An Analysis of the Contribution of the South African Human Rights Commission to Protecting and Promoting the Rights of Children

Couzens, Meda

doi:10.1080/19962126.2012.11865060

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Handaxes that resemble those from both the earlier and later parts of the Acheulean were included by allowing techniques like platform preparation and 'turning-the-edge' for the later handaxes, but not the earlier ones. Although more recent handaxes are not always better made (Caruana & Herries 2021;Couzens 2012;Li et al 2016;Muller et al 2022a), these techniques are hypothesized to feature in the later Acheulean (Shipton 2019). To capture better the breadth of variability in some of these technologies, we conducted more iterations of the experiment for more varied technologies (see Table 1, below, for a summary).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Proceduralization of Hominin Knapping Skill: Memorizing Different Lithic Technologies

Muller¹,

Shipton²,

Clarkson³

2023

CAJ

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Reconstructing the technical and cognitive abilities of past hominins requires an understanding of how skills like stone toolmaking were learned and transmitted. We ask how much of the variability in the uptake of knapping skill is due to the characteristics of the knapping sequences themselves? Fundamental to skill acquisition is proceduralization, the process whereby skilful tasks are converted from declarative memories (consciously memorized facts and events) into procedural memories (sub-consciously memorized actions) via repetitive practice. From knapping footage, we time and encode each action involved in discoidal, handaxe, Levallois and prismatic blade production. The structure and complexity of these reduction sequences were quantified using k-mer analysis and Markov chains. The amount of time spent on tasks and the pattern of core rotations revealed portions of these reduction sequences that are predisposed to being converted into procedural memories. We observed two major pathways to achieve this proceduralization: either a repetitive or a predictable sequence of core rotations. Later Acheulean handaxes and Levallois knapping involved a predictable platform selection sequence, while prismatic blade knapping involved a repetitive exploitation of platforms. Technologies and the portions of their reduction sequence that lend themselves to proceduralization probably facilitated the more rapid uptake of stone toolmaking skill.

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