WORLD HISTORY 2
TOOLS, ART AND BELIEF

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    While many animals have learned to manipulate objects such as twigs to release food from inaccessible places, humans are the clearest example of what psychologists  call ‘theory of mind’. Early art indicates that this is as old as humanity -depictions of people and events are physical manifestations of mental processes, made to look recognizable to others, and with this came other significant abilities.
    One is that an individual can imagine what another individual might do; verbal communication can go beyond information and orders into storytelling and attempts to guess another’s reactions: associated regions of the brain developed rapidly in this period (some have suggested that civilization began with the ability to gossip). Another is that complex and abstract notions can be relayed, including plans for hunts or future projects – things that cannot be seen. A third consequence is a realisation that this ability ends when an individual dies: surprisingly early, we find humans buried with personal objects.
The ‘Venus of Willendorf’ is one of the most famous examples of prehistoric sculpture, dating to around 26,000 BC.