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By one estimate the average American home has 300,000 objects. Yet our ancient ancestors had no more than what they could carry with them. How did we go from being self-sufficient primates to nonstop shoppers? We examine the evolutionary history of stuff through the lens of archeology beginning with the ancestor who first picked up a palm-sized rock and made it into a tool.\xa0\nGuest:\nChip Colwell\xa0- archeologist and former Curator of Anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, editor-in-chief of the digital magazine Sapiens, and author of \u201cSo Much Stuff: How Humans Discovered Tools, Invented Meaning, and Made More of Everything.\u201d\nFeaturing music by\xa0Dewey Dellay\xa0and\xa0Jun Miyake\nYou can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on\xa0Patreon. Thanks for your support!\nBig Picture Science is part of the\xa0Airwave Media\xa0podcast network.\xa0Please contact\xa0advertising@airwavemedia.com\xa0to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science.\n\xa0\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices