By Victor M Fontane
At a lecture, anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a college student what she considered to be the oldest sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about spears, clay pots, or grinding stones. But no, Mead replied that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur that had been broken and then healed. Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run away from danger, go to the river to drink or look for food. You are easy prey for predators and looters. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal. A broken and healed femur is evidence that someone took it upon themselves to stay with the person who broke it, squeezed the wound, carried them to safety, and helped them recover. Mead said that helping someone in need is where the civilization of our species begins.
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