For centuries, mankind has been wanting to know about primitive or early men. Though, most people in today’s world think of them as having little or no knowledge, discoveries and excavations have proved it to be wrong. In this article let’s see about some truly fascinating fossils and discoveries that have proved that early man had been highly intelligent.

One little fossil can sometimes reveal a big mystery. For example, one dinosaur fossil can reveal what kind it was? What was its diet made up of? How did it survive? and so much more.

In 1900, sponge divers near Crete, discovered an ancient cargo ship. Among the wreck was an overly complicated bronze instrument (pictured here). After much research, excavations, interviews, etc., scientists and archeologists concluded that this highly complicated instrument was apparently used for plotting the courses of the sun, moon, and stars. Remarkably, there were 32 gears, shafts, markings, and detailed calibrations. This complex machine does not suggest a primitive culture but one with advanced knowledge.

Another unique example are the huge basalt statues on Easter Island. There are over 900 of these statues and most of them are 4m high and weigh over 14 tonnes! The tallest “Moai”, as they call it, is 10m high and weighs an astonishing 165 tonnes! Even today, moving and placing such statues would be an amazing engineering feat!

In conclusion, I would like to say that fossils have given people a clear idea of how intellectual early man has been. He was certainly not the foolish looking, scared man dressed in skins lugging along a big club for defense. Quite contrarily, ancient man has been highly brainy. It was only because of the keen intellect of our ancestors that we have some of the basic facilities in life like heat and light. So, hats off to the early man!