Mobile containers in human cognitive evolution studies: Understudied and underrepresented
Author(s)
Langley, Michelle C
Suddendorf, Thomas
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2020
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Mobile carrying devices—slings, bags, boxes, containers, etc.—are a ubiquitous tool form among recent human communities. So ingrained are they to our present lifeways that the fundamental relationship between mobile containers and foresight is easily overlooked, resulting in their significance in the study of human cognitive development being largely unrecognized. Exactly when this game‐changing innovation appeared and became an essential component of the human toolkit is currently unknown. Taphonomic processes are obviously a significant factor in this situation; however, we argue that these devices have also not received ...
View more >Mobile carrying devices—slings, bags, boxes, containers, etc.—are a ubiquitous tool form among recent human communities. So ingrained are they to our present lifeways that the fundamental relationship between mobile containers and foresight is easily overlooked, resulting in their significance in the study of human cognitive development being largely unrecognized. Exactly when this game‐changing innovation appeared and became an essential component of the human toolkit is currently unknown. Taphonomic processes are obviously a significant factor in this situation; however, we argue that these devices have also not received the attention that they deserve from human evolution researchers. Here we discuss what the current archeological evidence is for Pleistocene‐aged mobile containers and outline the various lines of evidence that they provide for the origins and development of human cognitive and cultural behavior.
View less >
View more >Mobile carrying devices—slings, bags, boxes, containers, etc.—are a ubiquitous tool form among recent human communities. So ingrained are they to our present lifeways that the fundamental relationship between mobile containers and foresight is easily overlooked, resulting in their significance in the study of human cognitive development being largely unrecognized. Exactly when this game‐changing innovation appeared and became an essential component of the human toolkit is currently unknown. Taphonomic processes are obviously a significant factor in this situation; however, we argue that these devices have also not received the attention that they deserve from human evolution researchers. Here we discuss what the current archeological evidence is for Pleistocene‐aged mobile containers and outline the various lines of evidence that they provide for the origins and development of human cognitive and cultural behavior.
View less >
Journal Title
Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews
Note
This publication has been entered in Griffith Research Online as an advanced online version.
Subject
Evolutionary biology
Anthropology
Social work
Archaeology
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
bags
foresight