Dude, you suck when it comes to your paleontology... Modern man (Homo sapiens) was the ONLY species of man left living on planet Earth 12,000 years ago. They all looked like us and behaved like us. Some of them were probably much sharper than an average Slate employee (sorry guys, I cannot picture any of you inventing pottery).

According to our best knowledge it was the time it just started creating permanent settlements – some of them could be pretty advanced – we will never know for sure. But this way or the other – it is a Science Fiction movie (you know – some science, some fiction) – just going back in time, not forward.

paxterminus:

But this way or the other – it is a Science Fiction movie (you know – some science, some fiction) – just going back in time, not forward.

Although, the way things are going.....

paxterminus:

Dude, you suck when it comes to your paleontology... Modern man (Homo sapiens) was the ONLY species of man left living on planet Earth 12,000 years ago. They all looked like us and behaved like us. Some of them were probably much sharper than an average Slate employee (sorry guys, I cannot picture any of you inventing pottery).

According to our best knowledge it was the time it just started creating permanent settlements – some of them could be pretty advanced – we will never know for sure. But this way or the other – it is a Science Fiction movie (you know – some science, some fiction) – just going back in time, not forward.

Science isn't that precise; since we don't have time machines yet, all that we have to go by are fossilised remains. And since the process of fossilization is haphazard, we don't have anywhere near a complete record.

Because materials atomically degrade at fixed rates we can date artifacts. It is therefore pretty scientifically solid to say that the last of the "cavemen" left the scene forty thousand years or more before 10,000 BCE. That's a substantial historical swing and a miss.

Issywise:

Because materials atomically degrade at fixed rates we can date artifacts. It is therefore pretty scientifically solid to say that the last of the "cavemen" left the scene forty thousand years or more before 10,000 BCE. That's a substantial historical swing and a miss.

Define "caveman". A man who lives in a cave? They're still around. Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis? What about all those remains which are classified part neanderthal, part cro-magnon?

Besides, the "cavemen" in the movie are aparently cro-magnons, in other words modern men, that live in a primitive state.

I'm sorry, I'm not expert on this stuff. It was my completely un-expert understanding that people much like us--excepting only the appurtenances of civilization, have had the planet (humanwise) to ourselves for no less than fifty of sixty thousand years at the minimum. But in all honesty, any controversy between us is factual and your or I'd be unwise to depend on my grasp of the relevant facts. I apologize and retire with that apology.