Archaeological record heavily biased toward stone; perishable materials rarely survive from deep prehistory. Stone survives in archaeological record; bone sometimes survives; wood almost never does Fibers, plants, leather, cordage vanish completely For most of human history, perishable materials were likely primary medium of behavior
Stone survives. Bone sometimes survives. Wood almost never does. Fibers, plants, leather, cordage rarely survive outside exceptional conditions. For most of human history, perishables were primary. We're seeing only durable scraps.
Key Facts
- Stone survives in archaeological record; bone sometimes survives; wood almost never does
- Fibers, plants, leather, cordage vanish completely
- For most of human history, perishable materials were likely primary medium of behavior
- Shelters were made of wood and vegetation; knowledge lived in memory, speech, and practice, not stone
- Archaeological record massively biased towards simplest, most durable traces of human life
- Pleistocene was climatically unstable with repeated glacial cycles, sea level changes, and landscape reshaping that wiped clean entire regions
- Long stretches of apparent silence in prehistoric record represent only rarest accidents of survival, not absence of activity
Source: We Just Found Something in China That Rewrites History by Michael Button