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Humans

Ancient humans evolved to be better teachers as technology advanced

As our ancestors developed more advanced tools and cultural practices, they also developed new ways of explaining concepts to others – culminating in the emergence of complex language

By Michael Marshall

5 June 2025

As technology progressed, humans also got better at passing on skills to others

English Heritage/Heritage Images/Getty Images

An analysis of more than 3 million years of human evolution shows that communication and technology developed in lockstep. As ancient humans came up with more advanced stone tools and other technologies, they also improved their communication and teaching skills, in order to pass their newfound abilities onto the next generation – and this enabled more technological progress.

“We have a scenario for the evolution of the mode of cultural transmission in human evolution,” says Francesco d’Errico at the University of Bordeaux…

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