The explanatory limits of cognitive archaeology

2002 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 410-412
Author(s):  
Ben Jeffares
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Evolution ◽  
Cognitive Archaeology

I make two claims about cognitive archaeology. I question its role, seeing psychology as yet another contributor to the archaeological tool-kit rather than as something unique. I then suggest that cognitive archaeology is not in a position to provide evolutionary contexts without other disciplines. As a consequence it cannot deliver on the provision of evolutionary contexts for cognitive evolution.

Thinking and doing in cognitive archaeology: Giving skill its due

2002 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dietrich Stout
Keyword(s):  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Real World ◽  
Cognitive Evolution ◽  
The Real ◽  
Cognitive Archaeology ◽  
Actual Production ◽  
Conceptual Ability ◽  
Stone Knapping

Wynn shows that intentionally standardized artifacts (handaxes) provide evidence of the ability to conceptualize form (symmetry). However, such conceptual ability is not sufficient for the actual production of these forms. Stone knapping is a concrete skill that is acquired in the real world. Appreciation of its perceptual-motor foundations and the broader issues surrounding skill acquisition may lead to further important insights into human cognitive evolution.

scholarly journals An Introduction to Cognitive Archaeology

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 386-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick L. Coolidge ◽  
Thomas Wynn
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
Cognitive Evolution ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cognitive Archaeology ◽  
Cave Art

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.

scholarly journals Introduction: Cognitive Archaeology at the Crossroads

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karenleigh A. Overmann ◽  
Frederick L. Coolidge
Keyword(s):  
Stone Tools ◽  
Developmental Theory ◽  
Cognitive Evolution ◽  
Cognitive Archaeology ◽  
Look Back ◽  
The Moment

We look back at the field of cognitive archaeology by discussing the moment of insight that inspired one of its pioneers, Thomas Wynn, to apply Piagetian developmental theory to the question of human cognitive evolution as understood through geometric relations in stone tools. We also review the work of other pioneers in the field, including Colin Renfrew and John Gowlett. We briefly describe the articles contained in the volume. Lastly, we look forward at where the field of cognitive archaeology may be headed.

scholarly journals Social Cognitive Evolution in Captive Foxes Is a Correlated By-Product of Experimental Domestication

2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 226-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Hare ◽  
Irene Plyusnina ◽  
Natalie Ignacio ◽  
Olesya Schepina ◽  
Anna Stepika ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Cognitive Evolution

scholarly journals Taking sociality seriously: the structure of multi-dimensional social networks as a source of information for individuals

2012 ◽  
Vol 367 (1599) ◽  
pp. 2108-2118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Barrett ◽  
S. Peter Henzi ◽  
David Lusseau
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Life ◽  
The Other ◽  
Feedback Process ◽  
Cognitive Evolution ◽  
Systems Approaches ◽  
Entropy Measures ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
Source Of Information

Understanding human cognitive evolution, and that of the other primates, means taking sociality very seriously. For humans, this requires the recognition of the sociocultural and historical means by which human minds and selves are constructed, and how this gives rise to the reflexivity and ability to respond to novelty that characterize our species. For other, non-linguistic, primates we can answer some interesting questions by viewing social life as a feedback process, drawing on cybernetics and systems approaches and using social network neo-theory to test these ideas. Specifically, we show how social networks can be formalized as multi-dimensional objects, and use entropy measures to assess how networks respond to perturbation. We use simulations and natural ‘knock-outs’ in a free-ranging baboon troop to demonstrate that changes in interactions after social perturbations lead to a more certain social network, in which the outcomes of interactions are easier for members to predict. This new formalization of social networks provides a framework within which to predict network dynamics and evolution, helps us highlight how human and non-human social networks differ and has implications for theories of cognitive evolution.

scholarly journals Cognitive Evolution of a Patient Who Suffered a Subarachnoid Haemorrhage Eight Years Ago, after Being Treated with Growth Hormone, Melatonin and Neurorehabilitation

Reports ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Quintana ◽  
Carlos Agra ◽  
Lucía Outeiral ◽  
Ana Devesa ◽  
David Llorente ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Hormone ◽  
Subarachnoid Haemorrhage ◽  
Cognitive Evolution

Cognitive evolution of a girl submitted to right hemispherotomy when five years old

2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 579-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piernanda Vigliano ◽  
Giorgia Margary ◽  
Irene Bagnasco ◽  
Laura Jarre
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Evolution
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