Interesting, do you have a reference for that?

I've always found Genesis to be a beautiful poetic passage though I've never read it as having an alternate meaning.

Not really, it's just an idea. But it's at about the right time (6kya) to transition between evolutionary and biblical history. Both are about a transition from living off the land to tilling the soil, and the rise of civilization. If you can figure out how moral responsibility ties in, you have yourself a pretty theory, if not a rock-solid one.