"Ok, but what about hominid civilizations that, according to Glenn's model,
arose after theflood. THis would place ancestors with significant carpentry
skills at 5.5 million years ago, minus a few days. Is there evidence for such
tool use at , say 4 million years ago?"
No, there is not evidence. If you look at the scripture, it indicates a
pre-flood civilization which engaged in iron industry (see Genesis 4:22) This
presents everyone with a problem. Either we go with a more traditional view
of the flood in which it occurred somewhere between 100,000 years B.P. or 2450
B.C.. If I recall correctly, the iron age really didn't start until around
2,000 B.C. and maybe later. If the iron age was earlier when I check it
tonight, I will post a correction. I recall that the earliest iron artifact is
around 2,500 B.C. Here is the problem. If you put the flood in100,000 B.C.
it is subject to the same charge that there is no evidence of iron use at this
early date! If you put the flood in 2500 B.C. and some YEC's want, there is
no indication of an interuption of the civilizations of the mid east. Egypt's
first pharoah was in 3126 B.C. or so.No flood fitting the Biblical description
has occurred since that date.
As to carpentry skills, the question is not the ability. The question is
capability. How much carpentry skill do you think is exhibited by the bushmen
of the Kalahari desert? They are quite able and smart. They do not have a
lifestyle or technology which needs such skills. Say Noah and his sons took a
iron saw with them. How many years do you think it will take for that thing
to rust away? Which child gets to inherit it? They can't make more because
there are not enough people to support an iron making society. Iron ages
require agricultural ages. The iron maker is a specialist who does not
produce food. (In otherwords, he is a parasite). Only when there are enough
people producing food can a certain number accept a lifestyle which is a drain
on food resources.
Frankly I don't think the post flood population was very significant for a
long, long time.Since not everyone in an iron making societyknows how to do it
,(I do only because I researched it a bit, but most don't)it is not a certaint
y that Noah would have known the process. Even if he did, after he and 8
people survived, he would be too busy looking for tonight's dinner to do the
work of mining the ore, hauling the ore, from hundreds of miles away, finding,
mining and hauling the coal, and then tending the ovens. He would starve to
death if he tried this.
In short, there would be NO civilization as we know it. Couldn't be. Since
this is the raw, brutal fact, and since there is no evidence of an iron-making
society being disrupted by a global flood (at least since about 100,000 B.C.)
I chose to look at older times. This also fits with the allele data which
REQUIRES that IF there was such a thing as a flood, that it MUST have been at
least 1 million years ago due to the biological clocks of the animals! Once
you go that far, what is 5 million? Besides, the only alternative is to leave
the account as unidentified so that no one can challenge you on any factual
matter or to assume that the account if absolutely false. Take your pick.
Leaving the location or mechanism of the flood unidentified, may ease some
embarassment, but it leaves one with the uncomfortable concept that the
Scripture, which purports to tell us truth in regards to the resurrection and
the Exodus, is woefully inaccurate and erroneous in other events which have
the appearance of history.
glenn