This article summarizes a new finding which could explain why, when, and how humans became creative. To wit:

A specific genetic mutation seems to have ocurred in humanity at roughly the same time as an explosion in our creativity as expressed in the style and functionality of tools and the creation of abstract art.

Anthropologists have always known something really unusual happened to our species somewhere between 35,000 and 75,000 years ago. Before this time, which is actually after "modern" humans had developed physically, there were few variations in tool making and essentially no art. After this time, bang, tools started coming in all shapes and sizes, and suddenly people started to decorate them, or just make art for art's sake. The deliniation is as remarkable as it is mysterious.

Is this the "smoking gun" that tipped humanity from being extremely bright chimps into the creature that would eventually walk on the moon? Hard to say at this point, but it certainly is worth persuing.