Storied landscapes makes us (Modern) Human: Landscape socialisation in the Palaeolithic and consequences for the archaeological record

Playing with language, creating complexity: Has play contributed to the evolution of complex language?

“…If Neanderthal population densities were so low that macro‐bands (the conglomeration of several smaller groups who inhabit a set region and regularly interact) only periodically came into contact with one another through social networks (for example to exchange mates, information, or goods), an extensive symbolic material culture which transmitted a multitude of information would certainly not have been required . The greater and more diverse social networks of modern humans, on the other hand, may have exerted pressure for more complex artifacts and for language to enable context‐independent transmission of technological and social information between less connected individuals and groups—a situation that, among other things, promotes order and structure of material and cognitive elements, and necessitates larger vocabularies and longer, more complex utterances .…”

“…37 If Neanderthal population densities were so low that macrobands (the conglomeration of several smaller groups who inhabit a set region and regularly interact) only periodically came into contact with one another through social networks (for example to exchange mates, information, or goods), an extensive symbolic material culture which transmitted a multitude of information would certainly not have been required. 38,39 The greater and more diverse social networks of modern humans, on the other hand, may have exerted pressure for more F I G U R E 1 An outline of the genetic, physiological, and behavioral changes that can account for our language-readiness and the evolution of complex languages in our species [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] complex artifacts and for language to enable context-independent transmission of technological and social information between less connected individuals and groups-a situation that, among other things, promotes order and structure of material and cognitive elements, and necessitates larger vocabularies and longer, more complex utterances. 39 If language is to carry more novel information beyond the "Here and Now," this situation may have exerted a pressure for more complex morpho-syntax to organize the increased semantic complexity and informativeness.…”

Archaeologies of the Past and in the Present in 2014: Materialities of Human History

“…Archaeological research in the deep past also demonstrates that mapping of spatial worlds may be particular to anatomically modern humans. Michelle Langley () proposes that Neanderthals in Middle Paleolithic Europe engaged in few recurrent landscape practices compared to the elaborate place‐making activities of modern humans. Several additional studies on the European Upper Paleolithic also focus on landscape engagement in early human life.…”

The Timing and Nature of Human Colonization of Southeast Asia in the Late Pleistocene

“…Some authorities also contend that at least one now-extinct Homo lineage-Neanderthals-engaged in distinctly modern human-like patterns of symbolic activity, including the use of ochre and other pigments as colorants (e.g., Roebroeks et al 2012); use of perforated shells (Zilhão et al 2010), bird feathers, claws (Finlayson et al 2012;Peresani et al 2011), and other objects as bodily ornaments; engraving of abstract patterns on immobile rock surfaces (Rodríguez-Vidal et al 2014); and the production of elaborate stone structures inside dark caves (Jaubert et al 2016). Scientists are divided over the meaning of this behavior, however; indeed, the notion that even late-surviving Neanderthals had acquired elements of cognitive "modernity," either independently or through direct cultural (or genetic) contact with Homo sapiens, remains the subject of protracted debate (e.g., Langley 2013;Taçon 2010).…”