There is a (possibly inaccurate [0]) quote attributed to Margaret Mead, where, when asked about the first signs of civilization, said it was when they found a healed fractured femur.
There is a (possibly inaccurate [0]) quote attributed to Margaret Mead, where, when asked about the first signs of civilization, said it was when they found a healed fractured femur.
The trait of caring and providing for other injured or vulnerable members of the group is widespread in the animal kingdom, there is even a name for it, allocare. Since social groups usually form based on family kinship, it can be explained on selfish gene dynamics.
So the argument was always gradual, not that social care is unique to civilization, but that it happens to an extent (such as the very long recovery period and food resources required to heal a femur) that we can arbitrarily call "civilization".
On the other hand, you could stretch that Scotsman in the opposite direction: do we really provide enough care to other people to the point we are different from animals and can claim ourselves truly civilized?
Yeah, well, in that case ants are civilized (they probably are).
There was an episode of Cosmos[0], where Neil DeGrasse Tyson makes the case that there are two principal intelligences on Earth: Men and bees.
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubE9hjrsHmI
Ants in a colony are so closely related that the colony can be thought of a one individual.
From this perspective ant helping each other is similar to cells in a body working together.