Cognitive models in palaeolithic archaeology

241 Pages·2017·1.97 MB·English

by  Coolidge

i
Cognitive Models
in Palaeolithic Archaeology
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iii
Cognitive Models
in Palaeolithic
Archaeology
EDITED BY
THOMAS WYNN
and
FREDERICK L. COOLIDGE
1
iv
3
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Wynn, Thomas Grant, 1949– editor. | Coolidge, Frederick L.
(Frederick Lawrence), 1948– editor.
Title: Cognitive models in palaeolithic archaeology / edited by Thomas Wynn
and Frederick L. Coolidge.
Description: Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2017. | Includes index. |
“Cognitive Models in Palaeolithic Archaeology grew out of a specialized thematic session that we
organized for the 2013 meeting of the European Society for the Study of Human Evolution.”
Identifiers: LCCN 2016013639 | ISBN 9780190204112 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Archaeology. | Cognition and culture. | Cognition—History. |
Human evolution. | Prehistoric peoples. | Paleolithic period. | Psychology, Comparative.
Classification: LCC CC175 .C634 2017 | DDC 930.1—dc23 LC record available
at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016013639
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
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CONTENTS
Preface vii
List of Contributors ix
1. Evolutionary Cognitive Archaeology
1
Thomas Wynn
2. The Expert Cognition Model in Human Evolutionary Studies
21
Thomas Wynn, miriam haidle, marlize lombard,
and Frederick l. coolidge
3. Toward a Richer Theoretical Scaffolding for Interpreting Archaeological
Evidence Concerning Cognitive Evolution
45
PhiliP b arnard, iain d avidson, and richard W. b yrne
4. Material Engagement and the Embodied Mind
69
lambros malaFouris
5. Materiality and Numerical Cognition: A Material Engagement
Theory Perspective
89
karenleigh a . overmann
6. Art Without Symbolic Mind: Embodied Cognition and the Origins
of Visual Artistic Behavior
113
manuel marTín- loeches
7. Deciphering Patterns in the Archaeology of South Africa: 
The Neurovisual Resonance Theory
133
derek hodgson
8. Accessing Hominin Cognition: Language and Social Signaling in
the Lower to Middle Palaeolithic
157
James cole
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vi
vi Contents
9. Bootstrapping Ordinal Thinking
197
Thomas Wynn, karenleigh a . overmann, Frederick l . coolidge,
and klinT Janulis
10. Epilogue: Models, Puddings, and the Puzzle
215
Frederick l. coolidge and Thomas Wynn
Index 221
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PREFACE
Cognitive Models in Palaeolithic Archaeology grew out of a specialized thematic
session that we organized for the 2013 meeting of the European Society for the
Study of Human Evolution. The previous decade had seen an increasing num-
ber of articles and books that included reference to the cognitive capabilities
of early hominins, but many of their conclusions were underdetermined in a
theoretical sense. It was impossible, based on the evidence alone, to determine
which interpretations were more likely. For example, were the engraved patterns
found on South African Middle Stone Age artifacts evidence of symbolic think-
ing or something else? Simply compiling more evidence will never resolve the
disagreement.
It has long been our contention that an evolutionary cognitive archaeology
is certainly possible but for it to carry any persuasive weight— for there to be a
basis for choosing between competing claims—e volutionary cognitive archaeol-
ogy must be grounded in cognitive science itself. The chapters in this volume all
rely on formal cognitive models and thus produce well- grounded claims for a
variety of components in Palaeolithic cognition. Because they are well- grounded,
they are also open to equally well-g rounded critiques, opening the way for pro-
ductive discussions about the evolution of the hominin mind.
We would like to thank the board of the European Society for the Study of
Human Evolution for their support in developing the original session, Joan
Bossert and Lynn Luecken at Oxford University Press, and the anonymous
reviewer of the original chapter texts.
Thomas Wynn
Frederick L. Coolidge
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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Philip Barnard Miriam Haidle
MRC Cognition and Brain Role of Culture in Early Expansions of
Sciences Unit Humans Research Center
England Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and
Humanities
Richard W. Byrne
Senckenberg Research Institute
University of St Andrews
Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte
Scotland
und Archäologie des Mittelalters
James Cole Dept. Older Prehistory and
School of Environment and Quaternary Ecology
Technology Cognitive Archaeology Unit
University of Brighton Germany
England
Derek Hodgson
Frederick L. Coolidge Department of Archaeology
Center for Cognitive Archaeology University of York
University of Colorado, Colorado England
Springs
Klint Janulis
USA
School of Archaeology
Iain Davidson University of Oxford, St. Cross College
University of New England England
Australia Center for Cognitive Archaeology
University of Colorado, Colorado
Springs
USA
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