ARCHAEOLOGY has long suffered from a colonial hangover. The sophisticated prehistoric art of France, Spain and Germany fitted nicely with the notion that Europe must have been the cradle of human culture 鈥� the location of a 鈥渃reative explosion鈥� 40,000 years ago, supposedly spurred by a mutation that gave Europeans advanced cognitive powers. Somehow this trait then spread to humans elsewhere.
We now know that this is Eurocentric bias. A new appreciation of the archaeology of Africa and Asia shows that culture goes much further back (see 鈥�Art鈥檚 early dawn: When intelligence really began鈥�). It also appears that Europe鈥檚 creative explosion had nothing to do with genes, but was probably a cultural consequence of a population boom.
But it is important not to get carried away. The artistic culture of Europe 40,000 years ago was utterly remarkable. That doesn鈥檛 mean that Europeans were inherently superior then or now 鈥� but it is an interesting empirical fact that is worthy of further investigation. What were the social processes that led to it? Avoiding the prejudices of old is a noble aim 鈥� as long as it doesn鈥檛 get in the way of the truth.
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This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淓urope, capital of culture?鈥�
