Cognitive archaeology’s aim - to study the minds of people in the past - has prompted scepticism since its beginnings. Nevertheless, the last few decades have seen a surge of interest in the archaeology of the mind. As a broad, interdisciplinary research area, a plethora of approaches have been used, leading to creative and varied research. Yet, cognitive archaeology as a whole lacks cohesion.Focusing on the fundamental role of material culture may offer a particularly useful approach for archaeologists wishing to tackle this area. Theoretical approaches like the ‘extended mind’ and Material Engagement Theory have advocated a certain materialist approach, where the mind does not consist solely of the brain. As a result, there is increasing recognition of the significant roles that our bodies and the environment, including material culture, play in our cognition.
This session will consider how archaeologists can study cognition through material culture. It encompasses a broad range of topics, including cultural transmission, craft, art, technology and evolution. While cognitive archaeology is traditionally seen as a prehistoric endeavour, it has great potential for use in any period, as seen by the papers in this session.Cognitive archaeology has been successful in helping to consider not only pathways of thought and learning in the past, but also understanding the mind in the context of behaviour, social relationships and material culture. The papers in this session reflect the potential of this area of study and demonstrate how a traditionally prehistoric endeavour can be of use more widely in archaeology.
Organisers: Dr Cory Stade; University of Southampton • Taryn Bell; University of York
9:30 | Dr Cory Stade, University of Southampton; Taryn Bell, University of York | Introduction
9:40 | Mike Groves, University of York, UK | Carving out an existence: understanding the chaîne opératoire from the inside out and making a name in woodcraft
9:55 | Paul March, University of Oxford, UK | Do extended minds have material dreams?: a Materially Enacted Phenomenological response
10:10 | Emanuele Prezioso, University of Oxford, UK | Style as memory: bridging past and present in the context of Minoan archaeology
10:25 | Alexander Aston, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford | Metaplasticity and the boundaries of social cognition: exploring scalar transformations in social interaction and intersubjectivity
10:40 | Laura Ahlqvist, Aarhus Universitet, Denmark; Christian Hoggard, University of Southampton, UK; Rune Iversen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Ditte Kofod, Bornholms Museum, Denmark; Poul Otto Nielsen, The National Museum of Denmark, Denmark; Finn Ole S. Nielsen, Bornholms Museum, Denmark; Niels N. Johannsen, Aarhus Universitet, Denmark | Mass consuming miniature meanings: analysing the carved stones of Neolithic Bornholm
10:55 | Joana Valdez-Tullett, Historic Environment Scotland | Teaching and learning Atlantic rock art: exploring cultural transmission in the Neolithic
11:10 | - | BREAK
11:40 | Izzy Wisher, Durham University | Creating art, shaping the mind: a psychological approach to Upper Palaeolithic cave art in northern Spain
11:55 | Xuanqi Zhu, University of York, UK | Tool-making and mind-making? Acheulean handaxes and the emergence of aesthetic sensibilities
12:10 | Lana Ruck, Indiana University, US and Stone Age Institute, US; Shelby S J Putt, Illinois State University, US; Zara Anwarzai, Indiana University, US and Stone Age Institute, US; P. Thomas Schoenemann, Indiana University, US and Stone Age Institute, US; Kathy Schick, Indiana University, US and Stone Age Institute, US;; Nicholas Toth, Stone Age Institute | Evolutionary perspectives on human handedness and hemispheric specialization in the brain
12:25 | Michal Paradysz, University of Liverpool, UK; Natalie Uomini, University of Liverpool, UK and Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany; Larry Barham, University of Liverpool, UK; Ryan Horsfall, University of Liverpool, UK; Georg Meyer, University of Liverpool, UK | Tracing three million years of human cognitive evolution: a neuroarchaeology study
12:40 | Dr Cory Stade, University of Southampton; Taryn Bell, University of York | Discussion
13:00 | - | END
