Chapter 8. The living as symbols, the dead as symbols
Problematising the Scale and Pace of Hominin Symbolic Evolution
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20071878 |
|---|---|
| Authors | P Pettitt (0000-0002-6195-9376, University of Sheffield, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Pages | 141-162 |
| Publication date | 2011-11-16 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Homo symbolicus (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | John Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1075/z.168.08pet |
| OpenAlex | W2485326146 |
| ISBN | 9789027211897 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 17 |
The ‘symbolic capacity’ has come to be seen as a core trait of anatomically modern humans, and probably separates them cognitively and behaviourally from all other hominins. While archaeologists agree on what aspects of the archaeological record constitute evidence of symbolism, such as burials, use of pigments, and personal ornamentation, only generic concepts of ‘symbolism’ are invoked from these, resulting in a simplistic discourse about its origins. I try to problematise the concept of symbolism, using these archaeological categories, breaking each down into differing levels of symbolic sophistication. Following this, I try to link these to Dunbar’s levels of intention, and explore how one might identify these from the archaeological record. I conclude by making a necessarily coarse comparison of Neandertals and modern humans in terms of the expression of these characteristics
Genealogy · Sociology · Ancient Near East History · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Communication · History · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
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| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,54 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2022 (10) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |