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Fragaszy DM, Kelty-Stephen DG, Mangalam M. How bipedalism shapes humans' actions with hand tools. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230152. [PMID: 39155723 PMCID: PMC11391300 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0152] [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: 10/02/2023] [Revised: 03/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 08/20/2024] Open
Abstract
The task for an embodied cognitive understanding of humans' actions with tools is to elucidate how the human body, as a whole, supports the perception of affordances and dexterous action with objects in relation to other objects. Here, we focus on the relationship between humans' actions with handheld tools and bipedal posture. Posture plays a pivotal role in shaping animals' perception and action dynamics. While humans stand and locomote bipedally, other primates predominantly employ quadrupedal postures and locomotion, relying on both hands and feet to support the body. Drawing upon evidence from evolutionary biology, developmental psychology and performance studies, we elucidate the influence of bipedalism on our actions with objects and on our proficiency in using tools. We use the metaphor of cascades to capture the dynamic, nonlinear transformations in morphology and behaviour associated with posture and the use of tools across evolutionary and developmental timescales. Recent work illustrates the promise of multifractal cascade analysis to reveal nonlinear, cross-scale interactions across the entire body in real-time, supporting the perception of affordances for actions with tools. Cascade analysis enriches our comprehension of real-time performance and facilitates exploration of the relationships among whole-body coordination, individual development, and evolutionary processes.This article is part of the theme issue 'Minds in movement: embodied cognition in the age of artificial intelligence'.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Damian G Kelty-Stephen
- Department of Psychology, State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY 12561, USA
| | - Madhur Mangalam
- Division of Biomechanics and Research Development, Department of Biomechanics, Center for Research in Human Movement Variability, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE 68182, USA
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2
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Barroso-Medina C, Lin SC, Tocheri MW, Sreenivasa M. Design and development of a sensorized hammerstone for accurate force measurement in stone knapping experiments. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0310520. [PMID: 39288151 PMCID: PMC11407656 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/03/2024] [Indexed: 09/19/2024] Open
Abstract
The process of making stone tools, specifically knapping, is a hominin behaviour that typically involves using the upper limb to manipulate a stone hammer and apply concentrated percussive force to another stone, causing fracture and detachment of stone chips with sharp edges. To understand the emergence and subsequent evolution of tool-related behaviours in hominins, the connections between the mechanics of stone knapping, including the delivery of percussive forces, and biomechanics and hominin anatomy, especially in the upper limb, are required. However, there is an absence of direct experimental means to measure the actual forces generated and applied to produce flakes during knapping. Our study introduces a novel solution to this problem in the form of an ergonomic hand-held synthetic hammerstone that can record the percussive forces that occur during knapping experiments. This hammerstone is composed of a deformable pneumatic 3D-printed chamber encased within a 3D-printed grip and a stone-milled striker. During knapping, hammer impact causes the pneumatic chamber to deform, which leads to a change in pressure that is measured by a sensor. Comparisons of recorded pressure data against corresponding force values measured using a force plate show that the synthetic hammer quantifies percussion forces with relatively high accuracy. The performance of this hammerstone was further validated by conducting anvil-supported knapping experiments on glass that resulted in a root mean square error of under 6%, while recording forces up to 730 N with successful flake detachments. These validation results indicate that accuracy was not sensitive to variations up to 15° from the vertical in the hammer striking angle. Our approach allows future studies to directly examine the role of percussive force during the stone knapping process and its relationship with both anatomical and technological changes during human evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia Barroso-Medina
- School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - Sam C Lin
- School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - Matthew W Tocheri
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
- Department of Anthropology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., United States of America
| | - Manish Sreenivasa
- School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
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3
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Sánchez-Martínez J, Calmet K, Martínez Moreno J, Gilabert XR. Virtual reconstruction of stone tool refittings by using 3D modelling and the Blender Engine: The application of the "ReViBE" protocol to the archaeological record. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0309611. [PMID: 39208079 PMCID: PMC11361422 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 08/10/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Visual representation of material culture plays a crucial role in prehistoric archaeology, from academic research to public outreach and communication. Scientific illustration is a valuable tool for visualising lithic artefacts and refittings, where technical attributes must be drawn to enhance our understanding of their significance. However, the representation of lithic refittings, which involve dynamic and sequential transformations of a volume, requires an alternative approach to traditional two-dimensional models such as photography or illustration. Advances in imaging technologies have improved our ability to capture and communicate the multifaceted nature of archaeological artefacts. In this context, we present the ReViBE protocol (Refitting Visualisation using Blender Engine), which integrates photogrammetry, 3D modelling and the animation software Blender© for the virtual representation of lithic refittings. This protocol allows the sequential study of core reduction phases and their associated flakes, as well as other aspects related to knapping decision making (core rotations, surface modifications, and direction and position of impact points). Thus, this method allows the visualisation of techno-cognitive aspects involved in core reduction through a step-by-step animation process. In addition, the 3D models and virtual reconstructions generated by ReViBE can be accessed through open repositories, in line with the principles of open science and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data. This accessibility ensures that data on lithic technology and human behaviour are widely available, promoting transparency and knowledge sharing, and enabling remote lithic analysis. This in turn breaks down geographical barriers and encourages scientific collaboration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javier Sánchez-Martínez
- Centre d’Estudis del Patrimoni Arqueològic de la Prehistòria (CEPAP-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour (ICArEHB), Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal
| | - Katia Calmet
- Centre d’Estudis del Patrimoni Arqueològic de la Prehistòria (CEPAP-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jorge Martínez Moreno
- Centre d’Estudis del Patrimoni Arqueològic de la Prehistòria (CEPAP-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Xavier Roda Gilabert
- Centre d’Estudis del Patrimoni Arqueològic de la Prehistòria (CEPAP-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Departament d’Humanitats, CASEs - Culture, Archaeology, and Socio-Ecological Dynamics Group, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
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4
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Bretas R, Tia B, Iriki A. The self-in-the-world map emerged in the primate brain as a basis for Homo sapiens abilities. Dev Growth Differ 2024; 66:342-348. [PMID: 39113583 DOI: 10.1111/dgd.12939] [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: 12/07/2022] [Revised: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 07/22/2024] [Indexed: 08/22/2024]
Abstract
The brain in the genus Homo expanded rapidly during evolution, accelerated by a reciprocated interaction between neural, cognitive, and ecological niches (triadic niche construction, or TNC). This biologically costly expansion incubated latent cognitive capabilities that, with a quick and inexpensive rewiring of brain areas in a second phase of TNC, provided the basis for Homo sapiens specific abilities. The neural demands for perception of the human body in interaction with tools and the environment required highly integrated sensorimotor domains, inducing the parietal lobe expansion seen in humans. These newly expanded brain areas allowed connecting the sensations felt in the body to the actions in the world through the cognitive function of "projection". In this opinion article, we suggest that as a relationship of equivalence between body parts, tools and their external effects was established, mental mechanisms of self-objectification might have emerged as described previously, grounding notions of spatial organization, idealized objects, and their transformations, as well as socio-emotional states in the sensing agent through a self-in-the-world map. Therefore, human intelligence and its features such as symbolic thought, language, mentalizing, and complex technical and social behaviors could have stemmed from the explicit awareness of the causal relationship between the self and intentional modifications to the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafael Bretas
- Laboratory for Symbolic Cognitive Development, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe, Japan
- Center for Information and Neural Networks, NICT, Suita, Osaka, Japan
| | - Banty Tia
- Laboratory for Symbolic Cognitive Development, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe, Japan
| | - Atsushi Iriki
- Laboratory for Symbolic Cognitive Development, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe, Japan
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5
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Luncz LV, Slania NE, Almeida-Warren K, Carvalho S, Falótico T, Malaivijitnond S, Arroyo A, de la Torre I, Proffitt T. Tool skill impacts the archaeological evidence across technological primates. Sci Rep 2024; 14:16556. [PMID: 39019910 PMCID: PMC11255293 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-67048-z] [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: 03/06/2024] [Accepted: 07/08/2024] [Indexed: 07/19/2024] Open
Abstract
The archaeological record offers insights into our evolutionary past by revealing ancient behaviour through stone and fossil remains. Percussive foraging is suggested to be particularly relevant for the emergence of tool-use in our lineage, yet early hominin percussive behaviours remain largely understudied compared to flaked technology. Stone tool-use of extant primates allows the simultaneous investigation of their artefacts and the associated behaviours. This is important for understanding the development of tool surface modification, and crucial for interpreting damage patterns in the archaeological record. Here, we compare the behaviour and the resulting material record across stone tool-using primates. We investigate the relationship of nut-cracking technique and stone tool modification across chimpanzees, capuchins, and long-tailed macaques by conducting standardized field experiments with comparable raw materials. We show that different techniques likely emerged in response to diverse nut hardness, leading to variation in foraging success across species. Our experiments further demonstrate a correlation between techniques and the intensity of visible percussive damage on the tools. Tools used with more precision and efficiency as demonstrated by macaques, show fewer use wear traces. This suggests that some percussive techniques may be less readily identified in the archaeological record.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lydia V Luncz
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Nora E Slania
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Development and Evolution of Cognition Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Katarina Almeida-Warren
- Primate Models for Behavioural Evolution Lab, Institute of Human Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal
| | - Susana Carvalho
- Primate Models for Behavioural Evolution Lab, Institute of Human Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal
- Department of Science, Gorongosa National Park, Sofala, Mozambique
| | - Tiago Falótico
- CapCult Project, Neotropical Primates Research Group, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Suchinda Malaivijitnond
- National Primate Research Center of Thailand, Chulalongkorn University, Saraburi, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Adrián Arroyo
- Seminari d'Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques (SERP), Institut d'Arqueologia de la Universitat de Barcelona (IAUB), Department of History and Archaeology, University of Barcelona, 08001, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ignacio de la Torre
- Instituto de Historia, Spanish National Research Council-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Tomos Proffitt
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal
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6
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Planer RJ. Memetics and the Parallel Architecture. Top Cogn Sci 2024. [PMID: 38728582 DOI: 10.1111/tops.12735] [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: 09/28/2023] [Revised: 04/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024]
Abstract
The evolution of human communication and culture is among the most significant-and challenging-questions we face in attempting to understand the evolution of our species. This article takes up two frameworks for theorizing about human communication and culture, namely, Jackendoff's Parallel Architecture of the human language faculty, and the cultural evolutionary framework of Memetics. The aim is to show that the two frameworks uniquely complement one another in some theoretically important ways. In particular, the Parallel Architecture's account of the lexicon significantly expands the range of linguistic phenomena that are plausibly covered by Memetics (e.g., from words to constructions and pure rules of syntax). At the same time, taking a "meme's-eye-view" of the lexicon retools the Parallel Architecture's treatment of the origins and subsequent cultural evolution of language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronald J Planer
- School of Liberal Arts, University of Wollongong
- Words, Bones, Genes, and Tools: DFG Center for Advanced Studies, University of Tübingen
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7
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Pain R. Gadgets Meet Artefacts: Aligning Heyes's Cultural Evolutionary Account With the Archaeological Record. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2024; 19:44-45. [PMID: 37530651 PMCID: PMC10790502 DOI: 10.1177/17456916231187405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ross Pain
- Department of Philosophy, University of Bristol
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8
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Parfitt SA, Bello SM. Bone tools, carnivore chewing and heavy percussion: assessing conflicting interpretations of Lower and Upper Palaeolithic bone assemblages. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 11:231163. [PMID: 38179084 PMCID: PMC10762443 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
The use of bone tools by early humans has provided valuable insights into their technology, behaviour and cognitive abilities. However, identifying minimally modified or unshaped Palaeolithic osseous tools can be challenging, particularly when they are mixed with bones altered by natural taphonomic processes. This has hampered the study of key technical innovations, such as the use of bones, antlers and teeth as hammers or pressure-flakers to work (knap) stone tools. Bones chewed by carnivores can resemble osseous knapping tools and have sometimes been mistaken for them. In this paper, we review recent advances in the study of osseous knapping tools with a focus on two Palaeolithic sites in the UK, the Acheulean Horse Butchery Site at Boxgrove and the Magdalenian site of Gough's Cave, where knapping tools were mis-attributed to carnivore chewing. These osseous knapping tools are investigated using microscopy, high-resolution imaging and comparisons with experimental knapping tools. This allows for new insights into human behaviour at these sites and opens fresh avenues for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon A. Parfitt
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31–34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, UK
- Centre of Human Evolution Research, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Silvia M. Bello
- Centre of Human Evolution Research, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
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9
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Nakata S, Takezawa M. Hierarchical structures emerge from the cultural transmission: an iterated learning experiment using a non-linguistic task. Front Artif Intell 2023; 6:1221329. [PMID: 38188591 PMCID: PMC10770839 DOI: 10.3389/frai.2023.1221329] [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: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Human language is characterized by complex structural features, such as the hierarchical combination of words to form sentences. Although other animals use communication systems, empirical evidence of hierarchical structures is rare. Computational studies of language evolution have suggested that cultural transmission plays a key role in the emergence of structural features in human languages, including hierarchy. While the previous study demonstrated the emergence of hierarchical structures in non-linguistic systems, we argue that their laboratory study may have overestimated the role of cultural transmission because of a lack of appropriate controls and analyses. To directly test the effect of cultural transmission, we conducted an experiment with no cultural transmission as a control (individual condition) in addition to replicating the previous transmission experiment (transmission condition). Our study has added a quantitative analysis of the hierarchical depth. We found that sequences became more structured as the number of generations increased; however, those produced under the transmission condition were more structured than those under the individual condition. These findings suggest that cultural transmission plays an important role in the emergence of hierarchical structures, which cannot be explained by increased learnability alone. The emergence of complex structural properties in human culture, such as language, technology, and music, may have resulted from information transmission processes between different individuals. In conclusion, this study provides evidence of the crucial role of cultural transmission in the emergence of hierarchical structures in non-linguistic communication systems. Our results contribute to the ongoing debate on the origins of human language and the emergence of complex cultural artifacts. The results of this study have implications for the study of cultural evolution and the role of transmission in shaping the emergence of structural features across diverse domains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seiya Nakata
- Department of Behavioral Science, Graduate School of Humanities and Human Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan
- International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Masanori Takezawa
- Department of Behavioral Science, Graduate School of Humanities and Human Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
- Center for Experimental Research in Social Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
- Center for Human Nature, Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
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10
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Planer RJ. The evolution of hierarchically structured communication. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1224324. [PMID: 37767213 PMCID: PMC10520573 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1224324] [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: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Human language sentences are standardly understood as exhibiting considerable hierarchical structure: they can and typically do contain parts that in turn contain parts, etc. In other words, sentences are thought to generally exhibit significant nested part-whole structure. As far as we can tell, this is not a feature of the gestural or vocal communication systems of our great ape relatives. So, one of the many challenges we face in providing a theory of human language evolution is to explain the evolution of hierarchically structured communication in our line. This article takes up that challenge. More specifically, I first present and motivate an account of hierarchical structure in language that departs significantly from the orthodox conception of such structure in linguistics and evolutionary discussions that draw on linguistic theory. On the account I propose, linguistic structure, including hierarchical structure, is treated as a special case of structured action. This account is rooted in the cognitive neuroscience of action, as opposed to (formal) linguistic theory. Among other things, such an account enables us to see how selection for enhanced capacities of act organization and act control in actors, and for act interpretation in observers, might have constructed the brain machinery necessary for the elaborate forms of hierarchically structured communication that we humans engage in. I flesh out this line of thought, emphasizing in particular the role of hominin technique and technology, and the social learning thereof, as evolutionary drivers of this brain machinery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronald J. Planer
- School of Liberal Arts, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
- Words, Bones, Genes, and Tools: DFG Center for Advanced Studies, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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11
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Muller A, Barsky D, Sala-Ramos R, Sharon G, Titton S, Vergès JM, Grosman L. The limestone spheroids of 'Ubeidiya: intentional imposition of symmetric geometry by early hominins? ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230671. [PMID: 37680494 PMCID: PMC10480702 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023]
Abstract
Spheroids are one of the least understood lithic items yet are one of the most enduring, spanning from the Oldowan to the Middle Palaeolithic. Why and how they were made remains highly debated. We seek to address whether spheroids represent unintentional by-products of percussive tasks or if they were intentionally knapped tools with specific manufacturing goals. We apply novel three-dimensional analysis methods, including spherical harmonics and surface curvature, to 150 limestone spheroids from 'Ubeidiya (ca 1.4 Ma), presently the earliest Acheulean occurrence outside of Africa, to bring a new perspective to these enigmatic artefacts. We reconstruct the spheroid reduction sequence based on trends in their scar facets and geometry, finding that the spheroid makers at 'Ubeidiya followed a premeditated reduction strategy. During their manufacture, the spheroids do not become smoother, but they become markedly more spherical. They approach an ideal sphere, a feat that likely required skilful knapping and a preconceived goal. Acheulean bifaces are currently thought to represent the earliest evidence of hominins imposing a premeditated, symmetrical shape on stone. The intentional production of sphere-like objects at 'Ubeidiya similarly shows evidence of Acheulean hominins desiring and achieving intentional geometry and symmetry in stone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Muller
- Computational Archaeology Laboratory, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Deborah Barsky
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
- Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Robert Sala-Ramos
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
- Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Gonen Sharon
- MA Program in Galilee Studies, East Campus, Tel-Hai College, Upper Galilee, Israel
| | - Stefania Titton
- Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Josep-Maria Vergès
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
- Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Leore Grosman
- Computational Archaeology Laboratory, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
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12
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García-Medrano P, Martinón-Torres M, Ashton N. Introduction to special issue "Humans in transition: The occupation of Western Europe, 600-400 Ka". J Hum Evol 2023; 180:103388. [PMID: 37224624 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Paula García-Medrano
- Dept. Britain, Europe and Prehistory, British Museum, Frank House, 56 Orsman Road, N1 5QJ, London, UK; UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS-UPVD, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, IPH 1 Rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France; Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007, Tarragona, Spain; Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002, Tarragona, Spain.
| | - María Martinón-Torres
- Centro Nacional de Investigacion sobre la Evolucion Humana (CENIEH), Paseo de la Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain; Anthropology Department, University College London, London, UK
| | - Nick Ashton
- Dept. Britain, Europe and Prehistory, British Museum, Frank House, 56 Orsman Road, N1 5QJ, London, UK
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13
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Varallyay A, Beller N, Subiaul F. Generative cultural learning in children and adults: the role of compositionality and generativity in cultural evolution. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20222418. [PMID: 37122258 PMCID: PMC10130722 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.2418] [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: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 05/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Are human cultures distinctively cumulative because they are uniquely compositional? We addressed this question using a summative learning paradigm where participants saw different models build different tower elements, consisting of discrete actions and objects: stacking cubes (tower base) and linking squares (tower apex). These elements could be combined to form a tower that was optimal in terms of height and structural soundness. In addition to measuring copying fidelity, we explored whether children and adults (i) extended the knowledge demonstrated to additional tower elements and (ii) productively combined them. Results showed that children and adults copied observed demonstrations and applied them to novel exemplars. However, only adults in the imitation condition combined the two newly derived base and apex, relative to adults in a control group. Nonetheless, there were remarkable similarities between children's and adults' performance across measures. Composite measures capturing errors and overall generativity in children's and adults' performance produced few population by condition interactions. Results suggest that early in development, humans possess a suite of cognitive skills-compositionality and generativity-that transforms phylogenetically widespread social learning competencies into something that may be unique to our species, cultural learning; allowing human cultures to evolve towards greater complexity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrian Varallyay
- The Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Nathalia Beller
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Francys Subiaul
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
- Mind-Brain Institute, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
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García-Medrano P, Moncel MH, Maldonado-Garrido E, Ollé A, Ashton N. The Western European Acheulean: Reading variability at a regional scale. J Hum Evol 2023; 179:103357. [PMID: 37060623 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/12/2023] [Indexed: 04/17/2023]
Abstract
In the context of the Western European Acheulean Project, this study aims to characterize Acheulean technology in Western Europe through the analysis of handaxes and cleavers from 10 key sites (Britain 4, France 4, and Spain 2) to acquire a regional view of the occupation. The historically different systems used to categorize and analyze the data have made it difficult to compare results. Here we apply a unified and simple method (Western European Acheulean Project) that combines the traditional technological and metrical analysis of assemblages containing handaxes and cleavers with an in-depth geometric morphometric approach using three-dimensional models. This approach allows us to achieve a regional interpretation that identifies innovations through time and shaping strategies across the area. Our findings indicate the existence of two main technological groups in the sampled record: 1) northwestern and central France and Britain, from MIS 17/16 to MIS 11, and 2) Atlantic edge (Atapuerca in Spain and Menez-Dregan in France), from MIS 12/11 to MIS 8. Based on our technological analysis, the shaping of handaxes and cleavers was developed through time as a continuum of accumulative actions, with longer and more complex shaping strategies over time. Shaping technology shows traditions of manufacture over both time and geographical areas, which suggest cultural diffusion. Our geometric morphometric analysis further helped to identify not only general trends but also local adaptations in handaxe forms. Based on our findings, there were no apparent sudden innovations, but rather the application and development of specific techniques to refine size and shape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula García-Medrano
- Dept. Britain, Europe and Prehistory, British Museum, Frank House, 56 Orsman Road N1 5QJ, London, UK; UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS-UPVD, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, IPH 1 Rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France; Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain; Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain.
| | - Marie-Hélène Moncel
- UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS-UPVD, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, IPH 1 Rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Elías Maldonado-Garrido
- Dept. Britain, Europe and Prehistory, British Museum, Frank House, 56 Orsman Road N1 5QJ, London, UK
| | - Andreu Ollé
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain; Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Nick Ashton
- Dept. Britain, Europe and Prehistory, British Museum, Frank House, 56 Orsman Road N1 5QJ, London, UK
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15
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Proffitt T, Reeves JS, Braun DR, Malaivijitnond S, Luncz LV. Wild macaques challenge the origin of intentional tool production. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eade8159. [PMID: 36897944 PMCID: PMC10005173 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ade8159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Intentionally produced sharp-edged stone flakes and flaked pieces are our primary evidence for the emergence of technology in our lineage. This evidence is used to decipher the earliest hominin behavior, cognition, and subsistence strategies. Here, we report on the largest lithic assemblage associated with a primate foraging behavior undertaken by long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). This behavior results in a landscape-wide record of flaked stone material, almost indistinguishable from early hominin flaked pieces and flakes. It is now clear that the production of unintentional conchoidal sharp-edged flakes can result from tool-assisted foraging in nonhominin primates. Comparisons with Plio-Pleistocene lithic assemblages, dating from 3.3 to 1.56 million years ago, show that flakes produced by macaques fall within the technological range of artifacts made by early hominins. In the absence of behavioral observations, the assemblage produced by monkeys would likely be identified as anthropogenic in origin and interpreted as evidence of intentional tool production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomos Proffitt
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jonathan S. Reeves
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - David R. Braun
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Suchinda Malaivijitnond
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
- National Primate Research Center of Thailand, Chulalongkorn University, Saraburi, Thailand
| | - Lydia V. Luncz
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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16
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de la Peña P, Thomas M, Molefyane TR. Particle size distribution: An experimental study using southern African reduction methods and raw materials. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0278867. [PMID: 36584160 PMCID: PMC9803312 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
We experimentally created a particle size dataset that is based on reduction sequences and raw materials typical of the Middle and Later Stone Age in southern Africa. The reason for creating this new dataset is that current particle size frameworks are based, almost exclusively, on flint and western European knapping methods. We produced the dataset using knapping methods and raw materials frequently encountered in the southern African archaeological record because we wanted to test whether it has the same distribution as particle size datasets experimentally created in Europe, and to initialise the production of a database for use in the analysis of lithic assemblages from southern African Late Pleistocene deposits. We reduced 117 cores of quartz, quartzite, jasper, chalcedony, hornfels, and rhyolite. The knapping methods selected were unidirectional, discoidal, Levallois recurrent and bipolar flaking. In this article we compare this new particle size distribution dataset with the results obtained from previous experiments. We found that the southern African dataset shows a wider size range distribution, which seems to be explained by differences in knapping methods and raw materials. Our results show that there is overlap between the distribution of the southern African experimental knapping dataset and the sorting experiment conducted by Lenoble on flint artefacts in a runoff context. This article shows that a particle size analysis is not sufficient on its own to assess the perturbation of an archaeological assemblage and must be coupled with other analytical tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paloma de la Peña
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- * E-mail:
| | - Marc Thomas
- UMR 5608 TRACES, Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès, Toulouse, France
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17
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Miyagawa S, Arévalo A, Nóbrega VA. On the representation of hierarchical structure: Revisiting Darwin's musical protolanguage. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:1018708. [PMID: 36438635 PMCID: PMC9692108 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.1018708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In this article, we address the tenability of Darwin's musical protolanguage, arguing that a more compelling evolutionary scenario is one where a prosodic protolanguage is taken to be the preliminary step to represent the hierarchy involved in linguistic structures within a linear auditory signal. We hypothesize that the establishment of a prosodic protolanguage results from an enhancement of a rhythmic system that transformed linear signals into speech prosody, which in turn can mark syntactic hierarchical relations. To develop this claim, we explore the role of prosodic cues on the parsing of syntactic structures, as well as neuroscientific evidence connecting the evolutionary development of music and linguistic capacities. Finally, we entertain the assumption that the capacity to generate hierarchical structure might have developed as part of tool-making in human prehistory, and hence was established prior to the enhancement of a prosodic protolinguistic system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shigeru Miyagawa
- Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
- Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Analía Arévalo
- School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Vitor A. Nóbrega
- Institute of Romance Studies, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
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18
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Hayashi M, Takeshita H. Hierarchical object combination and tool use in the great apes and human children. Primates 2022; 63:429-441. [PMID: 35913534 PMCID: PMC9463204 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-022-01003-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Object manipulation can be used as a comparative scale of cognitive development among primates, including humans. Combinatory object manipulation is a precursor of tool-using behavior that indicates material intelligence in primates. However, developmental data on it regarding the great apes other than chimpanzees is insufficient. We conducted a longitudinal investigation of humans and chimpanzees as well as a cross-sectional examination of other great-ape infants (two bonobos, three gorillas, and four orangutans) in captive settings by using two kinds of tasks that required either inserting or stacking combinatory action. The four species of great apes and humans demonstrated both types of combinatory object manipulation during infancy. However, the order of development in different types of combinatory object manipulations varied among the great apes. Furthermore, we applied a nesting-cup task to examine the hierarchical complexity in the combinatory strategies of human children and adult chimpanzees. Both of them exhibited highly hierarchical combinations in the nesting-cup task and employed the subassembly strategy, indicating that an action merge may exist not only in human children but also in adult chimpanzees. The results were discussed with reviews of the tool-use literature from the wild great apes. The early acquisition of an inserting action in the chimpanzees may explain the tool utilization commonality reported in wild chimpanzees. The combinatory object manipulation may have worked as an external enhancer to achieve an additional hierarchical complexity in cognition and behavior, eventually leading humans to develop a language system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Misato Hayashi
- Chubu Gakuin University, 30-1 Naka Oida-cho, Kakamigahara, Gifu, 504-0837, Japan.
- Japan Monkey Centre, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan.
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19
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Snyder WD, Reeves JS, Tennie C. Early knapping techniques do not necessitate cultural transmission. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabo2894. [PMID: 35857472 PMCID: PMC9258951 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo2894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/17/2022] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Early stone tool production, or knapping, techniques are claimed to be the earliest evidence for cultural transmission in the human lineage. Previous experimental studies have trained human participants to knap in conditions involving opportunities for cultural transmission. Subsequent knapping was then interpreted as evidence for a necessity of the provided cultural transmission opportunities for these techniques. However, a valid necessity claim requires showing that individual learning alone cannot lead to early knapping techniques. Here, we tested human participants (N = 28) in cultural isolation for the individual learning of early knapping techniques by providing them with relevant raw materials and a puzzle task as motivation. Twenty-five participants were technique naïve according to posttest questionnaires, yet they individually learned early knapping techniques, therewith producing and using core and flake tools. Early knapping techniques thus do not necessitate cultural transmission of know-how and could likewise have been individually derived among premodern hominins.
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Affiliation(s)
- William D. Snyder
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Jonathan S. Reeves
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Claudio Tennie
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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20
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Henderson RD, Kepp KP, Eisen A. ALS/FTD: Evolution, Aging, and Cellular Metabolic Exhaustion. Front Neurol 2022; 13:890203. [PMID: 35711269 PMCID: PMC9196861 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2022.890203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia (ALS/FTD) are neurodegenerations with evolutionary underpinnings, expansive clinical presentations, and multiple genetic risk factors involving a complex network of pathways. This perspective considers the complex cellular pathology of aging motoneuronal and frontal/prefrontal cortical networks in the context of evolutionary, clinical, and biochemical features of the disease. We emphasize the importance of evolution in the development of the higher cortical function, within the influence of increasing lifespan. Particularly, the role of aging on the metabolic competence of delicately optimized neurons, age-related increased proteostatic costs, and specific genetic risk factors that gradually reduce the energy available for neuronal function leading to neuronal failure and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kasper Planeta Kepp
- Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Andrew Eisen
- Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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21
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O'Madagain C, Tomasello M. Shared intentionality, reason-giving and the evolution of human culture. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200320. [PMID: 34894741 PMCID: PMC8666906 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The biological approach to culture focuses almost exclusively on processes of social learning, to the neglect of processes of cultural coordination including joint action and shared intentionality. In this paper, we argue that the distinctive features of human culture derive from humans' unique skills and motivations for coordinating with one another around different types of action and information. As different levels of these skills of 'shared intentionality' emerged over the last several hundred thousand years, human culture became characterized first by such things as collaborative activities and pedagogy based on cooperative communication, and then by such things as collaborative innovations and normatively structured pedagogy. As a kind of capstone of this trajectory, humans began to coordinate not just on joint actions and shared beliefs, but on the reasons for what we believe or how we act. Coordinating on reasons powered the kinds of extremely rapid innovation and stable cumulative cultural evolution especially characteristic of the human species in the last several tens of thousands of years. 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)
- Cathal O'Madagain
- School of Collective Intelligence, Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique, Ben Guerir, Morocco
- Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Michael Tomasello
- Department of Psychology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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22
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The evolution of combinatoriality and compositionality in hominid tool use: a comparative perspective. INT J PRIMATOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-021-00267-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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23
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Reconstructing Neanderthal diet: The case for carbohydrates. J Hum Evol 2021; 162:103105. [PMID: 34923240 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Revised: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Evidence for plants rarely survives on Paleolithic sites, while animal bones and biomolecular analyses suggest animal produce was important to hominin populations, leading to the perspective that Neanderthals had a very-high-protein diet. But although individual and short-term survival is possible on a relatively low-carbohydrate diet, populations are unlikely to have thrived and reproduced without plants and the carbohydrates they provide. Today, nutritional guidelines recommend that around half the diet should be carbohydrate, while low intake is considered to compromise physical performance and successful reproduction. This is likely to have been the same for Paleolithic populations, highlighting an anomaly in that the basic physiological recommendations do not match the extensive archaeological evidence. Neanderthals had large, energy-expensive brains and led physically active lifestyles, suggesting that for optimal health they would have required high amounts of carbohydrates. To address this anomaly, we begin by outlining the essential role of carbohydrates in the human reproduction cycle and the brain and the effects on physical performance. We then evaluate the evidence for resource availability and the archaeological evidence for Neanderthal diet and investigate three ways that the anomaly between the archaeological evidence and the hypothetical dietary requirements might be explained. First, Neanderthals may have had an as yet unidentified genetic adaptation to an alternative physiological method to spare blood glucose and glycogen reserves for essential purposes. Second, they may have existed on a less-than-optimum diet and survived rather than thrived. Third, the methods used in dietary reconstruction could mask a complex combination of dietary plant and animal proportions. We end by proposing that analyses of Paleolithic diet and subsistence strategies need to be grounded in the minimum recommendations throughout the life course and that this provides a context for interpretation of the archaeological evidence from the behavioral and environmental perspectives.
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24
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Read DW, Manrique HM, Walker MJ. On the Working Memory of Humans and Great Apes: Strikingly Similar or Remarkably Different? Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 134:104496. [PMID: 34919985 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.12.019] [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: 06/22/2020] [Revised: 11/08/2021] [Accepted: 12/09/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
In this article we review publications relevant to addressing widely reported claims in both the academic and popular press that chimpanzees working memory (WM) is comparable to, if not exceeding, that of humans. WM is a complex multidimensional construct with strong parallels in humans to prefrontal cortex and cognitive development. These parallels occur in chimpanzees, but to a lesser degree. We review empirical evidence and conclude that the size of WM in chimpanzees is 2 ± 1 versus Miller's famous 7 ± 2 in humans. Comparable differences occur in experiments on chimpanzees relating to strategic and attentional WM subsystems. Regardless of the domain, chimpanzee WM performance is comparable to that of humans around the age of 4 or 5. Next, we review evidence showing parallels among the evolution of WM capacity in hominins ancestral to Homo sapiens, the phylogenetic evolution of hominins leading to Homo sapiens, and evolution in the complexity of stone tool technology over this time period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dwight W Read
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Department of Statistics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
| | - Héctor M Manrique
- Departamento de Psicología y Sociología, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Michael J Walker
- Department of Zoology and Physical Anthropology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
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25
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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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26
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A proof of concept for machine learning-based virtual knapping using neural networks. Sci Rep 2021; 11:19966. [PMID: 34620893 PMCID: PMC8497608 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98755-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Prehistoric stone tools are an important source of evidence for the study of human behavioural and cognitive evolution. Archaeologists use insights from the experimental replication of lithics to understand phenomena such as the behaviours and cognitive capacities required to manufacture them. However, such experiments can require large amounts of time and raw materials, and achieving sufficient control of key variables can be difficult. A computer program able to accurately simulate stone tool production would make lithic experimentation faster, more accessible, reproducible, less biased, and may lead to reliable insights into the factors that structure the archaeological record. We present here a proof of concept for a machine learning-based virtual knapping framework capable of quickly and accurately predicting flake removals from 3D cores using a conditional adversarial neural network (CGAN). We programmatically generated a testing dataset of standardised 3D cores with flakes knapped from them. After training, the CGAN accurately predicted the length, volume, width, and shape of these flake removals using the intact core surface information alone. This demonstrates the feasibility of machine learning for investigating lithic production virtually. With a larger training sample and validation against archaeological data, virtual knapping could enable fast, cheap, and highly-reproducible virtual lithic experimentation.
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27
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Gönül G, Takmaz E, Hohenberger A. Preschool children's use of perceptual-motor knowledge and hierarchical representational skills for tool making. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2021; 220:103415. [PMID: 34517261 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103415] [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: 01/27/2021] [Revised: 08/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Although other animals can make simple tools, the expanded and complex material culture of humans is unprecedented in the animal kingdom. Tool making is a slow and late-developing ability in humans, and preschool children find making tools to solve problems very challenging. This difficulty in tool making might be related to the lack of familiarity with the tools and may be overcome by children's long term perceptual-motor knowledge. Thus, in this study, the effect of tool familiarity on tool making was investigated with a task in which 5-to-6-year-old children (n = 75) were asked to remove a small bucket from a vertical tube. The results show that children are better at tool making if the tool and its relation to the task are familiar to them (e.g., soda straw). Moreover, we also replicated the finding that hierarchical complexity and tool making were significantly related. Results are discussed in light of the ideomotor approach.
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28
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Duke H, Feibel C, Harmand S. Before the Acheulean: The emergence of bifacial shaping at Kokiselei 6 (1.8 Ma), West Turkana, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2021; 159:103061. [PMID: 34481224 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2020] [Revised: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 07/23/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
We present new evidence for the emergence of biface shaping from Kokiselei 6 in the Kokiselei Site Complex (KS) in West Turkana, Kenya. This rich and well-preserved new site presents an opportunity to investigate the earliest development of biface shaping. The emergence of biface shaping in lithic technology is often used as evidence for increased and/or novel cognitive abilities that contrast prior hominins' flaking capacities. Yet, recent research reveals a story of gradual change over time in a variety of different flaking and shaping strategies. Here, we present preliminary excavation and lithic data from Kokiselei 6 that will be critical for future investigations of biface shaping emergence at KS. Kokiselei preserves the oldest known Acheulean lithic assemblage, Kokiselei 4 (1.76 Ma), as well as several older sites. Geochronological research shows that Kokiselei 6 stratigraphically underlies Kokiselei 4 and is the oldest site in the complex at 1.8 Ma. The Kokiselei 6 excavation yielded thousands of piece-plotted lithic artifacts and faunal remains. Preliminary analysis of the lithics (n = 3856) indicates a prevalence of bifacial flaking strategies alongside minimal evidence for rough biface shaping. We argue that the flaking strategies observed from bifacial cores share similar operations and abilities as those involved in the production of the roughly shaped bifaces at the site. This preliminary evidence supports existing arguments that biface shaping emerged gradually out of variability in bifacial core reduction, ultimately leading to the systematic production of bifaces characteristic of the Acheulean. Future work teasing apart the processes of technological change at KS more broadly will be critical for understanding the emergence of biface shaping. These new data add to a growing narrative that opposes long-held assumptions about hominin cognitive evolution that suggest Acheulean technology required new, and more complex, cognitive abilities and gestures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hilary Duke
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Circle Rd., SBS Building S-501, Stony Brook, New York 11794-4364, USA.
| | - Craig Feibel
- Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, 131 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1414, USA
| | - Sonia Harmand
- Department of Anthropology, Turkana Basin Institute, Stony Brook University, Circle Rd., SBS Building S-501, Stony Brook, New York 11794-4364, USA; UMR 7055, CNRS - Université Paris Nanterre, MAE, 21 allée de l'Université, 92023 Nanterre Cedex, France
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Hussain ST, Soressi M. The Technological Condition of Human Evolution: Lithic Studies as Basic Science. JOURNAL OF PALEOLITHIC ARCHAEOLOGY 2021; 4:25. [PMID: 34805748 PMCID: PMC8591788 DOI: 10.1007/s41982-021-00098-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/18/2021] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
The recent elaboration and rapid expansion of aDNA, paleoproteomics, and related fields have propelled a profound "biomolecular turn" in archaeology and fundamentally changed the topology of archaeological knowledge production. Such a transformation of the archaeological research landscape is not without consequence for long-standing research practices in the field, such as lithic analysis. This special issue derives from the session Old Stones, New Eyes? organized by the authors at the UISPP World Congress in Paris in 2018, which aimed to explore the future of lithic studies. An underlying theme of our session was the felt need to respond to the increasing marginalization of lithic research in terms of its capacity to (1) contribute to the grand narratives of early human evolution and (2) better articulate the role and significance of lithic studies in interdisciplinary human origins research. In this editorial, we briefly outline some of the questions and challenges raised by the biomolecular turn and advocate for a more self-conscious and reflexive stance among lithic experts. We argue that lithic studies fulfill all necessary requirements to act as a basic science for human origins research and that its role and status depends less on technological advances, such as, e.g., improved computing facilities, novel analytical software, or automated shape capture technologies, than on continuous work on the conceptual and methodological foundations of inquiry. We finally draw attention to the unique capability of lithic studies to shed light on the human technological condition and illustrate this potential by introducing and briefly discussing the papers included in this issue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shumon Tobias Hussain
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Moesgård Allé 20, 8270 Højbjerg, Denmark
| | - Marie Soressi
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden, The Netherlands
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Reeves JS, Braun DR, Finestone EM, Plummer TW. Ecological perspectives on technological diversity at Kanjera South. J Hum Evol 2021; 158:103029. [PMID: 34384939 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2020] [Revised: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/23/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The aspects of hominin behavior responsible for Oldowan stone tool variation are the focus of much debate. There is some consensus that this variation arises from a combination of ecological and cultural factors. The diversity of raw material types and technological strategies present at Kanjera South, Kenya, provide an opportunity to examine the interacting influences of ecology and culture on Oldowan stone tool variation. Here, we combine previous analyses of raw material properties, provenance, and technology with quantitative measures of core reduction intensity and tool utilization to examine the influence of both ecological and technocultural factors on stone tool variation at Kanjera South. The results of this analysis reflect a dynamic relationship between raw material properties, provenance, and hominin mobility. Exotic raw materials are generally more resistant to edge attrition compared with those available locally, which may have incentivized their transport over long distances and more extensive reduction. Cores produced on raw materials from distant sources also exhibit more complex core reduction strategies than locally acquired materials. While this pattern is partially due to the differences in the quality of knappable stone, bifacial centripetal and multifacial core reduction strategies also arise due to the continuous transport and use of exotic raw materials. Moreover, the variation in stone tool reduction is not consistent with neutral models of stone tool transport and discard. These results demonstrate that ecological factors such as raw material provenance and physical properties have strong impacts on reduction intensity and the technological strategies used by hominins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan S Reeves
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany.
| | - David R Braun
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany; Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, 800 22nd Street, North West, Washington D.C., USA; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany
| | - Emma M Finestone
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, D-07743, Jena, Germany
| | - Thomas W Plummer
- Dept of Anthropology, Queens College, City University of New York, Flushing, NY 11367-1597, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA
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31
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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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van Schaik CP, Triki Z, Bshary R, Heldstab SA. A Farewell to the Encephalization Quotient: A New Brain Size Measure for Comparative Primate Cognition. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2021; 96:1-12. [PMID: 34247154 DOI: 10.1159/000517013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 05/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Both absolute and relative brain sizes vary greatly among and within the major vertebrate lineages. Scientists have long debated how larger brains in primates and hominins translate into greater cognitive performance, and in particular how to control for the relationship between the noncognitive functions of the brain and body size. One solution to this problem is to establish the slope of cognitive equivalence, i.e., the line connecting organisms with an identical bauplan but different body sizes. The original approach to estimate this slope through intraspecific regressions was abandoned after it became clear that it generated slopes that were too low by an unknown margin due to estimation error. Here, we revisit this method. We control for the error problem by focusing on highly dimorphic primate species with large sample sizes and fitting a line through the mean values for adult females and males. We obtain the best estimate for the slope of circa 0.27, a value much lower than those constructed using all mammal species and close to the value expected based on the genetic correlation between brain size and body size. We also find that the estimate of cognitive brain size based on cognitive equivalence fits empirical cognitive studies better than the encephalization quotient, which should therefore be avoided in future studies on primates and presumably mammals and birds in general. The use of residuals from the line of cognitive equivalence may change conclusions concerning the cognitive abilities of extant and extinct primate species, including hominins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carel P van Schaik
- Department of Anthropology and Anthropological Museum, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Zegni Triki
- Behavioral Ecology Laboratory, Faculty of Science, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, .,Institute of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden,
| | - Redouan Bshary
- Behavioral Ecology Laboratory, Faculty of Science, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Sandra A Heldstab
- Department of Anthropology and Anthropological Museum, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Will M, Krapp M, Stock JT, Manica A. Different environmental variables predict body and brain size evolution in Homo. Nat Commun 2021; 12:4116. [PMID: 34238930 PMCID: PMC8266824 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24290-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Increasing body and brain size constitutes a key macro-evolutionary pattern in the hominin lineage, yet the mechanisms behind these changes remain debated. Hypothesized drivers include environmental, demographic, social, dietary, and technological factors. Here we test the influence of environmental factors on the evolution of body and brain size in the genus Homo over the last one million years using a large fossil dataset combined with global paleoclimatic reconstructions and formalized hypotheses tested in a quantitative statistical framework. We identify temperature as a major predictor of body size variation within Homo, in accordance with Bergmann's rule. In contrast, net primary productivity of environments and long-term variability in precipitation correlate with brain size but explain low amounts of the observed variation. These associations are likely due to an indirect environmental influence on cognitive abilities and extinction probabilities. Most environmental factors that we test do not correspond with body and brain size evolution, pointing towards complex scenarios which underlie the evolution of key biological characteristics in later Homo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Will
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Mario Krapp
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- GNS Science, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
| | - Jay T Stock
- Department of Anthropology, Western University, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Andrea Manica
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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34
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Stout D, Chaminade T, Apel J, Shafti A, Faisal AA. The measurement, evolution, and neural representation of action grammars of human behavior. Sci Rep 2021; 11:13720. [PMID: 34215758 PMCID: PMC8253764 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-92992-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/18/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Human behaviors from toolmaking to language are thought to rely on a uniquely evolved capacity for hierarchical action sequencing. Testing this idea will require objective, generalizable methods for measuring the structural complexity of real-world behavior. Here we present a data-driven approach for extracting action grammars from basic ethograms, exemplified with respect to the evolutionarily relevant behavior of stone toolmaking. We analyzed sequences from the experimental replication of ~ 2.5 Mya Oldowan vs. ~ 0.5 Mya Acheulean tools, finding that, while using the same "alphabet" of elementary actions, Acheulean sequences are quantifiably more complex and Oldowan grammars are a subset of Acheulean grammars. We illustrate the utility of our complexity measures by re-analyzing data from an fMRI study of stone toolmaking to identify brain responses to structural complexity. Beyond specific implications regarding the co-evolution of language and technology, this exercise illustrates the general applicability of our method to investigate naturalistic human behavior and cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dietrich Stout
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| | - Thierry Chaminade
- Institut de Neurosciences de La Timone, Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, France
| | - Jan Apel
- Department of Archaeology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ali Shafti
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - A Aldo Faisal
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, UK.
- Department of Computing, Imperial College London, London, UK.
- Integrative Biology, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, London, UK.
- Behaviour Analytics Lab, Data Science Institute, London, UK.
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35
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Yan Z. The origins of children's understanding of technologies: A focused rapid review of three approaches. HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/hbe2.269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zheng Yan
- Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology University at Albany Albany New York USA
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36
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Macchi R, Daver G, Brenet M, Prat S, Hugheville L, Harmand S, Lewis J, Domalain M. Biomechanical demands of percussive techniques in the context of early stone toolmaking. J R Soc Interface 2021; 18:20201044. [PMID: 34034530 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2020.1044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent discoveries in archaeology and palaeoanthropology highlight that stone tool knapping could have emerged first within the genera Australopithecus or Kenyanthropus rather than Homo. To explore the implications of this hypothesis determining the physical demands and motor control needed for performing the percussive movements during the oldest stone toolmaking technology (i.e. Lomekwian) would help. We analysed the joint angle patterns and muscle activity of a knapping expert using three stone tool replication techniques: unipolar flaking on the passive hammer (PH), bipolar (BP) flaking on the anvil, and multidirectional and multifacial flaking with free hand (FH). PH presents high levels of activity for Biceps brachii and wrist extensors and flexors. By contrast, BP and FH are characterized by high solicitation of forearm pronation. The synergy analyses depict a high muscular and kinematic coordination. Whereas the muscle pattern is very close between the techniques, the kinematic pattern is more variable, especially for PH. FH displays better muscle coordination and conversely lesser joint angle coordination. These observations suggest that the transition from anvil and hammer to freehand knapping techniques in early hominins would have been made possible by the acquisition of a behavioural repertoire producing an evolutionary advantage that gradually would have been beneficial for stone tool production.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Macchi
- Institut PPrime, CNRS - Université de Poitiers - ENSMA, UPR 3346, Poitiers, France.,PALEVOPRIM, CNRS - Université de Poitiers, UMR 7262, Poitiers, France
| | - G Daver
- PALEVOPRIM, CNRS - Université de Poitiers, UMR 7262, Poitiers, France
| | - M Brenet
- CNRS, UMR5199 PACEA et INRAP GSO, Université de Bordeaux, 33615 Pessac, France
| | - S Prat
- UMR 7194 (HNHP), MNHN/CNRS/UPVD, Alliance Sorbonne Université, Musée de l'Homme, Paris, France
| | - L Hugheville
- Institut du Cerveau et de la Moëlle épinière, Paris, France
| | - S Harmand
- Turkana Basin Institute, Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA
| | - J Lewis
- Turkana Basin Institute, Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA
| | - M Domalain
- Institut PPrime, CNRS - Université de Poitiers - ENSMA, UPR 3346, Poitiers, France
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37
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Moncel MH, García-Medrano P, Despriée J, Arnaud J, Voinchet P, Bahain JJ. Tracking behavioral persistence and innovations during the Middle Pleistocene in Western Europe. Shift in occupations between 700 and 450 ka at la Noira site (Centre, France). J Hum Evol 2021; 156:103009. [PMID: 34049270 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2020] [Revised: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Some areas in Western Europe indicate hiatuses in human occupations, which cannot be systematically attributed to taphonomic factors and poor site preservation. The site of la Noira in the center of France records two occupation phases with a significant time gap. The older one is dated to around 700 ka (stratum a) with an Acheulean assemblage, among the earliest in Western Europe, and the upper phase of the sequence (stratum c) is dated to ca. 450 ka. Humans left the area at around 670 ka, at the beginning of the marine isotope stage (MIS) 16 glacial stage, when cold conditions became too severe. No sites between 650 and 450 ka have yet been discovered in the center region despite systematic surveys over the past three decades. The archaeological evidence indicates that populations returned to the area, at the end of MIS 12 or the beginning of the long interglacial MIS 11. Here, we use technological behaviors common to the two levels of la Noira-strata a and c to evaluate their differences. Compared to other key European sequences, this site can be used to address the evolution of the behavioral strategies in Europe between MIS 17 and 11. We formulate two hypotheses concerning the human settlement of this area: (1) local behavioral evolution over time of populations occasionally occupying the region when the climate was favorable or (2) dispersal and arrival of new populations from other areas. The results focus on (1) changes in land-use patterns with the extension of the territory used by hominins in the upper level, (2) the introduction of new core technologies, including some evidence of early Levallois debitage, and (3) more intensive shaping of bifaces and bifacial tools. Results attest that the la Noira archaeological assemblages record similar regional behavioral evolution as observed at a larger scale in Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie-Hélène Moncel
- UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS-UPVD, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, IPH 1 Rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France.
| | - Paula García-Medrano
- UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS-UPVD, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, IPH 1 Rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France; Dept. Britain, Europe and Prehistory, British Museum, Frank House, 56 Orsman Road, N1 5QJ, London, UK; Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana I Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain; Universitat Rovira I Virgili, Departament D'Història I Història de L'Art, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Jackie Despriée
- UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS-UPVD, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, IPH 1 Rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Julie Arnaud
- UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS-UPVD, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, IPH 1 Rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France; Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università Degli Studi di Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Pierre Voinchet
- UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS-UPVD, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, IPH 1 Rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Jean-Jacques Bahain
- UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS-UPVD, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, IPH 1 Rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France
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38
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Silva-Gago M, Fedato A, Terradillos-Bernal M, Alonso-Alcalde R, Martín-Guerra E, Bruner E. Not a matter of shape: The influence of tool characteristics on electrodermal activity in response to haptic exploration of Lower Palaeolithic tools. Am J Hum Biol 2021; 34:e23612. [PMID: 34000102 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Revised: 04/07/2021] [Accepted: 05/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Haptics involves somatosensory perception through the skin surface and dynamic touch based on the proprioceptive response of the whole body. Handling Palaeolithic stone tools influences the arousal and attentional engagement, which can be detected and measured through electrodermal activity. Although tool shape has generally been studied to consider tool functions or tool making, it is also a major factor in tool sensing and haptic perception. The purpose of this survey is to analyze whether the electrodermal reactions are influenced by stone tool morphology. METHODS We first quantify the morphological variability of 72 stone tools through geometric morphometrics. Then, 12 stone tools from the previous sample were randomly selected to perform the electrodermal analysis in a sample of 46 right-handed adults. RESULTS Elongation is the main factor involved in Lower Palaeolithic shape variation, followed by the position of the maximum thickness. Attention and manipulation time are mainly influenced by tool size, while arousal mostly correlates with tool weight. Electrodermal activity is apparently not influenced by the overall tool shape. Tool size, weight, and base morphology are the variables that mainly trigger an electrodermal reaction. CONCLUSIONS Electrophysiological reaction is more sensitive to specific physical features of the tool than to its general outline. These features are not particularly different in worked pebbles and handaxes in terms of grasping, but underwent remarkable changes in other technological traditions. That changes associated with behavioral performances can be employed in cognitive archaeology to investigate the relationships between tool sensing and tool use.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Silva-Gago
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, Burgos, Spain
| | - Annapaola Fedato
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, Burgos, Spain
| | | | - Rodrigo Alonso-Alcalde
- Museo de la Evolución Humana, Burgos, Spain.,Área de Prehistoria, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain
| | - Elena Martín-Guerra
- Sociograph Marketing Science Consulting, Plaza Campus Universitario 1, Valladolid, Spain
| | - Emiliano Bruner
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, Burgos, Spain
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Asano R. The evolution of hierarchical structure building capacity for language and music: a bottom-up perspective. Primates 2021; 63:417-428. [PMID: 33839984 PMCID: PMC9463250 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-021-00905-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2020] [Accepted: 03/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
A central property of human language is its hierarchical structure. Humans can flexibly combine elements to build a hierarchical structure expressing rich semantics. A hierarchical structure is also considered as playing a key role in many other human cognitive domains. In music, auditory-motor events are combined into hierarchical pitch and/or rhythm structure expressing affect. How did such a hierarchical structure building capacity evolve? This paper investigates this question from a bottom-up perspective based on a set of action-related components as a shared basis underlying cognitive capacities of nonhuman primates and humans. Especially, I argue that the evolution of hierarchical structure building capacity for language and music is tractable for comparative evolutionary study once we focus on the gradual elaboration of shared brain architecture: the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits for hierarchical control of goal-directed action and the dorsal pathways for hierarchical internal models. I suggest that this gradual elaboration of the action-related brain architecture in the context of vocal control and tool-making went hand in hand with amplification of working memory, and made the brain ready for hierarchical structure building in language and music.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rie Asano
- Systematic Musicology, Institute of Musicology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
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40
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41
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Nair L, Chernova S. Feature Guided Search for Creative Problem Solving Through Tool Construction. Front Robot AI 2020; 7:592382. [PMID: 33501352 PMCID: PMC7806064 DOI: 10.3389/frobt.2020.592382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2020] [Accepted: 12/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Robots in the real world should be able to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. Particularly in the context of tool use, robots may not have access to the tools they need for completing a task. In this paper, we focus on the problem of tool construction in the context of task planning. We seek to enable robots to construct replacements for missing tools using available objects, in order to complete the given task. We introduce the Feature Guided Search (FGS) algorithm that enables the application of existing heuristic search approaches in the context of task planning, to perform tool construction efficiently. FGS accounts for physical attributes of objects (e.g., shape, material) during the search for a valid task plan. Our results demonstrate that FGS significantly reduces the search effort over standard heuristic search approaches by ≈93% for tool construction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lakshmi Nair
- Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
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42
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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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Oxilia G, Bortolini E, Badino F, Bernardini F, Gazzoni V, Lugli F, Romandini M, Radini A, Terlato G, Marciani G, Silvestrini S, Menghi Sartorio JC, Thun Hohenstein U, Fiorenza L, Kullmer O, Tuniz C, Moggi Cecchi J, Talamo S, Fontana F, Peresani M, Benazzi S, Cristiani E. Exploring late Paleolithic and Mesolithic diet in the Eastern Alpine region of Italy through multiple proxies. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2020; 174:232-253. [PMID: 32914870 PMCID: PMC7918647 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2020] [Revised: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 07/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Objectives The analysis of prehistoric human dietary habits is key for understanding the effects of paleoenvironmental changes on the evolution of cultural and social human behaviors. In this study, we compare results from zooarchaeological, stable isotope and dental calculus analyses as well as lower second molar macrowear patterns to gain a broader understanding of the diet of three individuals who lived between the end of the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene (ca., 17–8 ky cal BP) in the Eastern Alpine region of Italy. Materials and methods We analyze individuals buried at the sites of Riparo Tagliente (Verona), Riparo Villabruna, and Mondeval de Sora (Belluno). The three burials provide a unique dataset for diachronically exploring the influence of climatic changes on human subsistence strategies. Results Isotopic results indicate that all individuals likely relied on both terrestrial and freshwater animal proteins. Even though dental calculus analysis was, in part, hindered by the amount of mineral deposit available on the teeth, tooth macrowear study suggests that the dietary habits of the individuals included plant foods. Moreover, differences in macrowear patterns of lower second molars have been documented between Neanderthals and modern humans in the present sample, due to a prevalence of Buccal wear among the former as opposed to higher values of Lingual wear in modern human teeth. Discussion Isotopic analyses have emphasized the contribution of animal proteins in the diet of the three foragers from the Eastern Alpine region. The possible intake of carbohydrate‐rich plant foods, suggested by the retrieval of plant remains in dental calculus, is supported by the signal of macrowear analysis. Moreover, the latter method indicates that the distribution of macrowear in lower second molars (M2s) allows us to discriminate between Neanderthals and modern humans within the present reference sample. Overall, our results show these three prehistoric hunter‐gatherers were well adapted to the environment in which they lived exploiting many natural resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregorio Oxilia
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy.,DANTE Diet and Ancient Technology Laboratory, Department of Oral and Maxillo Facial Sciences Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Eugenio Bortolini
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Federica Badino
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy.,C.N.R. - Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria, Milan, Italy
| | - Federico Bernardini
- Centro Fermi, Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro di Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi, Rome, Italy.,Multidisciplinary Laboratory, The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy
| | - Valentina Gazzoni
- Department of Humanities-Section of Prehistoric and Anthropological Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Federico Lugli
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy.,Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Matteo Romandini
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy.,Department of Humanities-Section of Prehistoric and Anthropological Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Anita Radini
- DANTE Diet and Ancient Technology Laboratory, Department of Oral and Maxillo Facial Sciences Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Gabriele Terlato
- Department of Humanities-Section of Prehistoric and Anthropological Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Giulia Marciani
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Sara Silvestrini
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Jessica C Menghi Sartorio
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy.,Department of Humanities-Section of Prehistoric and Anthropological Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Ursula Thun Hohenstein
- Department of Humanities-Section of Prehistoric and Anthropological Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Luca Fiorenza
- Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,Earth Sciences, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ottmar Kullmer
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.,Department of Paleobiology and Environment, Institute of Ecology, Evolution, and Diversity, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Claudio Tuniz
- Centro Fermi, Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro di Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi, Rome, Italy.,Multidisciplinary Laboratory, The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy.,Centre for Archaeological Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
| | | | - Sahra Talamo
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Chemistry "G. Ciamician", University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Federica Fontana
- Department of Humanities-Section of Prehistoric and Anthropological Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Marco Peresani
- C.N.R. - Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria, Milan, Italy.,Department of Humanities-Section of Prehistoric and Anthropological Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Stefano Benazzi
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Emanuela Cristiani
- DANTE Diet and Ancient Technology Laboratory, Department of Oral and Maxillo Facial Sciences Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
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Hussain ST, Will M. Materiality, Agency and Evolution of Lithic Technology: an Integrated Perspective for Palaeolithic Archaeology. JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL METHOD AND THEORY 2020; 28:617-670. [PMID: 34720569 PMCID: PMC8550397 DOI: 10.1007/s10816-020-09483-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Considerations of materiality and object-oriented approaches have greatly influenced the development of archaeological theory in recent years. Yet, Palaeolithic archaeology has been slow in incorporating this emerging body of scholarship and exploring its bearing on the human deep past. This paper probes into the potential of materiality theory to clarify the material dynamics of the Plio-Pleistocene and seeks to re-articulate the debate on the evolution of our species with materiality discourses in archaeology and the humanities more broadly. We argue that the signature temporalities and geospatial scales of observation provided by the Palaeolithic record offer unique opportunities to examine the active role of material things, objects, artefacts and technologies in the emergence, stabilisation and transformation of hominin lifeworlds and the accretion of long-term trajectories of material culture change. We map three axes of human-thing relations-ecological, technical and evolutionary-and deploy a range of case studies from the literature to show that a critical re-assessment of material agency not only discloses novel insights and questions, but can also refine what we already know about the human deep past. Our exploration underscores the benefits of de-centring human behaviour and intentionality and demonstrates that materiality lends itself as a productive nexus of exchange and mutual inspiration for diverging schools and research interests in Palaeolithic archaeology. An integrated object-oriented perspective calls attention to the human condition as a product of millennial-scale human-thing co-adaptation, in the course of which hominins, artefacts and technologies continuously influenced and co-created each other.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shumon T. Hussain
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Aarhus University, Moesgård Allé 20, 8270 Højbjerg, Aarhus, Denmark
- CRC 806 ‘Our Way to Europe’, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Centre for Environmental Humanities (CEH), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- BIOCHANGE – for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF), University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Manuel Will
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Burgsteige 11, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
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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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A 1.4-million-year-old bone handaxe from Konso, Ethiopia, shows advanced tool technology in the early Acheulean. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:18393-18400. [PMID: 32661154 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2006370117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In the past decade, the early Acheulean before 1 Mya has been a focus of active research. Acheulean lithic assemblages have been shown to extend back to ∼1.75 Mya, and considerable advances in core reduction technologies are seen by 1.5 to 1.4 Mya. Here we report a bifacially flaked bone fragment (maximum dimension ∼13 cm) of a hippopotamus femur from the ∼1.4 Mya sediments of the Konso Formation in southern Ethiopia. The large number of flake scars and their distribution pattern, together with the high frequency of cone fractures, indicate anthropogenic flaking into handaxe-like form. Use-wear analyses show quasi-continuous alternate microflake scars, wear polish, edge rounding, and striae patches along an ∼5-cm-long edge toward the handaxe tip. The striae run predominantly oblique to the edge, with some perpendicular, on both the cortical and inner faces. The combined evidence is consistent with the use of this bone artifact in longitudinal motions, such as in cutting and/or sawing. This bone handaxe is the oldest known extensively flaked example from the Early Pleistocene. Despite scarcity of well-shaped bone tools, its presence at Konso shows that sophisticated flaking was practiced by ∼1.4 Mya, not only on a range of lithic materials, but also occasionally on bone, thus expanding the documented technological repertoire of African Early Pleistocene Homo.
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Abstract
A defining feature of human culture is that knowledge and technology continually improve over time. Such cumulative cultural evolution (CCE) probably depends far more heavily on how reliably information is preserved than on how efficiently it is refined. Therefore, one possible reason that CCE appears diminished or absent in other species is that it requires accurate but specialized forms of social learning at which humans are uniquely adept. Here, we develop a Bayesian model to contrast the evolution of high-fidelity social learning, which supports CCE, against low-fidelity social learning, which does not. We find that high-fidelity transmission evolves when (1) social and (2) individual learning are inexpensive, (3) traits are complex, (4) individual learning is abundant, (5) adaptive problems are difficult and (6) behaviour is flexible. Low-fidelity transmission differs in many respects. It not only evolves when (2) individual learning is costly and (4) infrequent but also proves more robust when (3) traits are simple and (5) adaptive problems are easy. If conditions favouring the evolution of high-fidelity transmission are stricter (3 and 5) or harder to meet (2 and 4), this could explain why social learning is common, but CCE is rare.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcel Montrey
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Thomas R Shultz
- School of Computer Science, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
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48
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Abstract
The target article "Thinking Through Other Minds" (TTOM) offered an account of the distinctively human capacity to acquire cultural knowledge, norms, and practices. To this end, we leveraged recent ideas from theoretical neurobiology to understand the human mind in social and cultural contexts. Our aim was both synthetic - building an integrative model adequate to account for key features of cultural learning and adaptation; and prescriptive - showing how the tools developed to explain brain dynamics can be applied to the emergence of social and cultural ecologies of mind. In this reply to commentators, we address key issues, including: (1) refining the concept of culture to show how TTOM and the free-energy principle (FEP) can capture essential elements of human adaptation and functioning; (2) addressing cognition as an embodied, enactive, affective process involving cultural affordances; (3) clarifying the significance of the FEP formalism related to entropy minimization, Bayesian inference, Markov blankets, and enactivist views; (4) developing empirical tests and applications of the TTOM model; (5) incorporating cultural diversity and context at the level of intra-cultural variation, individual differences, and the transition to digital niches; and (6) considering some implications for psychiatry. The commentators' critiques and suggestions point to useful refinements and applications of the model. In ongoing collaborations, we are exploring how to augment the theory with affective valence, take into account individual differences and historicity, and apply the model to specific domains including epistemic bias.
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Gorillas' (Gorilla g. gorilla) knowledge of conspecifics' affordances: intraspecific social tool use for food acquisition. Primates 2020; 61:583-591. [PMID: 32166437 PMCID: PMC7347707 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-020-00805-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2019] [Accepted: 02/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
The use of tools, long thought to be uniquely human, has now been observed in other animal taxa including several species of birds, non-primate mammals as well as some non-human primate species. Chimpanzees, one of humankind’s closest living relatives, exceed all other non-human animal species as they have been reported to use an exceptionally large toolkit. However, relatively little is known about the tool-use skills of the other great ape species. While the majority of tools described are inanimate objects, the use of social tools has received relatively little attention. Here we provide the first evidence of naturally occurring spontaneous exploitative behaviour of a conspecific as a social tool for food acquisition in non-human animals. We observed gorillas in captivity utilising a conspecific as a ladder to gain access to unreachable food. We discuss our findings in the light of other studies on social tool use and suggest the need for more nuanced interpretations of gorillas’ cognitive skills.
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Buskell A. Cognitive novelties, informational form, and structural-causal explanations. SYNTHESE 2020; 198:8533-8553. [PMID: 34759435 PMCID: PMC8570306 DOI: 10.1007/s11229-020-02585-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2019] [Accepted: 02/17/2020] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Recent work has established a framework for explaining the origin of cognitive novelties-qualitatively distinct cognitive traits-in human beings. This niche construction approach argues that humans engineer epistemic environments in ways that facilitate the ontogenetic and phylogenetic development of such novelties. I here argue that attention to the organized relations between content-carrying informational vehicles, or informational form, is key to a valuable explanatory strategy within this project, what I call structural-causal explanations. Drawing on recent work from Cecilia Heyes, and developing a case study around a novel mathematical capacity, I demonstrate how structural-causal explanations can contribute to the niche construction approach by underwriting the application of explanatory tools and generating new empirical targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Buskell
- Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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