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Paige J, Perreault C. 3.3 million years of stone tool complexity suggests that cumulative culture began during the Middle Pleistocene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2319175121. [PMID: 38885385 PMCID: PMC11214059 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2319175121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Cumulative culture, the accumulation of modifications, innovations, and improvements over generations through social learning, is a key determinant of the behavioral diversity across Homo sapiens populations and their ability to adapt to varied ecological habitats. Generations of improvements, modifications, and lucky errors allow humans to use technologies and know-how well beyond what a single naive individual could invent independently within their lifetime. The human dependence on cumulative culture may have shaped the evolution of biological and behavioral traits in the hominin lineage, including brain size, body size, life history, sociality, subsistence, and ecological niche expansion. Yet, we do not know when, in the human career, our ancestors began to depend on cumulative culture. Here, we show that hominins likely relied on a derived form of cumulative culture by at least ~600 kya, a result in line with a growing body of existing evidence. We analyzed the complexity of stone tool manufacturing sequences over the last 3.3 My of the archaeological record. We then compare these to the achievable complexity without cumulative culture, which we estimate using nonhuman primate technologies and stone tool manufacturing experiments. We find that archaeological technologies become significantly more complex than expected in the absence of cumulative culture only after ~600 kya.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Paige
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO65211
| | - Charles Perreault
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ85281
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2
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Crespi BJ. The Roots of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: What Are the Evolutionary and Neural Bases of Human Mathematics and Technology? BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2024; 99:1-12. [PMID: 38368855 DOI: 10.1159/000537908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Neural exaptations represent descent via transitions to novel neural functions. A primary transition in human cognitive and neural evolution was from a predominantly socially oriented primate brain to a brain that also instantiates and subserves science, technology, and engineering, all of which depend on mathematics. Upon what neural substrates and upon what evolved cognitive mechanisms did human capacities for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and especially its mathematical underpinnings, emerge? Previous theory focuses on roles for tools, language, and arithmetic in the cognitive origins of STEM, but none of these factors appears sufficient to support the transition. METHODS In this article, I describe and evaluate a novel hypothesis for the neural origins and substrates of STEM-based cognition: that they are based in human kinship systems and human maximizing of inclusive fitness. RESULTS The main evidence for this hypothesis is threefold. First, as demonstrated by anthropologists, human kinship systems exhibit complex mathematical and geometrical structures that function under sets of explicit rules, and such systems and rules pervade and organize all human cultures. Second, human kinship underlies the core algebraic mechanism of evolution, maximization of inclusive fitness, quantified as personal reproduction plus the sum of all effects on reproduction of others, each multiplied by their coefficient of relatedness to self. This is the only "natural" equation expected to be represented in the human brain. Third, functional imaging studies show that kinship-related cognition activates frontal-parietal regions that are also activated in STEM-related tasks. In turn, the decision-making that integrates kinship levels with costs and benefits from alternative behaviors has recently been shown to recruit the lateral septum, a hub region that combines internal (from the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and other regions) and external information relevant to social behavior, using a dedicated subsystem of neurons specific to kinship. CONCLUSIONS Taken together, these lines of evidence suggest that kinship systems and kin-associated behaviors may represent exaptations for the origin of human STEM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernard J Crespi
- Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
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3
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Fajardo S, Kozowyk PRB, Langejans GHJ. Measuring ancient technological complexity and its cognitive implications using Petri nets. Sci Rep 2023; 13:14961. [PMID: 37737280 PMCID: PMC10516984 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-42078-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 09/23/2023] Open
Abstract
We implement a method from computer sciences to address a challenge in Paleolithic archaeology: how to infer cognition differences from material culture. Archaeological material culture is linked to cognition, and more complex ancient technologies are assumed to have required complex cognition. We present an application of Petri net analysis to compare Neanderthal tar production technologies and tie the results to cognitive requirements. We applied three complexity metrics, each relying on their own unique definitions of complexity, to the modeled production processes. Based on the results, we propose that Neanderthal technical cognition may have been analogous to that of contemporary modern humans. This method also enables us to distinguish the high-order cognitive functions combining traits like planning, inhibitory control, and learning that were likely required by different ancient technological processes. The Petri net approach can contribute to our understanding of technology and cognitive evolution as it can be used on different materials and technologies, across time and species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Fajardo
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CD, Delft, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands.
| | - Paul R B Kozowyk
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CD, Delft, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands
| | - Geeske H J Langejans
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CD, Delft, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands
- Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, 2092, Gauteng, South Africa
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Carpentieri M, Moncel MH, Eramo G, Arzarello M. With Impressions Chosen from Another Time: Core Technologies and Debitage Production at the Lower Palaeolithic Site of Notarchirico (670-695 ka; layers F to I2). JOURNAL OF PALEOLITHIC ARCHAEOLOGY 2023; 6:27. [PMID: 37675140 PMCID: PMC10477117 DOI: 10.1007/s41982-023-00154-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
The earliest evidence of bifaces in western Europe is dated to the initial phase of the Middle Pleistocene (la Noira, Notarchirico, Moulin Quignon, 700-670 ka), with the findings of Barranc de la Boella (1.0-0.9 Ma) considered to be an earlier local evolution. No transition assemblages are recorded during this time frame, and the "abrupt" appearance of bifaces during this time frame is associated with significant cognitive shifts in human technological behaviours (Acheulean techno-complex). The new investigations conducted at the site of Notarchirico unearthed 30 ka of repeated human occupation (695-670 ka, layers F-I2) during MIS 17, with evidence of bifacial tools in layer G (680 ka) and F along with other heavy-duty implements (LCTs, pebble tools, etc.). Massive production of debitage products realised on local raw materials collected in situ through simple and efficient core technologies characterises a large part of the lithic assemblage with a high ratio of diversified light-duty tools, including modified chert nodules. Despite core and flake assemblages being a recurrent trait of Lower Pleistocene contexts, the increase in retouched implements recorded at the onset of the Middle Pleistocene has been considered a significant technological shift. The technological analysis of the debitage products presented in this work highlights recurrent and systematic technological behaviours of the hominins of Notarchirico-who proved to efficiently overcome the raw materials dimensional constraints-even in the layers without bifaces. This may shed light on the meaning of cultural and behavioural innovation that the Acheulean techno-complex is thought to bring over Europe. It is plausible that given the substantial homogeneity of the lithic strategies within the sequence of Notarchirico, which only the "introduction" of the bifaces in the upper layers seems to interrupt, a supposed behavioural or cultural change in the site might have already occurred in the lowermost portion of the sequence. In this work, we evaluate the degree of change-if any-from a technological perspective by analysing the debitage reduction sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Carpentieri
- Dipartimento Studi Umanistici, Università Degli Studi Di Ferrara, C.So Ercole I d’Este 32, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Marie-Hélène Moncel
- UMR 7194 HNHP (MNHN-CNRS-UPVD), Département Homme Et Environnement, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 1 Rue René Panhard, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Giacomo Eramo
- Dipartimento Di Scienze Della Terra E Geoambientali, Università Degli Studi Di Bari Aldo Moro, 70125 Bari, Italy
| | - Marta Arzarello
- Dipartimento Studi Umanistici, Università Degli Studi Di Ferrara, C.So Ercole I d’Este 32, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
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Caruana MV, Wilson CG, Arnold LJ, Blackwood AF, Demuro M, Herries AIR. A marine isotope stage 13 Acheulian sequence from the Amanzi Springs Area 2 Deep Sounding excavation, Eastern Cape, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2023; 176:103324. [PMID: 36812778 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
Renewed research at Amanzi Springs has increased resolution on the timing and technology of the Acheulian industry in South Africa. The archeology from the Area 1 spring eye has recently been dated to MIS 11 (∼404-390 ka), and analyses revealed significant technological variability when compared to other southern African Acheulian assemblages. We expand on these results in presenting new luminescence dating and technological analyses of Acheulian stone tools from three artifact-bearing surfaces exposed within the White Sands unit of the Deep Sounding excavation in the Area 2 spring eye. The two lowest surfaces (Surfaces 3 and 2) are sealed within the White Sands and dated between ∼534 to 496 ka and ∼496 to 481 ka (MIS 13), respectively. Surface 1 represents materials deflated onto an erosional surface that cut the upper part of the White Sands (∼481 ka; late MIS 13), which occurred before the deposition of younger Cutting 5 sediments (<408-<290 ka; MIS 11-8). Archaeological comparisons reveal that the older Surface 3 and 2 assemblages are predominated by unifacial and bifacial core reduction and relatively thick, cobble-reduced large cutting tools. In contrast, the younger Surface 1 assemblage is characterized by discoidal core reduction and thinner large cutting tools, mostly made from flake blanks. Typological similarities between the older Area 2 White Sands and younger Area 1 (404-390 ka; MIS 11) assemblages further suggest long-term continuity in site function. We hypothesize Amanzi Springs represent a workshop locality that Acheulian hominins repeatedly visited to access unique floral, faunal, and raw material resources from at least ∼534 to 390 ka.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew V Caruana
- The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa.
| | - Coen G Wilson
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, 3086, VIC, Australia
| | - Lee J Arnold
- Environment Institute, and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia
| | - Alexander F Blackwood
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, 3086, VIC, Australia; Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI), University of Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Martina Demuro
- Environment Institute, and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia
| | - Andy I R Herries
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, 3086, VIC, Australia; The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa
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6
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Neuroplasticity enables bio-cultural feedback in Paleolithic stone-tool making. Sci Rep 2023; 13:2877. [PMID: 36807588 PMCID: PMC9938911 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29994-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Stone-tool making is an ancient human skill thought to have played a key role in the bio-cultural co-evolutionary feedback that produced modern brains, culture, and cognition. To test the proposed evolutionary mechanisms underpinning this hypothesis we studied stone-tool making skill learning in modern participants and examined interactions between individual neurostructural differences, plastic accommodation, and culturally transmitted behavior. We found that prior experience with other culturally transmitted craft skills increased both initial stone tool-making performance and subsequent neuroplastic training effects in a frontoparietal white matter pathway associated with action control. These effects were mediated by the effect of experience on pre-training variation in a frontotemporal pathway supporting action semantic representation. Our results show that the acquisition of one technical skill can produce structural brain changes conducive to the discovery and acquisition of additional skills, providing empirical evidence for bio-cultural feedback loops long hypothesized to link learning and adaptive change.
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Langley MC, Suddendorf T. Archaeological evidence for thinking about possibilities in hominin evolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210350. [PMID: 36314159 PMCID: PMC9620754 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 09/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of the ability to think about future possibilities must have played an influential role in human evolution, driving a range of foresightful behaviours, including preparation, communication and technological innovation. Here we review the archeological evidence for such behavioural indicators of foresight. We find the earliest signs of hominins retaining tools and transporting materials for repeated future use emerging from around 1.8 Ma. From about 0.5 Ma onwards, there are indications of technical and social changes reflecting advances in foresight. And in a third period, starting from around 140 000 years ago, hominins appear to have increasingly relied on material culture to shape the future and to exchange their ideas about possibilities. Visible signs of storytelling, even about entirely fictional scenarios, appear over the last 50 000 years. Although the current evidence suggests that there were distinct transitions in the evolution of our capacity to think about the future, we warn that issues of taphonomy and archaeological sampling are likely to skew our picture of human cognitive evolution. This article is part of the theme issue 'Thinking about possibilities: mechanisms, ontogeny, functions and phylogeny'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle C. Langley
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Brisbane, 4111 Queensland, Australia
- Archaeology, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Brisbane, 4111 Queensland, Australia
| | - Thomas Suddendorf
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, 4072 Queensland, Australia
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8
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Abstract
Research among non-industrial societies suggests that body kinematics adopted during running vary between groups according to the cultural importance of running. Among groups in which running is common and an important part of cultural identity, runners tend to adopt what exercise scientists and coaches consider to be good technique for avoiding injury and maximising performance. In contrast, among groups in which running is not particularly culturally important, people tend to adopt suboptimal technique. This paper begins by describing key elements of good running technique, including landing with a forefoot or midfoot strike pattern and leg oriented roughly vertically. Next, we review evidence from non-industrial societies that cultural attitudes about running associate with variation in running techniques. Then, we present new data from Tsimane forager–horticulturalists in Bolivia. Our findings suggest that running is neither a common activity among the Tsimane nor is it considered an important part of cultural identity. We also demonstrate that when Tsimane do run, they tend to use suboptimal technique, specifically landing with a rearfoot strike pattern and leg protracted ahead of the knee (called overstriding). Finally, we discuss processes by which culture might influence variation in running techniques among non-industrial societies, including self-optimisation and social learning. New evidence from the Tsimane underscores that running techniques vary between societies according to the cultural importance of running
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9
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Stone toolmaking difficulty and the evolution of hominin technological skills. Sci Rep 2022; 12:5883. [PMID: 35393496 PMCID: PMC8989887 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09914-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 03/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Stone tools are a manifestation of the complex cognitive and dexterous skills of our hominin ancestors. As such, much research has been devoted to understanding the skill requirements of individual lithic technologies. Yet, comparing skill across different technologies, and thus across the vast timespan of the Palaeolithic, is an elusive goal. We seek to quantify a series of commensurable metrics of knapping skill across four different lithic technologies (discoids, handaxes, Levallois, and prismatic blades). To compare the requisite dexterity, coordination, and care involved in each technology, we analysed video footage and lithic material from a series of replicative knapping experiments to quantify deliberation (strike time), precision (platform area), intricacy (flake size relative to core size), and success (relative blank length). According to these four metrics, discoidal knapping appears to be easiest among the sample. Levallois knapping involved an intricate reduction sequence, but did not require as much motor control as handaxes and especially prismatic blades. Compared with the other Palaeolithic technologies, we conclude that prismatic blade knapping is set apart by being a skill intensive means of producing numerous standardised elongate end-products.
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10
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Wild S, Chimento M, McMahon K, Farine DR, Sheldon BC, Aplin LM. Complex foraging behaviours in wild birds emerge from social learning and recombination of components. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200307. [PMID: 34894740 PMCID: PMC8666913 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 09/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent well-documented cases of cultural evolution towards increasing efficiency in non-human animals have led some authors to propose that other animals are also capable of cumulative cultural evolution, where traits become more refined and/or complex over time. Yet few comparative examples exist of traits increasing in complexity, and experimental tests remain scarce. In a previous study, we introduced a foraging innovation into replicate subpopulations of great tits, the 'sliding-door puzzle'. Here, we track diffusion of a second 'dial puzzle', before introducing a two-step puzzle that combines both actions. We mapped social networks across two generations to ask if individuals could: (1) recombine socially-learned traits and (2) socially transmit a two-step trait. Our results show birds could recombine skills into more complex foraging behaviours, and naïve birds across both generations could learn the two-step trait. However, closer interrogation revealed that acquisition was not achieved entirely through social learning-rather, birds socially learned components before reconstructing full solutions asocially. As a consequence, singular cultural traditions failed to emerge, although subpopulations of birds shared preferences for a subset of behavioural variants. Our results show that while tits can socially learn complex foraging behaviours, these may need to be scaffolded by rewarding each component. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The emergence of collective knowledge and cumulative culture in animals, humans and machines'.
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Affiliation(s)
- S. Wild
- Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - M. Chimento
- Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - K. McMahon
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, OX1 3SZ Oxford, UK
| | - D. R. Farine
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Collective Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Universitätstrasse 10, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
| | - B. C. Sheldon
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, OX1 3SZ Oxford, UK
| | - L. M. Aplin
- Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
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11
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Mangalam M, Fragaszy DM, Wagman JB, Day BM, Kelty-Stephen DG, Bongers RM, Stout DW, Osiurak F. On the psychological origins of tool use. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 134:104521. [PMID: 34998834 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2021] [Revised: 12/01/2021] [Accepted: 01/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
The ubiquity of tool use in human life has generated multiple lines of scientific and philosophical investigation to understand the development and expression of humans' engagement with tools and its relation to other dimensions of human experience. However, existing literature on tool use faces several epistemological challenges in which the same set of questions generate many different answers. At least four critical questions can be identified, which are intimately intertwined-(1) What constitutes tool use? (2) What psychological processes underlie tool use in humans and nonhuman animals? (3) Which of these psychological processes are exclusive to tool use? (4) Which psychological processes involved in tool use are exclusive to Homo sapiens? To help advance a multidisciplinary scientific understanding of tool use, six author groups representing different academic disciplines (e.g., anthropology, psychology, neuroscience) and different theoretical perspectives respond to each of these questions, and then point to the direction of future work on tool use. We find that while there are marked differences among the responses of the respective author groups to each question, there is a surprising degree of agreement about many essential concepts and questions. We believe that this interdisciplinary and intertheoretical discussion will foster a more comprehensive understanding of tool use than any one of these perspectives (or any one of these author groups) would (or could) on their own.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madhur Mangalam
- Department of Physical Therapy, Movement and Rehabilitation Science, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
| | | | - Jeffrey B Wagman
- Department of Psychology, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61761, USA
| | - Brian M Day
- Department of Psychology, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN 46208, USA
| | | | - Raoul M Bongers
- Department of Human Movement Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, 9713 GZ Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Dietrich W Stout
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - François Osiurak
- Laboratoire d'Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, Lyon 69361, France; Institut Universitaire de France, Paris 75231, France
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12
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Interpopulational variation in human brain size: implications for hominin cognitive phylogeny. ANTHROPOLOGICAL REVIEW 2022. [DOI: 10.2478/anre-2021-0029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Throughout the hominin lineage brain size is believed to have increased threefold – increase which, it is argued by some researchers, results in the enhanced brain power that distinguishes humans from any other living being. However, as we demonstrate in this article this supposed increase is the result of comparing the species mean of contemporary humans with other great apes and fossil hominins. This method obscures both interpopulational variation among modern humans, and the fact that the putative increases in the mean are the result of an increase in the upper limit in some populations, which has the result of obscuring the relative stasis in the lower limit over the last 600k years. For example, populations such as Aboriginal Australians have a range that is more different from Danes than it is from that of Asian H. erectus over the last 600ka. Yet Aboriginal Australians, whose unique anatomy seems to be related to the climatic conditions of Australia, possess all of the socio-cognitive traits characteristic of all other modern-day populations – yet they seemed not to have undergone increase in brain size to the degree that many other populations have. In this instance brain size seems to be unrelated to cognition. In this article we present a statistical analysis of interpopulational variation in contemporary humans and why such an analysis is crucial for our understanding of hominin cognitive, social and technological evolution. We also suggest how such variation may add to our understanding of hominin ontogeny or life history. Additionally, we develop a model based on humanity’s unique form of embodied social cognition that results from our upright bipedal posture and hand morphology. This model is then used to explain the results of our statistical analysis and the possible factors underpinning the human emergence.
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13
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Bayani KYT, Natraj N, Khresdish N, Pargeter J, Stout D, Wheaton LA. Emergence of perceptuomotor relationships during paleolithic stone toolmaking learning: intersections of observation and practice. Commun Biol 2021; 4:1278. [PMID: 34764417 PMCID: PMC8585878 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02768-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Stone toolmaking is a human motor skill which provides the earliest archeological evidence motor skill and social learning. Intentionally shaping a stone into a functional tool relies on the interaction of action observation and practice to support motor skill acquisition. The emergence of adaptive and efficient visuomotor processes during motor learning of such a novel motor skill requiring complex semantic understanding, like stone toolmaking, is not understood. Through the examination of eye movements and motor skill, the current study sought to evaluate the changes and relationship in perceptuomotor processes during motor learning and performance over 90 h of training. Participants' gaze and motor performance were assessed before, during and following training. Gaze patterns reveal a transition from initially high gaze variability during initial observation to lower gaze variability after training. Perceptual changes were strongly associated with motor performance improvements suggesting a coupling of perceptual and motor processes during motor learning.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nikhilesh Natraj
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Division of Neurology, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Nada Khresdish
- Anthropology Department, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Justin Pargeter
- Anthropology Department, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Dietrich Stout
- Anthropology Department, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Lewis A Wheaton
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
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14
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Gabora L, Steel M. Modeling a Cognitive Transition at the Origin of Cultural Evolution Using Autocatalytic Networks. Cogn Sci 2021; 44:e12878. [PMID: 32909644 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2019] [Revised: 02/23/2020] [Accepted: 06/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Autocatalytic networks have been used to model the emergence of self-organizing structure capable of sustaining life and undergoing biological evolution. Here, we model the emergence of cognitive structure capable of undergoing cultural evolution. Mental representations (MRs) of knowledge and experiences play the role of catalytic molecules, and interactions among them (e.g., the forging of new associations) play the role of reactions and result in representational redescription. The approach tags MRs with their source, that is, whether they were acquired through social learning, individual learning (of pre-existing information), or creative thought (resulting in the generation of new information). This makes it possible to model how cognitive structure emerges and to trace lineages of cumulative culture step by step. We develop a formal representation of the cultural transition from Oldowan to Acheulean tool technology using Reflexively Autocatalytic and Food set generated (RAF) networks. Unlike more primitive Oldowan stone tools, the Acheulean hand axe required not only the capacity to envision and bring into being something that did not yet exist, but hierarchically structured thought and action, and the generation of new MRs: the concepts EDGING, THINNING, SHAPING, and a meta-concept, HAND AXE. We show how this constituted a key transition toward the emergence of semantic networks that were self-organizing, self-sustaining, and autocatalytic, and we discuss how such networks replicated through social interaction. The model provides a promising approach to unraveling one of the greatest anthropological mysteries: that of why development of the Acheulean hand axe was followed by over a million years of cultural stasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liane Gabora
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia
| | - Mike Steel
- Biomathematics Research Centre, University of Canterbury
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15
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Stout D. The Cognitive Science of Technology. Trends Cogn Sci 2021; 25:964-977. [PMID: 34362661 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2021] [Revised: 07/09/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Technology is central to human life but hard to define and study. This review synthesizes advances in fields from anthropology to evolutionary biology and neuroscience to propose an interdisciplinary cognitive science of technology. The foundation of this effort is an evolutionarily motivated definition of technology that highlights three key features: material production, social collaboration, and cultural reproduction. This broad scope respects the complexity of the subject but poses a challenge for theoretical unification. Addressing this challenge requires a comparative approach to reduce the diversity of real-world technological cognition to a smaller number of recurring processes and relationships. To this end, a synthetic perceptual-motor hypothesis (PMH) for the evolutionary-developmental-cultural construction of technological cognition is advanced as an initial target for investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dietrich Stout
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, 1557 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
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16
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Birch J, Heyes C. The cultural evolution of cultural evolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200051. [PMID: 33993760 PMCID: PMC8126465 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2020] [Accepted: 09/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
What makes fast, cumulative cultural evolution work? Where did it come from? Why is it the sole preserve of humans? We set out a self-assembly hypothesis: cultural evolution evolved culturally. We present an evolutionary account that shows this hypothesis to be coherent, plausible, and worthy of further investigation. It has the following steps: (0) in common with other animals, early hominins had significant capacity for social learning; (1) knowledge and skills learned by offspring from their parents began to spread because bearers had more offspring, a process we call CS1 (or Cultural Selection 1); (2) CS1 shaped attentional learning biases; (3) these attentional biases were augmented by explicit learning biases (judgements about what should be copied from whom). Explicit learning biases enabled (4) the high-fidelity, exclusive copying required for fast cultural accumulation of knowledge and skills by a process we call CS2 (or Cultural Selection 2) and (5) the emergence of cognitive processes such as imitation, mindreading and metacognition-'cognitive gadgets' specialized for cultural learning. This self-assembly hypothesis is consistent with archaeological evidence that the stone tools used by early hominins were not dependent on fast, cumulative cultural evolution, and suggests new priorities for research on 'animal culture'. This article is part of the theme issue 'Foundations of cultural evolution'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Birch
- Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK
| | - Cecilia Heyes
- All Souls College and Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 4AL, UK
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17
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Ashton N, Davis R. Cultural mosaics, social structure, and identity: The Acheulean threshold in Europe. J Hum Evol 2021; 156:103011. [PMID: 34102521 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2020] [Revised: 04/08/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
The period between 600 and 400 ka is a critical phase for human evolution in Europe. The south and northwest saw a dramatic increase in sites, the spread of handaxe technology alongside bone and wooden tool manufacture, efficient hunting techniques, and the use of fire. Lithic assemblages show considerable variation, including the presence/absence of handaxes and tool morphology. To explain this variation, we propose the Cultural Mosaic Model, which suggests that there is a range of expressions of the Acheulean, with local resources being instrumental in creating distinct material cultures with or without handaxes. We argue that if typologically and technologically distinct assemblage types are regionally distributed, chronologically separated, and persistent over time, then they are unlikely to be caused purely by raw material constraints or functional variation but rather reflect populations with different material cultures. We initially assess the model using British data. Britain was a northwestern peninsula of Europe, and oscillations in climate led to episodic occupation. The terraces of the pre-MIS 12 Bytham River provide a framework for dating occupation to MIS 13 and 15, while during MIS 11, archaeological sites with rich environmental records can be dated to substage level. We suggest there are six chronologically and typologically distinct assemblage types that reflect a series of population incursions into Britain. We review the broader European lithic record, which is consistent with the Cultural Mosaic Model. In developing the model, we suggest that during stable climate, localized cultures developed, while climatic change led to shifts in population, with increased knowledge exchange and gene flow. We suggest that group expression through material culture was an important stage in social development by promoting group cohesion, larger group size, better cooperation, improved knowledge transfer, and enabling populations to survive in larger foraging territories in northern Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nick Ashton
- British Museum, Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory, Franks House, 56 Orsman Road, London N1 5QJ, UK.
| | - Rob Davis
- British Museum, Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory, Franks House, 56 Orsman Road, London N1 5QJ, UK
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18
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19
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Archer W, Djakovic I, Brenet M, Bourguignon L, Presnyakova D, Schlager S, Soressi M, McPherron SP. Quantifying differences in hominin flaking technologies with 3D shape analysis. J Hum Evol 2020; 150:102912. [PMID: 33302003 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2019] [Revised: 11/04/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Genetic and climate-driven estimates of past population dynamics are increasingly influential in broader models of hominin migration and adaptation, yet the contribution of stone artifact variability remains more contentious. Scientists are increasingly recognizing the potential of unretouched stone flakes ('flakes') in exploring existing models of hominin behavioral evolution. This is because flakes (1) were produced by all stone tool manufacturing groups in the past, (2) are abundant from the inception of the archaeological record up into the ethnographic present, and (3) preserve under most conditions. The statistical tools of 3D geometric morphometrics capture detailed approximations of flake form that are challenging to document with conventional artifact analyses. We analyze a collection of 717 3D scans of experimentally produced flakes from 5 production strategies that were practiced by hominins through large parts of the Pleistocene and that scientists have drawn on also to make demographic arguments about past human behavior (n = 45 reduction sequences, n = 3 knappers naive toward the study objectives). First, as a proof of concept, we demonstrate that we can estimate the strategies used to produce these flakes at a high success rate even when flakes from early stages of core reduction are included. We frame the significance of this finding against archaeological classifications from several key Middle Paleolithic assemblages in France (n = 4 sites, n = 28 layers, n = 16,467 flakes). Second, we show that 3D geometric morphometrics captures subtle differences in these strategies that influence flake formation on a flake-by-flake basis and that reflect decisions made by knappers about platform selection, preparation, and core-surface management. We explore the broader potential of our model with a cross-validation approach, and we describe a means of assessing flake form on a continuum wherein variability among assemblages separated by large expanses of space and time can be meaningfully explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Will Archer
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, National Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Geology, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa.
| | - Igor Djakovic
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, 2311 EZ, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Michel Brenet
- INRAP, Domaine de Campagne, 24260, Campagne, France; UMR 5199 PACEA, Université Bordeaux, Bâtiment B18, 33615, Talence, France
| | | | - Darya Presnyakova
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070, Tübingen, Germany; Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences, St-Petersburg, Russia
| | - Stefan Schlager
- Biological Anthropology, Faculty of Medicine, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Marie Soressi
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, 2311 EZ, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Shannon P McPherron
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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20
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Strassberg SS, Creanza N. Cultural evolution and prehistoric demography. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 376:20190713. [PMID: 33250027 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
One prominent feature of human culture is that different populations have different tools, technologies and cultural artefacts, and these unique toolkits can also differ in size and complexity. Over the past few decades, researchers in the fields of prehistoric demography and cultural evolution have addressed a number of questions regarding variation in toolkit size and complexity across prehistoric and modern populations. Several factors have been proposed as possible explanations for this variation: in particular, the mobility of a population, the resources it uses, the volatility of its environment and the number of individuals in the population. Using a variety of methods, including empirical and ethnographic research, computational models and laboratory-based experiments, researchers have found disparate results regarding each hypothesis. These discordant findings have led to debate over the factors that most significantly influence toolkit size and composition. For instance, several computational, empirical and laboratory studies of food-producing populations have found a positive correlation between the number of individuals in a population and toolkit size, whereas similar studies of hunter-gatherer populations have found little evidence of such a link. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive review of the literature in this field of study and propose corollaries and interdisciplinary approaches with the goal of reconciling dissimilar findings into a more comprehensive view of cultural toolkit variation. This article is part of the theme issue 'Cross-disciplinary approaches to prehistoric demography'.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nicole Creanza
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA
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21
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Williams-Hatala EM, Hatala KG, Key A, Dunmore CJ, Kasper M, Gordon M, Kivell TL. Kinetics of stone tool production among novice and expert tool makers. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2020; 174:714-727. [PMID: 33107044 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2020] [Revised: 08/21/2020] [Accepted: 09/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES As is the case among many complex motor tasks that require prolonged practice before achieving expertise, aspects of the biomechanics of knapping vary according to the relative experience/skill level of the practitioner. In archaeological experiments focused on the production of Plio-Pleistocene stone tools, these skill-mediated biomechanical differences have bearings on experimental design, the interpretation of results, and lithic assemblage analysis. A robust body of work exists on variation in kinematic patterns across skill levels but less is known about potential kinetic differences. The current study was undertaken to better understand kinetic patterns observed across skill levels during "Oldowan," freehand stone tool production. MATERIALS AND METHODS Manual pressure data were collected from 23 novice and 9 expert stone tool makers during the production of simple stone flakes using direct hard hammer percussion. RESULTS Results show that expert tool makers experienced significantly lower cumulative pressure magnitudes and pressure-time integral magnitudes compared with novices. In expert knappers, digits I and II experienced similarly high pressures (both peak pressure and pressure-time integrals) and low variability in pressure relative to digits III-V. Novices, in contrast, tended to hold hammerstones such that pressure patterns were similar across digits II-V, and they showed low variability on digit I only. DISCUSSION The similar and consistent emphasis of the thumb by both skill groups indicates the importance of this digit in stabilizing the hammerstone. The emphasis placed on digit II is exclusive to expert knappers, and so this digit may offer osteological signals diagnostic of habitual expert tool production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin Marie Williams-Hatala
- Department of Biology, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.,Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Kevin G Hatala
- Department of Biology, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.,Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Alastair Key
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Christopher J Dunmore
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Margaret Kasper
- Department of Biology, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - McKenzie Gordon
- Department of Biology, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Tracy L Kivell
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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22
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Eren MI, Lycett SJ, Tomonaga M. Underestimating Kanzi? Exploring Kanzi-Oldowan comparisons in light of recent human stone tool replication. Evol Anthropol 2020; 29:310-316. [PMID: 32857904 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2019] [Revised: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 07/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
The knapping experiments with Kanzi, a bonobo, are among the most insightful experiments into Oldowan technology ever undertaken. Comparison of his artifacts against archeological material, however, indicated he did not produce Oldowan lithic attributes precisely, prompting suggestions that this indicated cognitive or biomechanical impediments. The literature describing the learning environment provided to Kanzi, we suggest, indicates alternative factors. Based on consideration of wild chimpanzee learning environments, and experiments with modern knappers that have looked at learning environment, we contend that Kanzi's performance was impeded by an impoverished learning environment compared to those experienced by novice Oldowan knappers. Such issues are precisely those that might be tested via a repeat study, but in this case, practical and ethical constraints likely impede this possibility. We propose experiments that may be relevant to drawing conclusions from Kanzi's experiments that may not need to use non-human primates, thus bypassing some of these issues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Metin I Eren
- Department of Anthropology, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA.,Department of Archaeology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
| | - Stephen J Lycett
- Department of Anthropology, University at Buffalo, New York, USA
| | - Masaki Tomonaga
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan
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23
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Pargeter J, Khreisheh N, Shea JJ, Stout D. Knowledge vs. know-how? Dissecting the foundations of stone knapping skill. J Hum Evol 2020; 145:102807. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2020] [Revised: 04/02/2020] [Accepted: 04/02/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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24
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Wilkins J. Learner-driven innovation in the stone tool technology of early Homo sapiens. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2020; 2:e40. [PMID: 37588390 PMCID: PMC10427492 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2020.40] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Current perspectives of stone tool technology tend to emphasize homogeneity in tool forms and core reduction strategies across time and space. This homogeneity is understood to represent shared cultural traditions that are passed down through the generations. This represents a top-down perspective on how and why stone tools are manufactured that largely restricts technological agency to experts, adults and teachers. However, just as bottom-up processes driven by children and youth influence technological innovation today, they are likely to have played a role in the past. This paper considers evidence from the archaeological record of early Homo sapiens' lithic technology in Africa that may attest to our long history of bottom-up social learning processes and learner-driven innovation. This evidence includes the role of emulative social learning in generating assemblages with diverse reduction strategies, a high degree of technological fragmentation across southern Africa during some time periods, and technological convergence through the Pleistocene. Counter to some perspectives on the uniqueness of our species, our ability to learn independently, to 'break the rules' and to play, as opposed to conforming to top-down influences, may also account for our technological success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Wilkins
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, QLD4111, Australia; and Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, South Africa
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25
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Muscle recruitment and stone tool use ergonomics across three million years of Palaeolithic technological transitions. J Hum Evol 2020; 144:102796. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2019] [Revised: 03/28/2020] [Accepted: 03/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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26
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Sterelny K. Innovation, life history and social networks in human evolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190497. [PMID: 32475328 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
There is a famous puzzle about the first 3 million years of archaeologically visible human technological history. The pace of change, of innovation and its uptake, is extraordinarily slow. In particular, the famous handaxes of the Acheulian technological tradition first appeared about 1.7 Ma, and persisted with little change until about 800 ka, perhaps even longer. In this paper, I will offer an explanation of that stasis based in the life history and network characteristics that we infer (on phylogenetic grounds) to have characterized earlier human species. The core ideas are that (i) especially in earlier periods of hominin evolution, we are likely to find archaeological traces only of widespread and persisting technologies and practices; (ii) the record is not a record of the rate of innovation, but the rate of innovations establishing in a landscape; (iii) innovations are extremely vulnerable to stochastic loss while confined to the communities in which they are made and established; (iv) the export of innovation from the local group is sharply constrained if there is a general pattern of hostility and suspicion between groups, or even if there is just little contact between adults of adjoining groups. That pattern is typical of great apes and likely, therefore, to have characterized at least early hominin social lives. Innovations are unlikely to spread by adult-to-adult interactions across community boundaries. (v) Chimpanzees and bonobos are characterized by male philopatry and subadult female dispersal; that is, therefore, the most likely early hominin pattern. If so, the only innovations at all likely to expand beyond the point of origin are those acquired by subadult females, and ones that can be expressed by those females, at high enough frequency and salience for them to spread, in the bands that the females join. These are very serious filters on the spread of innovation. This article is part of the theme issue 'Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kim Sterelny
- Department of Philosophy, Australian National University, Coombs Building, Fellows Road, Acton, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
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27
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Shilton D, Breski M, Dor D, Jablonka E. Human Social Evolution: Self-Domestication or Self-Control? Front Psychol 2020; 11:134. [PMID: 32116937 PMCID: PMC7033472 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2019] [Accepted: 01/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The self-domestication hypothesis suggests that, like mammalian domesticates, humans have gone through a process of selection against aggression - a process that in the case of humans was self-induced. Here, we extend previous proposals and suggest that what underlies human social evolution is selection for socially mediated emotional control and plasticity. In the first part of the paper we highlight general features of human social evolution, which, we argue, is more similar to that of other social mammals than to that of mammalian domesticates and is therefore incompatible with the notion of human self-domestication. In the second part, we discuss the unique aspects of human evolution and propose that emotional control and social motivation in humans evolved during two major, partially overlapping stages. The first stage, which followed the emergence of mimetic communication, the beginnings of musical engagement, and mimesis-related cognition, required socially mediated emotional plasticity and was accompanied by new social emotions. The second stage followed the emergence of language, when individuals began to instruct the imagination of their interlocutors, and to rely even more extensively on emotional plasticity and culturally learned emotional control. This account further illustrates the significant differences between humans and domesticates, thus challenging the notion of human self-domestication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dor Shilton
- The Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Mati Breski
- The Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Daniel Dor
- The Department of Communication, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Eva Jablonka
- The Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
- Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science (CPNSS), London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom
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