Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and the

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. Did Margaret Mead Think a Healed Femur Was the Earliest Sign of Civilization?

https://www.sapiens.org/culture/margaret-mead-femur/

To start, there is no reliable evidence that Mead said what has been attributed to her. Internet sleuths have traced the earliest reference to this anecdote to the 1980 book Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, in which the surgeon Paul Brand writes that he was “reminded of a lecture given by the anthropologist Margaret Mead, who spent much of her life studying primitive cultures.”

But when Mead was asked directly in an interview, “When does a culture become a civilization?,” her documented response was very different. “Looking at the past,” Mead replied, “we have called societies civilizations when they have had great cities, elaborate division of labor, some form of keeping records. These are the things that have made civilization.”

(snip)

Finally, the very concept of “civilization” or a “civilized society” in the anecdote is problematic—and most contemporary anthropologists would not take it for granted without interrogation.

Many of us may think of altruistic kindness as one of the best and most “natural” attributes of humanity. That’s why the quote, “Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts,” was bound to go viral—whether or not Mead said it. However, this statement glosses over the violent ways that the very concept of “civilization” itself was used by colonial powers to subjugate “savages” and “primitive societies.” Moreover, our species has arguably done more harm—including to the planet itself—than any other species.