First, define civilization. It's pretty much common sense that human tribes had their own sets of customs and rules, even back then. Is that enough to have "civ

First, define civilization. It's pretty much common sense that human tribes had their own sets of customs and rules, even back then. Is that enough to have "civilization"? Is getting out of Africa a prerequisite to have "civilization"? At one point in our history, humans developed language and could tell each other stories about major events in their lives. If developing an oral legacy is your definition of having "civilation", your question is unanswerable because there's no way we can prove conclusively which ancient humans had those capabilities and which didn't. At some later point, we developed writing. Mural inscriptions and stone tablets are the first examples we have of humanity's communicative abilities. Is using the written word enough to have "civilization"? Taking the other extreme, it's pretty much assumed that until the European exploration phase in the 15th-16th century, humans lived within their own local/continental society. Is being in contact with people on the other side of the globe a prerequisite to have "civilization"?