>The musical ability and the ochre mining/using would at least seem to
>suggest that these critters had a sense of religious awe or symbolism that
>is certainly human-like.
Let me add to this thought. True, the traditionalist Christian approach places
Adam at the apex of humanity, even though there is some consternation as to
whether
Homo erectus is up line or down line. It has been suggested by Hugh Ross
and some on this forum that Adam brought spiritual awareness into the world
since
humans are spiritual beings, and everybody (well, nearly everybody) thinks all
humanity commenced with Adam.
But "spiritual awareness" isn't the message in my copy of Genesis. Sin,
separation from God and accountability are the unequivocal messages, and those
indeed commence with Adam. And what was God's provision for covering sin?
Animal sacrifice, which shows up first in the Fertile Crescent. The first
recording of animal sacrifice was by the Sumerians who date to about 4000 BC.
Dick Fischer
THE ORIGINS SOLUTION
http://www.orisol.com