Civilization before Adam and Eve

Civilization is far more complex that the story told in Genesis. There is much debate about the location of the Garden of Eden. It was believed that Paradise is located somewhere near Tigris and Euphrates River. Earlier reports suggest the Garden of Eden might have been located in Mongolia, India and Ethiopia. In all cases there was silence in regards to other cultures who flourished outside Eden, such as North American native tribes, various African and European tribes, Indian cultures, Asian, and others. Nor is there mention of the culture that existed east of Eden where Cain settled, married a foreign woman, and created his own family.

Data surviving from prehistory shows no evidence of the existence of Eden but relates to the quest for food and history of subsistence. As humans evolved they became skilled in hunting, fishing, and foraging. Isolated families  living in remote places eventually became aware of other groups outside their own territory. In time, with the increase in population and travel,. neighbors joined together forming communities.  

According to the Wolfson College Lectures 1978, The Origins of Civilization, in regards to hunting and socialization,  he suggests that the hunting of large mammals depended on social as well as technological factors. It involved an organized system of co-operation among hunters who were exclusively men that involved travel of long duration. ( this might be due to locating and/or following migrating herds certain periods of the year). The women would remain behind guarding the home base, bringing up the young, foraging for plant food and small animals. The mothers would also initiate the young children in gathering food and other activities.

The earliest human economies are likely to have been  based on a subdivision of functions between the men who concerned themselves with hunting, operating a distance from home, and the women who watched over the young, cooked, maintain the home surroundings, and engaged in foraging in the near neighbourhood. Hunting large animals probably involved active co-operation between the males. This was a social bond that held complete bands together, just as the division between hunting and foraging cemented individual family units."The system by which the earliest communities lived was thus based throughout on co-operation and sharing rather than struggle. Once communities were established, it was self-regulating. Which may explain why the earliest cultural patterns were slow to change.

Archaeological evidence recovered from a site dating back to 1 million years ago continued to reflect the importance of hunting and prowess of the men who pursued their prey. Some sites showed the use of fire for the first time. The evidence of fossil pollen pointing to forest clearance and the expansion of open vegetation in England, as well as the aborigines of  Australia show the use of fire.

Findings from 35,000 years ago in Europe, south Russia, north Africa, and Asia, show the practice of careful burial and a personal awareness of death. There was also expansion of the geographical territories. New lands were colonized in northern Europe, Far East and south-east Asia. The Japanese islands were occupied, and the Yukon on the Asian side of North American glacier zone was already occupied. Slowly but surely there emerged a new economy that changed the face of hunting and gathering. The new economy and its' complexity consisted of new words; crop, harvest, and husbandry.