Description
Book SynopsisHow did human thought evolve into the highly complex process it is today? In the field of evolutionary cognitive archaeology, cognitive science and archaeology intersect to provide a more complete and grounded picture of the mind. With the combination of cognitive theories and archaeological evidence, this burgeoning field is only beginning to tap into the potential for a better understanding of the development of specific cognitive abilities.Cognitive Models in Palaeolithic Archaeology explores hominin cognitive development by applying formal cognitive models to analyze prehistoric remains from the entire range of the Palaeolithic, from the earliest stone tools 3.3 million years ago to artistic developments that emerged 50,000 years ago. Several different cognitive models are presented, including expert cognition, information processing, material engagement theory, embodied/extended cognition, neuroaesthetics, visual resonance theory, theory of mind, and neuronal recycling. By examini
Trade Review<"This is an area of great importance in understanding humanity, one of rapid development and one where new views of theory and practice are essential to continued progress. Thomas Wynn and Frederick L. Coolidge have put together a fascinating new collection that has real substance and is both topical and thought-provoking. It will be a 'must read' for a professional audience, and can provide a useful spine for teaching cognitive evolution modules. This book will certainly be seen as on the cutting edge of current thinking.> * John Gowlett, PhD, Professor of Archaeology, University of Liverpool *
<"If mind is a process, we need to investigate the relationships among its parts. This book frames cognitive models into an evolutionary perspective, a necessary step to disclose those relationships. Knowledge is about questions, and this publication shows that cognitive archaeology is now looking for its own ones.> * Emiliano Bruner, PhD, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (España) *
<"This offering from the standard bearers of cognitive archaeology will be a stimulating read, with both new ways of looking at the record and new ideas of when and where specific cognitive abilities are first manifested. I am particularly excited by the number of developments in cognition, including in expertise and Theory of Mind, that are suggested to occur within the Acheulean period.> * Ceri Shipton, PhD, Fellow in East African Archaeology, British Institute in Eastern Africa, Nairobi; McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge *
Table of ContentsPreface 1. Evolutionary Cognitive Archaeology 2. The Expert Cognition Model in Human Evolutionary Studies 3. Towards a richer theoretical scaffolding for interpreting archaeological evidence concerning cognitive evolution 4. Material Engagement and the Embodied Mind 5. Materiality and Numerical Cognition: A Material Engagement Theory Perspective 6. Art without Symbolic Mind: Embodied Cognition and the Origins of Visual Artistic Behavior 7. Deciphering Patterns in the Archaeology of South Africa: The Neurovisual Resonance Theory 8. Accessing hominin cognition: language and social signaling in the Lower to Middle Palaeolithic 9. Bootstrapping Ordinal Thinking 10. Models, Puddings and the Puzzle Index
