The Cognitive Implications of Controlled Fire Use by Early Humans
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6044758 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Terrence Twomey (The University of Melbourne, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 113-128 |
| Publication date | 2013-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Cambridge Archaeological Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0959-7743 • E-ISSN: 1474-0540 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0959774313000085 |
| OpenAlex | W2018198393 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 26 |
This article proposes a framework for investigating the cognitive implications of controlled fire use by Middle Pleistocene humans. By identifying the simplest strategies they could have used to control fire, given the constraints individuals had to overcome, we can establish a behavioural basis for making inferences about cognition. Accessing, maintaining and benefiting from fire involved a range of behaviours that imply future-directed planning, response inhibition and group-level cooperation. I argue that we can infer human cognitive abilities such as an extended working memory, episodic memories, collective intentionality and intersubjective communication from these fire-related behaviours
Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Epistemology · Intentionality · Action Observation and Synchronization · Child and Animal Learning Development · Computer Science · Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Psychology · Artificial Intelligence
Culture and the Extended Phenotype
Pyrotechnology in the Pleistocene
Acheulian Cognition and Behavior at Gesher Benot YA‘Aqov
The discovery of fire by humans
Fire, Early Human Use of
Into the Fire
Thermal constraints on Middle Pleistocene hominin brain evolution and cognition
Origin of an obsidian scraper at Yabroud Rockshelter II (Syria)
Tracing Fire in Early European Prehistory
Using Pyrotechnology
What happens around a fire
The Evolution of Modern Behaviour and its Implications for Maritime Dispersal During the Palaeolithic
Minds on Fire
Possible Traces of Early Modern Human Architectural Heritage
Experimental analysis on natural heated goethite from ponte di Veja (Mt Lessini, NE Italy)
How food fueled language, Part I
Conceptualizing power to study social-ecological interactions
Early–Middle Pleistocene transitions
Ancient and historical cooking pots and food
The Nexus of Population, Energy, Innovation, and Complexity
Anthropological Prosociality via Sub-Group Level Selection
Fire at will
Experimental Approaches to Archaeological Fire Features and Their Behavioral Relevance
Burning the Land
Collaboration, not competition
Aesthetics or function in heat-treating? The influence of colour preference in lithic preparation on the Maritime Peninsula, Eastern Canada
| Unique citing works | 26 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2025 (13) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 26 |