Stone Tools and the Evolution of Human Cognition

Abstract

Stone tools are among the most distinctive features of the lives and evolution of hominins and, through them, material culture came to play an increasingly important role in the behavior of our ancestors. As a result, material culture and stone tools in particular have given archaeologists a window onto behaviors and lifeways that have long since disappeared. Although stone tools were initially studied primarily as indicators of cultural achievements and then of technology and subsistence strategies, our understanding of the kinds of information that can be inferred from stone tools has expanded significantly in recent years. This broadening of analysis is linked to the development of cognitive archaeology. In this volume, we focus on the multiple ways in which stone tools can inform archaeologists about the evolution of hominin cognitive abilities.