Cognitive models in palaeolithic archaeology PDF
Preview Cognitive models in palaeolithic archaeology
i Cognitive Models in Palaeolithic Archaeology ii iii Cognitive Models in Palaeolithic Archaeology EDITED BY THOMAS WYNN and FREDERICK L. COOLIDGE 1 iv 3 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America. © Oxford University Press 2017 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. 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 v 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 v 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 vii 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 vii viii ix 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 ix
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