Humanity’s Great Leap Forward. In East Africa, the Near East, and Southeastern Europe, and subsequently in Southwestern Europe, evidence is accumulating of multi-piece weapons such as bows and arrows, complex tools such as nets and ropes that allowed the addition of fish to the diet, and art such as jewelry, paintings, statuettes, and musical instruments. There is, however, debate over whether this “Cognitive Revolution” occurred almost suddenly (according to, for example, Noah Harari, among others) or very gradually (according to, for example, Clive Finlayson, among others). It seems certain, however, that it occurred at least for Neanderthals as well, and that some elements may have passed from Neanderthals to modern Homo sapiens.
