Hunting an entire herd of aurochs was no mean feat, and would have required sophisticated levels of cooperation and communication between multiple groups of ancient humans. According to a new study, the organizational skills required to pull off such a massacre were only developed around 50,000 years ago and may have helped Homo sapiens outlive their Neanderthal neighbours. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

The last 50 millennia of human history have been completely unique. For some unknown reason, humans all over the world suddenly underwent a cognitive upgrade about 50,000 years ago, resulting in an explosion of artistic expression and ritual behavior. Known as the Great Leap Forward, this cultural breakthrough still

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