Introduction, Squeezing Minds from Stones: Cognitive archaeology at the crossroads (original) (raw)
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Squeezing minds from stones: Cognitive archaeology and the evolution of the human mind
Oxford University Press, 2019
Cognitive archaeology is a relatively new interdisciplinary science that uses cognitive and psychological models to explain archeological artifacts like stone tools, figurines, and art. Squeezing Minds from Stones is a collection of essays from early pioneers in the field, like archaeologists Thomas Wynn and Iain Davidson, and evolutionary primatologist William McGrew, to 'up and coming' newcomers like Shelby Putt, Ceri Shipton, Mark Moore, James Cole, Natalie Uomini, and Lana Ruck. Their essays address a wide variety of cognitive archaeology topics, including the value of experimental archaeology, primate archaeology, the intent of ancient tool makers, and how they may have lived and thought.
Cognitive Archaeology and the Cognitive Sciences
2014
Cognitive archaeology uses cognitive and psychological models to interpret the archaeological record. This chapter outlines several components that may be essential in building effective cognitive archaeological arguments. It also presents a two-stage perspective for the development of modern cognition, primarily based upon the work of Coolidge and Wynn. The first describes the transition from arboreal to terrestrial life in later Homo and the possible cognitive repercussions of terrestrial sleep. The second stage proposes that a genetic event may have enhanced working memory in Homo sapiens (specifically in terms of Baddeley’s multicomponent working memory model). The present chapter also reviews the archaeological and neurological bases for modern thinking, and the latter arguments are primarily grounded in the significance of the morphometric rescaling of the parietal lobes, which appears to have distinguished Homo sapiens from Neandertals.
An Introduction to Cognitive Archaeology
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2016
Cognitive archaeology studies human cognitive evolution by applying cognitive-science theories and concepts to archaeological remains of the prehistoric past. After reviewing the basic epistemological stance of cognitive archaeology, this article illustrates this interdisciplinary endeavor through an examination of two of the most important transitions in hominin cognitive evolution—the appearance of Homo erectus about 2 million years ago, and the recent enhancement of working-memory capacity within the past 200,000 years. Although intentionally created stone tools date to about 3.3 million years ago, Homo erectus produced a bifacial, symmetrical handaxe whose design then persisted for nearly the next 2 million years. An enhancement in working-memory capacity may have been responsible for the relative explosion of culture within the past 50,000 years, which included personal ornamentation, highly ritualized burials, bow-and-arrow technology, depictive cave art, and artistic figurines.
The explanatory limits of cognitive archaeology
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2002
This article has two goals. The first is to make a case for the relevance of archaeological contributions to studies of the evolution of cognition. The second is to provide an example of one such contribution, a reconstruction of aspects of early hominid spatial cognition based on an ...
A critical reading of the introduction to the Handbook of Cognitive Archaeology
Critical reading of the introduction of the Handbook of Cognitive Archaeology, 2022
This contribution discusses the introductions of the mentioned book, emphasis on only the introductions. Offering a general view on the subject may be considered of central importance hence the focus. Dr. Watkins elaborates on well known figures such as Donald, Mithen, Dunbar and more. It provokes to observation that all suggestions seem to rise up out of thin air moreover not offering a concrete steppingstone but meandering on the subject situated somewhere in the course of the development. The onset remains obscure. The second introduction is a textbook example of brain centrism and computationalism in which processing of information lies at the core. These will become exposed as historical based metaphors.
How could an ape-like creature have succeeded in developing the capacities typical of a modern human? The core is about observable features of early stone tools documenting a transition in the realm of perceptual inputs into meaningful configurations. This exposition will be organized in four parts. The first offers a word of caution in relation to the wisdom of addressing subjects like these. The second part introduces two ideas that comprise this line of thinking. Inspiration is one thing, and the theoretical background against which data become facts another. Therefore, the third part of the essay will discuss constructivism, embodiment, the niche, and the behavior of the phenotype in its environment as the topic to be scrutinized. All this sets the scene for the transition. It will be about something standing out, at the same time being the catalyst for a number of new abilities such as self initiated imagination.