ABSTRACT

The remains that archaeologists uncover reveal ancient minds at work as much as ancient hands, and for decades many have sought a better way of understanding those minds. This understanding is at the forefront of cognitive archaeology, a discipline that believes that a greater application of psychological theory to archaeology will further our understanding of the evolution of the human mind.

Bringing together a diverse range of experts including archaeologists, psychologists, anthropologists, biologists, psychiatrists, neuroscientists, historians, and philosophers, in one comprehensive volume, this accessible and illuminating book is an important resource for students and researchers exploring how the application of cognitive archaeology can significantly and meaningfully deepen their knowledge of early and ancient humans. This seminal volume opens the field of cognitive archaeology to scholars across the behavioral sciences.

part I|134 pages

Prehistory from the perspective of physiological and developmental psychology

chapter 1|16 pages

Introduction

What would Wundt think?

chapter 2|17 pages

Before, after, and Alongside the Excavation

How to think about the evolution and history of physiology and development

chapter 6|16 pages

In Search of Baselines

Why psychology needs cognitive archaeology

chapter 7|15 pages

Play

A neglected factor in ritual, religion, and human evolution

part II|149 pages

Prehistory from the perspective of cognitive psychology

chapter 8|16 pages

The Origins of Generativity

chapter 9|21 pages

Three Stages in the Evolution of Human Cognition

Normativity, recursion, and abstraction

chapter 10|22 pages

The Evolution of Learning and Memory in Humans

Comparative perspectives on testing adaptive hypotheses

part III|128 pages

Prehistory from the perspective of social psychology

chapter 17|22 pages

Markers of “Psycho-Cultural” Change

The early-Neolithic monuments of Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey

chapter 18|21 pages

How Ritual made us Human

chapter 20|23 pages

Norms and their Evolution

chapter 21|15 pages

Power, Play, and Interplay

The psychology of prehistoric sexuality

part IV|134 pages

Prehistory from the perspective of personality and clinical psychology

chapter 22|16 pages

Domestic Fire, Domestic Selves

How keeping fire facilitated the evolution of emotions and emotion regulation

chapter 23|20 pages

Psychology in Archaeology

The secret society case

chapter 24|20 pages

The Archaeology of Madness

chapter 26|13 pages

The Lure of Death

Suicide and human evolution

chapter 27|14 pages

From Corpse to Symbol

Proposed cognitive grades over the long-term evolution of hominin mortuary activity

chapter 28|9 pages

Afterword

Psychology and archaeology – the past’s long reach