For about 300,000 years after Homo sapiens first appeared, tools and artifacts remained surprisingly simple. Starting 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, more advanced technology started appearing: complex projectile weapons, sewing needles, ceramics etc.
This sudden flourishing of technology is called the “great leap forward” supposedly reflecting the
evolution of a fully modern human brain. But fossils and DNA suggest that human intelligence became modern far earlier.
Culture can evolve even if intelligence does not. Humans in ancient times lacked smartphones and spaceflight, but we know from studying philosophers such as Buddha and Aristotle that they were just as clever. Our brains did not change, our culture did.
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