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Reconstructing early human symbolic evolution using transmission experiments

Tylén, Kristian ; Svane Qvist, Aske ; Foss Kjeldsen, Rebecca ; Rojo, Sergio LU orcid ; Heimann, Katrin ; Fay, Nicolas ; Johannsen, Niels N. ; Riede, Felix ; Lombard, Marlize and Fusaroli, Riccardo (2023) The 45th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society 45. p.1129-1129
Abstract
Engraved ochres and ostrich eggshells from the South African Blombos Cave and Diepkloof Rock Shelter are among the earliest expressions of human symbolic behavior. Furthermore, they appear to document a continuous practice of abstract mark-making across ~40.000 years. During this time, the engraved patterns change from simpler unstructured patterns to complex, ordered and symmetric cross-hatchings. To inform discussions of the possible function of the engravings, we conducted a two-part experimental study. Based on the assumption that the pragmatic use of an artifact will motivate incremental adaptive refinements, we used transmission chain experiments to reconstruct the original trajectory of changes. We then conducted five experiments to... (More)
Engraved ochres and ostrich eggshells from the South African Blombos Cave and Diepkloof Rock Shelter are among the earliest expressions of human symbolic behavior. Furthermore, they appear to document a continuous practice of abstract mark-making across ~40.000 years. During this time, the engraved patterns change from simpler unstructured patterns to complex, ordered and symmetric cross-hatchings. To inform discussions of the possible function of the engravings, we conducted a two-part experimental study. Based on the assumption that the pragmatic use of an artifact will motivate incremental adaptive refinements, we used transmission chain experiments to reconstruct the original trajectory of changes. We then conducted five experiments to assess the cognitive implications of changes to the patterns and compared these to the original engravings. Although we observe interesting similarities, our findings suggest the Blombos and Diepkloof engravings are not only a product of human cognitive biases and constraints on working memory. (Less)
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organization
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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society
volume
45
pages
1 pages
conference name
The 45th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society
conference location
Sydney, Australia
conference dates
2023-07-26 - 2023-07-29
ISSN
1069-7977
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
309b799f-97ce-4b83-9255-62bfaafc549d
alternative location
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2mh95711
date added to LUP
2024-05-29 09:50:55
date last changed
2024-06-04 09:21:29
@article{309b799f-97ce-4b83-9255-62bfaafc549d,
  abstract     = {{Engraved ochres and ostrich eggshells from the South African Blombos Cave and Diepkloof Rock Shelter are among the earliest expressions of human symbolic behavior. Furthermore, they appear to document a continuous practice of abstract mark-making across ~40.000 years. During this time, the engraved patterns change from simpler unstructured patterns to complex, ordered and symmetric cross-hatchings. To inform discussions of the possible function of the engravings, we conducted a two-part experimental study. Based on the assumption that the pragmatic use of an artifact will motivate incremental adaptive refinements, we used transmission chain experiments to reconstruct the original trajectory of changes. We then conducted five experiments to assess the cognitive implications of changes to the patterns and compared these to the original engravings. Although we observe interesting similarities, our findings suggest the Blombos and Diepkloof engravings are not only a product of human cognitive biases and constraints on working memory.}},
  author       = {{Tylén, Kristian and Svane Qvist, Aske and Foss Kjeldsen, Rebecca and Rojo, Sergio and Heimann, Katrin and Fay, Nicolas and Johannsen, Niels N. and Riede, Felix and Lombard, Marlize and Fusaroli, Riccardo}},
  issn         = {{1069-7977}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1129--1129}},
  series       = {{Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society}},
  title        = {{Reconstructing early human symbolic evolution using transmission experiments}},
  url          = {{https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2mh95711}},
  volume       = {{45}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}