“ When did human culture first being is a question that I do not have enough expertise to answer, although I’ll venture a guess.”
In “Star Trek Enterprise,” the crew encountered an alien species of sentient aquatics.
One significant difference between intelligent aquatic mammals (here on Earth) and intelligent primates is arms and hands. Whales cannot fashion even the simplest tools because they lack manipulative appendages.
Evolutionary developments do not spring from nowhere.
Chimpanzees, like whales, display simple cultural differences. The basis of their social structure is primarily the result of unlearned behavior induced by neurological structures present in their cerebral cortices at birth — instinctive behavior. The instincts can be modified to a limited extent through experience. Some fairly insignificant social behaviors are learned and could be considered cultural.
It would be reasonable to suppose that australopithecus, the ancestors of humans, were similar. In the case of australopithecus, there was a selective advantage for individuals in which a greater portion of their social behavior was learned. The ratio of learned to unlearned instinctive behavior increased as their evolutionary successors proceeded toward humanity.
The learned portion of their social behavior sank into each individual critter’s unconscious mind until its performance became natural. The behaviors were performed naturally as if they were instinctive (unlearned).
Enculturated behaviors might be described as “learned instincts.”
By the time humans emerged, the ratio of learned to unlearned instincts was the exact opposite of what it was for australopithecines (and still is for chimps). Human social behavior is almost entirely learned. Humans begin to absorb culture at birth. As it is absorbed, it sinks into their unconscious and is performed with little conscious thought. It acts as learned instinct.
There are at least two selective advantages of depending on learned vs. unlearned social behavior. The social structure among critters who depend on learned social behavior can emerge in a modified form to adjust to changing environments. Also, the structure can emerge in a modified form to better incorporate innovation.
The evolutionary process as I have described it, suggests that human culture as it now exists had no definite origin. As our evolutionary line proceeded toward humanity, learned social instincts gradually overtook innate social instincts until innate instincts almost entirely disappeared to be replaced by learned instincts.
Why would the selective advantage of learned social instincts apply to australopithecines and not to chimpanzees and other species of great apes? The answer, upright walking.
Upright walking allowed australopithecines to use their hands to carry things from place to place. Chimps cannot easily do so since they must use their forelimbs when walking from place to place. It would be difficult for them to carry anything for any significant distance.
It would hardly make sense to spend significant time and effort to fashion a complex, sophisticated tool if it had to be left behind.
If a tool can be carried to any location where it is needed, one can afford to spend more time and effort in its manufacture. When tools become more sophisticated, the toolmakers are more apt to innovate and improve the tools. It would then sometimes be advantageous to rearrange one’s social behavior in a way that better incorporates the innovation. Thus, learned social behavior becomes advantageous.
