Hi Adam -

I think you're focusing too much on grains, when nuts were a much prefered, easier, and better source of nutrition.

Vines can be tied without modification, if one knows how to tie a knot.

Awls represent the big step - ancient woman could actually tailor scraped clean skins. Better insulation meant a much wider range.

I wonder what the date is for the first bone awl?

I don't know if you're aware of this information, but it is absolutely necessary for the understanding of hominid evolution:
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/asteroid-01e.html

and one of Paine and Peiser'sr mappings of hominid extinctions against KNOWN impact craters:
http://www4.tgp.com.au/users/tps-seti/bioatro2002.pdf

Note that the KNOWN frequency of impact occurance is ONE FULL ORDER OF MAGNITUDE GREATER than that NASA insists is the actual rate.

there's a better illustration of the hominid/impact relationship that they used to have out there some where but damn if I can find it in Paine's rats nest of material.

ep