So I'm sure I am making an error in my thinking somewhere, but in my head when I look at the technological progress of the last hundred years, much lesthe last thousand. It seems there is a gap. In what humans were doing between evolution of modern homosapians, and the foundation of the first civilizations.
from wikipedia: homosapians evolved 400,000 and 250,000 bc
with "behavioral modernity" being evident around 50,000 bc.(cave paintings, tool use, pottery, etc)
Let us assume that the first human civilizations arose ~6,000 BC based on who you ask, and what you consider a "civilization" and ever since then, it appears technology, philosophy and scientific advancement hums right along, and gets better continuously. To such a degree that a mere 7,000 years from our assumption of civilizations origin, men were walking on the moon.
So if we take the date of "behavioral modernity" at 50,000 bc there is a "gap" of 44 thousand years, were the pinnacle of human achievement was living in tribes and discovering agriculture.
If we take the earliest suggestion of homosapians the gap gets even more pronouced.
For 394 thousand years there was barely any appreciable scientific advancement. Biologically modern Humans living in tribes as hunter gatherers.
I find it hard to beleive that the same species, that has been capable of going from discovering agriculture, to space travel in 7,000 years, would have no scientific growth for either of the above periods.