to nomadic hunter-gatherers and suggests that well-made items could have been designed and created tens of thousands of years earlier than previously thought. 

This discovery changes our understanding of the time period before the Neolithic era, e.g., the Upper Paleolithic and also the Mesolithic period just before the Neolithic. Prior to this, only indirect evidence had been found in the form of basket weaving impressions in small bits of clay which were even much older. This current find provides direct evidence of well-preserved complete intact artifacts which greatly supports the earlier indirect evidence.

This discovery applies to the largest and most comprehensive group of baskets found so far that are intact and from the nomadic hunter-gatherer era. This means that the method of weaving and of processing the fibers, and the sturdiness of the design can all be studied in detail. Most of these baskets used fibers from the esparto plant which was highly valued for its many uses and properties. 

This technology was probably valued by nomadic hunter-gatherers because woven fiber items were light, strong, and durable and could be made in a wide variety of shapes and sizes for a wide variety of purposes including large burden baskets, containers, cooking baskets, bowls, plates, and very large and small water carrying baskets. They could also be designed to store grain for long periods of time. 

In this recent discovery complete well-made woven-fiber containers, baskets, bowls, plates, and shoes are some of the artifacts that were found in this dry cave along with fragments of cloth and mats. Normally fiber-based items decay quickly but in this case, the cave was quite dry and preserved these items. This find is rare and provides major evidence that usually is lost.

Furthermore, the discovery shows that at the very beginning of the Neolithic era this technology was already highly advanced. It is my belief that because it had been so well developed it provided Neolithic cultures with the early necessary tools for their sedentary way of life to take hold. 

While the Neolithic is famous for the invention of pottery and the domestication of animals, these only came during the last third of the Neolithic era. Basket weaving (woven-fiber) technology was needed for thousands of years before pottery was perfected and long before pack animals were domesticated. So woven-fiber technology was a crucial key industry. 

Furthermore, pack animals still required baskets to carry loads and light strong durable baskets were still essential for other work. Woven-fiber technology continued to advance so, for example, when reed fibers were combined with naturally occurring bitumen, small boats, and large sea-faring ships were built in the Persian Gulf area as well as large and smaller 'grass' (reed) buildings. 


SUPPORT FOR DECONSTRUCTINGTIME'S IDEAS

I have written several full-length articles that predicted and supported the idea that nomadic hunter-gatherers had a fully developed highly advanced woven-fiber technology that was both versatile and complex. This idea goes against the previously commonly held belief that hunter-gatherers were not capable of such a technology.

I am especially pleased about this find of direct evidence because it confirms many of my ideas and predictions that I have been suggesting for the last four years in this blog. Furthermore, it fits very nicely into my ideas for a revised much longer timeline of how woven-fiber technology developed. Until recently, researchers believed that basketry had begun in the Neolithic era. Now with this and other evidence, it appears that the development could have happened over tens of thousands of years or more. And this, again, is what I have suggested and predicted. Another recent discovery, that I reported in the last blog-article, confirms that early hominins had sophisticated plant material skills and even engineering skills half a million years ago. 


OTHER ANTHROPOLOGISTS AND ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE OFFERED SIMILAR IDEAS BEFORE I DID 

I need to point out that several other anthropologists and archaeologists, years ago,  offered the same idea of basketry being made in the Upper Paleolithic and before the Neolithic  Most of them have many more credentials than I do. 

Nevertheless, I feel that I have added something significant to this discussion. I believe that woven-fiber technology was a key technology beginning perhaps at the same time as Oldowan or Acheulean stone tools. I also believe that baskets and woven-fiber items are tools and need to be thought of as such. My theory about basket weaving technology goes back hundreds of thousands of years so it is important to me to place each step at the right point in time, as much as possible. 

The sophistication of these recently dated nomadic hunter-gatherer artifacts suggests that the technology was very old and that basket technology worked well with nomadic people who needed tools that were strong, light, and portable and that could be made from local plants. Furthermore, I believe that Neolithic societies inherited a fully developed technology from the Paleolithic era and did not invent it as was previously thought. Then the Neolithic cultures passed their even more developed technology down to the great emerging civilizations such as those in Mesopotamia that I believe had a large reed and fiber industry that was critical for the rise of their civilizations.


DOBLE'S ARTICLES ABOUT THIS

September 2019
Evidence for a Basket Weaving
and Woven-Fiber Technology
in the Paleolithic Era

January 2022
The Development Of Advanced
Woven-Fiber Technology
In The Paleolithic Era
Insights from Paleo-Indian artifacts and 
Ethnoarchaeology

AND
While this article is about gender bias, it discusses basket weaving technology by women who were members of nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes.
------------
December 2020
OVERCOMING GENDER BIAS
IN PALEOLITHIC RESEARCH:
Gender Bias May Have Prevented 
Paleolithic Basket-Weaving Technology 
from Being Recognized and Accepted

April 2021
The Crucial Importance 
of Basket Weaving Technology
for the World's First Civilizations


DID THE EMERGING NEOLITHIC WAY OF LIFE DEPEND ON BASKET WEAVING TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED EARLIER BY HUNTER-GATHERERS?
I BELIEVE IT DID.

The Neolithic way of life may have depended on the sophisticated advanced development of basket weaving technology (what I have renamed woven-fiber technology) because it could create a wide variety of well-made light-weight rugged items that were necessary for the Neolithic lifestyle of planting, harvesting, and storing. I believe all of these essential technologies were initially accomplished with basket weaving skills. 


See my article where I explain the skills of nomadic hunter-gatherers and how these skills were probably passed on to Neolithic cultures.
----
February 2022
Pre-Pottery Neolithic Basket Weaving

I argue that for the first two-thirds of the Neolithic era, basketry was the key technology that allowed the Neolithic system to take hold. It was only in the last third of the Neolithic era (approx.) that domestication of animals and the use of pack animals replaced people carrying harvested crops in large 'burden' baskets on their backs, that pottery was developed, and that fabric for clothing and other uses, such as sacks, was perfected. And while these new technologies gave the Neolithic societies a major boost, they did not replace the use of woven-fiber technology which continued to be widely used for many different purposes such as the manufacture of small and large boats made of reeds and fibers.

Large 'burden baskets' that may have been used
in the Neolithic era to bring in the harvest.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ka%C5%A1perjev_Janez_z_listnim_ko%C5%A1em_%22kranjska_svetloba%22,_Podlani%C5%A1%C4%8De_1954.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:V_ko%C5%A1u_nosi_seno_s_travnika,_Spodnje_Zre%C4%8De_1963_(2).jpg

A domesticated donkey that was used to transport produce
but still required woven-fiber baskets to carry the load.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Donkey_panniers.jpg


THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE ABOUT THIS NEW DISCOVERY
The earliest basketry in southern Europe: Hunter-gatherer and farmer plant-based technology in Cueva de los Murciélagos (Albuñol). Francisco Martínez-Sevilla,  Maria Herrero-Otal, Raquel Piqué Huerta. SCIENCE ADVANCES, 27 Sep 2023, Vol 9, Issue 39. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adi3055

A GOOD EXPLANATION
Earliest Baskets in Europe, From Almost 10,000 Years Ago, Found in Spanish Cave. Ruth Schuster, Sep 27, 2023.


CONCLUSION

While we can be delighted that this recent direct evidence has been found, unfortunately, the central problem still remains, which is that while natural fibers and wood probably were the largest materials used by early humans as all researchers agree, almost all evidence has decayed and thus is very hard to find. But now, at least, we are beginning to know what to look for

_________________________________

AFTERWORD

ESPARTO WOVEN-FIBER ARTIFACTS
From an earlier DeconstructingTime blog-article
before the discovery that these artifacts were 2000 years older.


Just how versatile was this technology? What kind of products could it provide? Woven-fiber technology was dependent on the plants that grew wild locally. So reeds were plentiful and versatile around Mesopotamia, papyrus was widely used in Lower Egypt, and in Spain and in North Africa the esparto plant was valued for its many uses.

Fortunately, in the case of esparto, we have direct evidence since many baskets, shoes, and mats have survived intact. The existence of these items also shows that basketry and weaving technologies were being widely used in the Neolithic and earlier. 

 
The following is quoted from:
Traditional Craft Techniques of Esparto Grass (Stipa tenacissima L.) in Spain
"Numerous archaeological artifacts and remains of esparto basketry have been discovered that date from the Neolithic period in southeast Spain. THESE PIECES DEMONSTRATE HIGH STANDARDS OF QUALITY COMPARED WITH MORE MODERN PIECES. [ED. My emphasis]...  These pieces represented clothes, hats, tunics, sandals, baskets, and ropes—ALL MADE WITH THE FINEST TECHNIQUES. [ED. My emphasis]  In some cases, the artifacts included colored espartos." (Fajardo et al. "Traditional Craft Techniques of Esparto Grass...")
The authors list all the things that can be made with esparto:
Baskets (wide variety), Beehive, Belt for mules and donkeys, Bottle and container covers, Bowls, Canteen, Chair, Cheese mold, Clothing, Covered basket, Donkey pannier, Dough basket, Espadrilles Esparteñas, Fan, Ferret basket, Fishing net, Fish trap, Fodder basket to feed animals, specially mules and horses, Hat Sombrero, Long rug, Net for fishing or to carry straw in the cart, Oil mill basket for pressing olive pulp, Pitcher, Rope, Round rug, Saddle, Saffron basket to collect saffron flowers, Sandals, Shepherd spoon, Provisional spoon to eat curd, Shutters to keep the home fresh, Shepherd’s slings, Snail basket to catch snails, Sowing basket, Stool, Swarm catcher to catch bee swarms, Table mat, Toys and ornaments, Tunics.


Baskets, Shoes, And Mats From The 'Bat Cave' 
Found In Los Murcielagos Cave, Albunol, Province Of Granada, Andalusia, Spain.





LEFT: Mat fragment.  RIGHT: Detail of mat fragment.
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fragmento_de_estera._Neol%C3%ADtico._Museo_Arqueol%C3%B3gico_Nacional_de_Espa%C3%B1a.jpg>




LEFT: Recreation of a Neolithic snail basket,
a traditional basket for collecting and gathering snails 
RIGHT: Detail snail basket

There are also many ways of processing the esparto plant and many ways of weaving the plant for various purposes which show the depth of knowledge people had.



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Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Oldest wooden structure found in Zambia

The Oldest Man-Made
Wooden Structure
Found in Zambia
& 
The Ideas of Rick Doble
who predicted the use of right-angle structures
in the Lower Paleolithic
by Rick Doble

NEW DIRECT EVIDENCE MAY CHANGE THE STORY OF PALEOLITHIC TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN EVOLUTION 
This discovery supports the ideas, theories, and predictions of author, Rick Doble, in this eleven-year-old blog DeconstructingTime.

This discovery is:
-- a half-million-year-old wooden structure of carefully made interlocking logs built by early humans before our species, Homo sapiens. Archaeologists think it may have been a platform that was used to keep material dry above the wet ground. It was reported on September 20, 2023 in the journal Nature.

"Structural unit formed by two overlapping logs 
The underlying log passes through a central notch cut into the upper log ...and extends into the section. Plan view of the unit (left) and during excavation (right). The numbers refer to the distance in centimetres."

THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS DISCOVERY
It would be hard to overestimate the importance of this find. 
It is actual wood from the oldest wooden man-made structure that has ever been found.
#1. It is direct evidence of woodwork which has been almost impossible to find due to the fact that wood decays and leaves no trace.
#2. This artifact can be studied for the tools that were used to make it and the way the wood was cut from a specific kind of tree, and then scraped, shaped, and notched.
#3. Much can be inferred about the cognitive abilities of these pre-Homo sapiens because they imagined a design and then engineered a structure.
#4. Using state-of-the-art technology, it was carefully dated by a highly respected team of archaeologists to be at least 476,000 years old meaning that it was made by hominins who preceded our species, Homo sapiens. This means that hominins who came before Homo sapiens were much more intelligent than previously thought and had developed cognitive skills along with woodworking skills.

"Annotated images of the...upper log...showing areas of intentional modification.
From left to right, the location of the central notch in profile, shaping marks in and on the margins of the notch (a–k), the notch in profile from the opposite side. The image on the right shows the upper surface of the log, and the three parts of the log (1–3) separated by cracks. White arrows indicate locations of shaping facets on the sides and upper surface of the log. "


A SUMMARY OF HOW THIS DISCOVERY
SUPPORTS DOBLE'S IDEAS
ABOUT THE PALEOLITHIC ERA

Starting in 2014 I have written articles stating that:
-- Early hominins such as Homo erectus were much smarter than previously thought.
-- A well-developed plant material and fiber technology was probable with these early hominins.
-- They had some early stages of cognitive development.
-- An early sense of linear time was also developing as that allowed them to work with processes that required linear thinking. Processes require a step-by-step way of working from imagination to the final product. A process is itself linear.
--  The importance of right-angle construction by early hominins has been made evident by this discovery of two logs notched together at a right angle. I have written several articles asserting the critical importance of the right angle in early designs and structures.


DOBLE'S IDEAS AND THIS NEW DISCOVERY

This discovery supports and is consistent with my ideas throughout this blog but especially in my article "Terra Amata:...
the Oldest Paleolithic Building Site." that was published in this blog in 2021. 
See my article:
Terra Amata: the Oldest Paleolithic Building Site (December 2021)

The Terra Amata building site was indicated by post holes and is considered to be about 300kya. In my article, I make observations about Terra Amata that would also apply to this new half-million-year-old direct evidence discovery. I said that building a structure would have required advanced cognitive skills to design and plan along with cooperation and coordination among tribal members. The Terra Amata building site showed that pre-Homo sapiens, probably Homo erectus, were much more intelligent than previously thought and probably had also developed an advanced plant material or woven-fiber technology.

Both structures show an understanding of opposing forces. In the case of Terra Amata leaning poles were set against opposite opposing poles to make a hut. In Zambia, the structure showed a log that was carefully made with a notch that was placed at a right angle to another log. 

In my Terra Amata article and others in this blog, I have stressed the importance of the right angle and how it may have been a major discovery among early prehistoric people, an abstract structural principle that early hominins understood. This principle could have been used in basket making and other woven-fiber constructions as well as large structures.

This is a reconstruction of one of the 300,000-year-old Terra Amata huts in the Prehistoric Village of the Gorges du Verdon Museum in Quinson, France. The museum states, "The habitats [in their prehistoric village] have all been reconstructed based on research and observations by archaeologists. They are maintained by the museum's scientific team."

In both cases, the sophisticated use of wood where trees were cut down, trimmed, and shaped suggests that other plant materials such as fibers were probably used as well. I have proposed a theory that a woven-fiber technology or a technology based on basket weaving probably began among early hominins.

ABOUT RIGHT-ANGLE STRUCTURES
I consider the understanding of right-angle construction to be a major breakthrough for designing and creating a host of items. Since the logs were notched and deliberately placed at a right angle this discovery appears to support my idea.

MY ARTICLE
The Invention of Right-Angle Construction in the Paleolithic Era: Including a picture essay that illustrates the capabilities of right-angle woven-fiber technology and basketry
(August 2020)


HOW THIS AFFECTS MY NEW THEORY OF BASKET WEAVING OR WOVEN-FIBER TECHNOLOGY IN THE PALEOLITHIC

I have hypothesized that there was a plant-based technology developed by early hominins starting as early as several million years ago. Specifically, I proposed that a rudimentary basket weaving and woven fiber technology would have been possible among early hominins. 

This new discovery makes this idea much more probable. If hominins were making sophisticated wood structures a half million years ago, it is likely that plant technology had its beginnings hundreds of thousands of years before that. 

Virtually all anthropologists believe that early hominins used plant and fiber materials but disagree about the specific way they were used. I have proposed a basket weaving technology based on weaving fibers that could have started among the earliest hominins. And, of course, other uses were possible as well.

MORE ABOUT THIS NEW DISCOVERY

Buried in wet ground, archaeologists found the oldest known wooden structure that is about half a million years old (at least 476,000 years old). It was found near a river on the border of Zambia and Tanzania. Wood normally decays quickly and leaves no trace, but in this case, the logs were waterlogged which preserved them. Two logs were cut, scraped, and shaped and then joined at a right angle with a notched fitting. Because this structure is so old, older than the first evidence of our species, Homo sapiens, it must have been made by an earlier hominin such as Homo erectus. The researchers speculated that it was part of a platform that was used to keep materials dry above the wet environment. The highly respected team of archaeologists used state-of-the-art technology to date this 'platform'. This discovery is direct evidence of intelligence and cognitive skills by early humans. Until now it was assumed that early hominins were not very smart.

“It’s completely changed my view of what people were capable of that time,” said Duller, coauthor of the study, in the article in the journal Nature. 

"They used their intelligence, imagination, and skills to create something they'd never seen before, something that had never previously existed," Larry Barham, the lead researcher and a professor at the University of Liverpool who was quoted in this BBC report.

UNDERSTANDING EARLY HOMININ COGNITIVE THINKING

While it seems simple to us, the steps involved are mind-boggling when considering the invention of this construction by early hominins with smaller brains.

The 'platform' (if it was a platform) was designed to serve a purpose. No one knows the exact purpose but archaeologists guess that it could have been used to keep material dry above the damp ground. While we do not know the exact purpose, it does not matter when thinking about their cognitive skills. Whatever the specific purpose, there was a purpose and this purpose only makes sense if they had a sense of time. They needed to remember the past and how the environment operated over time with a periodically wet floodplain -- so the platform would function within that environment. Next, they needed to imagine a design which would satisfy that purpose. Such imaginative thinking required a sense of future time. Then they needed to plan and make tools for this work. After that, they cut down trees to obtain wood that had the right properties. Finally, they shaped the logs and notched them (like Lincoln Logs as one researcher said) so they would fit at a right angle. Right angle structures are quite strong but they do not exist in nature, so their cognitive skills had grasped a basic structural principle.
“I never would have thought that pre-homo sapiens would have had the capacity to plan something like this,” remarked Professor Barham who was a co-author of the study and who was quoted in this Smithsonian Magazine article.

HOW DOES THIS SUPPORT DOBLE'S IDEAS
ABOUT THE EVOLUTION OF TIME COMPREHENSION?

As you know this blog is about the 'Human Understanding Of Time' (HUT). It is my contention that the concept of time as we think of it today developed over millions of years from the immediacy of animal existence to our current concept of linear time today which has a past, present, and future plus duration. In this case, half a million years ago, these early humans appear to have had a sense of linear time when planning a task, otherwise, they could not have designed and built this 'platform'. They understood a need based on past experience, then imagined a design to meet that purpose, gathered the material, and then shaped and constructed it. This was a linear process that required a basic understanding of linear time.

However, having a basic sense of linear time does not mean that they understood time as we think of it today. It means, I think, they understood that a task or a process would require linear thinking.
"Man must have been conscious of memories and purposes long before he made any explicit distinction between past, present, and future."
Whitrow, Gerald. Time in History: Views of Time from Prehistory to the Present Day. Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press. 1988, pages 21-22.
MY ARTICLE
The Importance of Processes in the Paleolithic Era
(November 2019)
View or download a PDF on the academic site Academia.edu

AND MORE
One of my main themes has been, that early humans, i.e., hominins, were much smarter than previously thought. I believe they used the technology they had to the nth degree and that they were creative and inventive. 

SEE THE AFTERWORD: MODERN-CENTRIC THINKING
"I would say we need to consider these humans as having the ability to abstract forms from the environment and make them happen, and to pass [that knowledge] on through generations," said Professor Larry Barham. "And that's opened my mind to these pre-sapiens hominins being capable of what we would think of as quite complex behavior."
Quoted in the NPR article.

THE ORIGINAL NATURE ARTICLE
Evidence for the earliest structural use of wood at least 476,000 years ago. L. Barham, G. A. T. Duller, I. Candy, C. Scott, C. R. Cart wright, J. R. Peterson, C. Kabukcu, M. S. Chapot, F. Melia, V. Rots, N. George, N. Taipale, P. Gethin & P. Nkombwe. Nature, 20 September 2023. 
ONLINE
PDF

A GOOD BRIEF EXPLANATION
World's oldest wooden structure defies Stone Age stereotypes.
Gabriel Spitzer, September 22, 2023.


OVERVIEWS OF RICK DOBLE'S IDEAS

Should "The Stone Age" Be Called "The Stone and Basket Age?"
View or download a PDF on the academic site Academia.edu


Rick Doble's Theory About The Human Understanding of Time (HUT)
View or download a PDF on the academic site Academia.edu

_________________________________________________________

AFTERWORD 


EARLY HOMININS DEVELOPED ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES CONTRARY TO  MODERN-CENTRIC THINKING

This next article of mine makes the argument that Paleolithic people developed a sophisticated woven-fiber technology, an idea that, until now, has not been accepted by anthropologists.

The Development of Advanced Woven-Fiber Technology in the Paleolithic Era: Insights from Paleo-Indian Artifacts and Ethnoarchaeology By Rick Doble  (January 2022)


FROM THE ABOVE ARTICLE
It is my contention that by the Upper Paleolithic, many technologies were quite advanced. In particular, basket weaving or woven-fiber technology had reached a high point of development. There is clay impression evidence of a variety of basket weaving techniques that had been mastered along with other evidence about the manufacture of cordage and the beginnings of textiles. This knowledge and these skills were then passed on to Neolithic cultures who were able to make full use of these technologies in their sedentary and agricultural societies. 

STONE AGE PEOPLE WERE INTELLIGENT AND KNOWLEDGEABLE
Almost ten years ago in 2014, I wrote two detailed blogs about the modern attitude toward ancient people, especially Stone Age people. Here is an excerpt. I listed many more biases so click on the links and read both articles.

The Moderncentric Bias Against Prehistoric Cultures: Part 1
(March 2014)

The Moderncentric Bias Against Old Stone Age Societies: Part 2 (April 2014)

BIAS #1:
OLD STONE AGE PEOPLE WERE BARBARIC SAVAGES
I believe the loaded words 'savage,'  'barbaric,' and 'caveman' are a kind of name-calling with little substance. Stone Age people had a sophisticated knowledge of their world. They studied and understood in-depth a number of things that we modern people are ignorant about.

“Savages we call them because their manners differ from ours.”
Benjamin Franklin
An example of skilled hunter-gatherer and early Neolithic basketry (detail on the right) found in the Cueva de los Murciélagos in southeast Spain (Andalucía, Albuñol). Recently these many baskets and woven items were found to be 2000 years older than previously believed indicating that some were made by European hunter-gatherers. These artifacts showed that hunter-gatherers were capable of well-made basketry accomplished with highly sophisticated woven-fiber technology.



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