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Years ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones.
But no. Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink or hunt for food. You are meat for prowling beasts. No animal survives a broken leg long enough to heal.
A broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone has taken the time to stay with the one who fell, has bound up the wound, has carried the person to safety and has tended the person through recovery. Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts, Mead said
I mean I’m not saying I could, (also not saying I couldn’t) but also isn’t it conceivable that a person managed to crawl back to their cave where they had food stored, bound their own leg, and was lucky enough to avoid infection? Nothing about a healed leg implicitly demands intervention from other beings.
They must have had food stored for a few weeks to months, in a time before preservation techniques.