Early human innovation: Was climate really the cause?
A new study challenges the idea that climate change drove early human innovation. Instead, researchers find that cultural developments arose under different environmental conditions, shaped by movement, interaction, and knowledge sharing.
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“This broader view challenges how we understand early human innovation. Instead of seeing innovation as a direct reaction to climate change, our study shows that it reflects deeper cultural changes shaped by shifting environment and by how people stayed connected or became isolated over time,” says Francesco d’Errico.
d’Errico is a professor and principal investigator at the SapienCE Centre of Excellence at the University of Bergen, and one of the researchers behind the new study on early human innovation.
A first large-scale reconstruction
The study presents the first large-scale reconstruction of how ecosystems in southern Africa changed between 180,000 and 30,000 years ago.
This was a period when the environment and human culture were changing side by side.
The researchers combined large-scale data about how plants, animals, people, and the environment interact with archaeological evidence from the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort cultures.
These are two of the most studied periods in African prehistory.
“By placing both cultural traditions within the same timeline, our study shows that they developed under markedly different environmental conditions,” d’Errico says.
Stable versus unstable ecosystems
During a humid and productive period, the Still Bay culture developed. The Howiesons Poort appeared later, when the climate was more unstable and the environment changed fast.
“When the environment was unstable and unpredictable — as during the emergence of Howiesons Poort — we see new technologies spread across large areas,” d’Errico says.
He explains that this period had standardised blades, backed tools, and early bow-and-arrow technology — all appearing over vast distances at the same time.
“These widespread similarities suggest that people travelled more, kept long-distance contacts, and exchanged knowledge and materials over hundreds of kilometers,” d’Errico says, adding: “These connections likely helped groups deal with uncertain and changing conditions.”
During more stable and productive periods, such as those associated with the Still Bay, populations appear to have been more locally rooted, with stronger social interaction. This is also when carefully shaped stone tools emerged, along with some of the earliest examples of symbolic behaviour, such as engraved ochre and shell beads.
According to d’Errico, these innovations likely emerged when people lived closer together over longer periods, making it easier to learn from one another and build shared traditions.
No single pathway to innovation
“In southern Africa, as in other regions, there were also long periods with good environmental conditions but little evidence for major technological or symbolic change,” d’Errico notes.
d’Errico says that this shows that innovation depends not only on resources, but on how people connect and share knowledge within and between groups.
“In some cases, stable conditions may reduce the need to change practices if existing solutions work well,” he says.
According to him, the study shows that early humans adapted in different ways.
“Our study show that early humans adapted in different ways depending on their surroundings. Sometimes they travelled widely and maintained long-distance connections, while at other other times conditions seem to have brought them closer together, in locally based communities,” d’Errico says.
Lessons from the past – relevance today
A later example outside southern Africa is the Norse settlement of Greenland. When the climate worsened during the Little Ice Age, the Norse communities became isolated and eventually left the region. Inuit populations, on the other hand, were better able to survive the conditions, with their different technologies, social networks, and ways of living.
D'Errico says this also connects to today's discussions about the Arctic, where climate change is opening new areas and increasing political and economic interest.
“Overall, this study reveals that human resilience and ability to innovate has never relied on environmental conditions alone, but on how people stayed connected, exchanged knowledge, and adapted together,” he says.
ABOUT THE STUDY
- A new study challenges the idea that climate change drove early human innovation.
- The research shows that mobility, contact, and knowledge exchange were key drivers of cultural development.
- The study presents the first large‑scale reconstruction of ecosystem changes in southern Africa between 180,000 and 30,000 years ago.
- During periods of climatic variation, people travelled more, maintained long‑distance contacts, and shared knowledge and materials.
- In stable periods, people lived closer together for longer spans of time, which promoted learning and the development of symbolic expressions.
- The insights are also relevant today: humans’ ability to cope with environmental change depends on cooperation, networks, and knowledge sharing.
- The study builds on collaboration between UiB, SapienCE, the University of Bordeaux, and the University of Exeter, bringing together expertise in climate science, archaeology, and human evolution.
