An Introduction to Cognitive Archaeology
An Introduction to Cognitive Archaeology
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DOI：
10.1177/0963721416657085
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发表时间：
2016-12-01
影响因子：
7.2
通讯作者：
Wynn, Thomas
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Coolidge, Frederick L.;Wynn, Thomas
认知考古学通过将认知科学的理论和概念应用于史前时代的考古遗迹来研究人类的认知进化。本文回顾了认知考古学的基本认识论立场，并通过对人类认知进化中两个最重要的转变--直立人在200万年前的出现和工作记忆能力在过去20万年中的增强--的考察来说明这一跨学科的奋进。虽然有意制造的石器可以追溯到大约330万年前，但直立人制造了一种双面对称的手斧，其设计在接下来的200万年里一直存在。工作记忆能力的增强可能是过去5万年文化相对爆炸的原因，包括个人崇拜、高度仪式化的墓葬、弓箭技术、洞穴艺术和艺术雕像。
Cognitive archaeology studies human cognitive evolution by applying cognitive-science theories and concepts to archaeological remains of the prehistoric past. After reviewing the basic epistemological stance of cognitive archaeology, this article illustrates this interdisciplinary endeavor through an examination of two of the most important transitions in hominin cognitive evolutionthe appearance of Homo erectus about 2 million years ago, and the recent enhancement of working-memory capacity within the past 200,000 years. Although intentionally created stone tools date to about 3.3 million years ago, Homo erectus produced a bifacial, symmetrical handaxe whose design then persisted for nearly the next 2 million years. An enhancement in working-memory capacity may have been responsible for the relative explosion of culture within the past 50,000 years, which included personal ornamentation, highly ritualized burials, bow-and-arrow technology, depictive cave art, and artistic figurines.