Stone Tools and the Evolution of Human Cognition

Stone Tools and the Evolution of Human Cognition
Author: April Nowell
Publisher:
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2010-04-15
Genre: Psychology
ISBN:

Stone tools are the most durable and common type of archaeological remain and one of the most important sources of information about behaviors of early hominins. Stone Tools and the Evolution of Human Cognition develops methods for examining questions of cognition, demonstrating the progression of mental capabilities from early hominins to modern humans through the archaeological record. Dating as far back as 2.5-2.7 million years ago, stone tools were used in cutting up animals, woodworking, and preparing vegetable matter. Today, lithic remains give archaeologists insight into the forethought, planning, and enhanced working memory of our early ancestors. Contributors focus on multiple ways in which archaeologists can investigate the relationship between tools and the evolving human mind-including joint attention, pattern recognition, memory usage, and the emergence of language. Offering a wide range of approaches and diversity of place and time, the chapters address issues such as skill, social learning, technique, language, and cognition based on lithic technology. Stone Tools and the Evolution of Human Cognition will be of interest to Paleolithic archaeologists and paleoanthropologists interested in stone tool technology and cognitive evolution.

Stone Tools

Stone Tools
Author: George H. Odell
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 424
Release: 1996-01-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780306451980

Lithic analysts have been criticised for being atheoretical in their approach, or at least for not contributing to the development of archaeological theory. Stone Tools' addresses this issue by presenting contributions that employ explicitly theoretical constructs to interpret the archaeological record.

Stone Tools in Human Evolution

Stone Tools in Human Evolution
Author: John J. Shea
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2016-11-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1316798909

In Stone Tools in Human Evolution, John J. Shea argues that over the last three million years hominins' technological strategies shifted from occasional tool use, much like that seen among living non-human primates, to a uniquely human pattern of obligatory tool use. Examining how the lithic archaeological record changed over the course of human evolution, he compares tool use by living humans and non-human primates and predicts how the archaeological stone tool evidence should have changed as distinctively human behaviors evolved. Those behaviors include using cutting tools, logistical mobility (carrying things), language and symbolic artifacts, geographic dispersal and diaspora, and residential sedentism (living in the same place for prolonged periods). Shea then tests those predictions by analyzing the archaeological lithic record from 6,500 years ago to 3.5 million years ago.

World Prehistory

World Prehistory
Author: Grahame Clark
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 378
Release: 1969-03-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780521073349

How Language Began: The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention

How Language Began: The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention
Author: Daniel L. Everett
Publisher: Liveright Publishing
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2017-11-07
Genre: Science
ISBN: 087140477X

A Buzzfeed Gift Guide Selection “Few books on the biological and cultural origin of humanity can be ranked as classics. I believe [this] will be one of them.” — Edward O. Wilson At the time of its publication, How Language Began received high acclaim for capturing the fascinating history of mankind’s most incredible creation. Deemed a “bombshell” linguist and “instant folk hero” by Tom Wolfe (Harper’s), Daniel L. Everett posits that the near- 7,000 languages that exist today are not only the product of one million years of evolution but also have allowed us to become Earth’s apex predator. Tracing 60,000 generations, Everett debunks long- held theories across a spectrum of disciplines to affi rm the idea that we are not born with an instinct for language. Woven with anecdotes of his nearly forty years of fi eldwork amongst Amazonian hunter- gatherers, this is a “completely enthralling” (Spectator) exploration of our humanity and a landmark study of what makes us human. “[An] ambitious text. . . . Everett’s amiable tone, and especially his captivating anecdotes . . . , will help the neophyte along.”— New York Times Book Review