Bone tools and beads are virtually absent from sites in Africa and the Near East inhabited by modern humans beginning 100,000 years ago, and few abstract engravings on bone and on fragments of ochre are found at African sites dated to 75,000 years ago. Depictions of animals, human beings, and other natural features do not occur in the three records - Africa, Europe, and the Near East - before 40,000-30,000 years ago, and they appear much later in some areas than others.
但这些革新似乎并没有广为流传。在非洲和近东的距今10万年以来的现代人遗址上并没有发现骨器和珠链。在距今75000年前的非洲遗址上也极少发现雕刻在骨片和赭石碎片上的图案。对动物、人类和其它自然特征的描画并没有出现在4万至3万年前之前的非洲、欧洲和近东的考古记录中。它们在各地出现的时间也早晚不一。