When did language, culture, consciousness and “modern” human behavior as we perceived it to be, begun? Did it begin 10,000, 30,000, 50,000 or 300,000 years ago? When did it all start? What are the reasons for its emergence? How did it all begin? These are the nagging questions that Cognitive archeology and other disciplines related […]
Does the archeological record reflect the capability of the Neandertals for symbolic thought?
There can be no doubt that language and symbolism forms an important part in studies relating to the evolution of cognition hence a great deal of research has been devoted to this. One of the must influential archeologists working on the subject is Francesco d’Errico. In an article written in 2003 entitled “Archaeological Evidence for […]
Can studying bonobos and stone knapping modern humans provide us answers to questions on the evolution of modern cognition ?
The highly theoretical nature of the field of Cognitive archeology requires it to use various approaches from different disciplines in order to come up with somewhat reasonable theory as a solution to the problems that it seeks to answer. This is but necessary considering that cognitive archeologist could no longer conduct actual experiments on their […]
The chicken and egg question of the evolution of cognition: A peek into the works of Stanely Ambrose and Thomas Wynn
A pervasive question not only in Cognitive Archeology but also in all sciences using the evolutionary framework is this, when and how did the evolution of cognition take place? This has been the crux of the debate that has been raging since the early beginnings of the discipline. School of thoughts on this matter can […]
The Schlanger alternative: Understanding Cognition through a deeper understanding of the technological processes in the Levallois technique.
What mental processes run in the minds of pre-historic stone knappers when they made stone tools? Do they have already have a mental image in mind when the made their stone tools? Is their design deliberate or is the output merely a response to external circumstances and constraints? How do we hypothesize what goes inside […]