7. Final thoughts

Rethinking our deep past is underway. An older scheme emphasizing progress has been challenged by both empirical evidence and new thoughts on what it means to be human. Prehistory as progress saw humans as attempting to exert control over the world and increasing their ability to do so. ‘Final thoughts’ suggests many now reject the notion of progress and the assumption behind it of increasing rational human control. Rather, people are seen as part of the world, enmeshed in a great network of relations needed to sustain life, which unfolds through working as much with other entities as against them. Areas for new research and thought are identified and discussed.