As a species, our intelligence is probably the single most important quality that sets us apart from every other organism that has ever lived. But it’s not so much our abilities as individuals, but rather it’s our collective and accumulated knowledge. All of the drivers of the Anthropocene are only possible because of our capacity to transfer knowledge down through generations. So when exactly did that process begin? When did we start to behave in a way that was fundamentally “human,” and can we shine light on the process of intergenerational knowledge transfer? Professor April Nowell is a cognitive archeologist at the University of Victoria who studies the lives of Ice Age children. In this conversation she helps us hone in on some of the key moments in the deep past where humans started acting in a fundamentally new way, and began to set the stage for growing into a geologic force.

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