[OldDeckHand]

"(which is one interpretation of Julian Jayne's findings)"

I was in college right about the time Jaynes' big book - name escapes me - came out. It came up in a theology class (Catholic University), and the discussion became so heated, people almost came to blows. As I remember it, much of it revolved around humans not being self-aware (or something), prior to a certain time in the neolithic era.

I thought it was idiotic then and thirty years later, nothing has changed my mind, at least that would suggest our "self-awareness" happened sometime in the 1K-2K BC range, especially considering some of the archeological finds that have been proven to predate even Mesopotamia.

[DavemiesterP]

I have seen 7,000 yr old acts of love from one person to another expressed through how they were prepared for burial: hair made, hands placed under their head, buried with their dogs curled up at their feet, in a hole dug @2 meters down through red clay by hand big enough for all of them to stretch out. That also implies dogs regularly slept at the foot of the bed, even 7,000 years ago, and were adored members of the family. There was also a burial of a male/female couple with their arms placed around each other by their loved ones after death. That site was in North America, but it can't be discussed in further detail until the site report comes out.