Did early Homo have language? Neurocognition behind stone toolmaking

Other - Conference abstract

• Author: Petar Gabrić https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2644-194X
• Author: Marko Banda https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1348-5241
• Editor: Emilija Borčić
• Editor: Vinko Beg
• Editor: Eva Levatić
• Author's institution: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of Archaeology)
• Author's institution: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of German language and literature)
• Author's institution: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of Linguistics)
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTHCARE; Basic Medical Sciences; Neuroscience
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Archeology; Prehistoric Archeology
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Philology; General Linguistics
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: INTERDISCIPLINARY AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE; Cognitive Science (Natural, Technical, Biomedical and Healthcare, Social and Humanistic Sciences)
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: NATURAL SCIENCES; Biology; Genetics, Evolution and Phylogenetics

Abstract (english)

Recently, considerable interest for language evolution has arisen. Many researchers believe that language evolved via exaptation of domain- general cognitive systems such as long-term memory, visuospatial processing and executive functioning. Therefore, many studies on language evolution have focused on determining when specific cognitive functions, which might have supported language, developed. One approach in this area has been to establish the neurocognitive and neural correlates of specific behaviours during the Palaeolithic period (from ~3.3 mya to ~10 kya). The focus has been on stone-toolmaking-related behaviours because of the higher preservation of stone in the archaeological record compared to other materials. The earliest stone industry is the pre-Homo Lomekwian. It has been hypothesized based on experimental replication of the knapping process that the Lomekwian findings are suggestive of lesser functional lateralization of the motoric and prefrontal cortex compared to modern humans. The next stone industry – the Oldowan –, typically associated with Homo habilis, has been linked to more complex subsistence strategies and social behaviours. Neuroimaging studies have shown that Oldowan toolmaking predominantly involves frontoparietal sensorimotor areas and the cerebellum, which is why this industry has been described as cognitively relatively „ape- like“. The following industry, the Acheulean, taxonomically linked to Homo erectus and chronologically coinciding with significant brain enlargements in our genus, is believed to be more demanding in hierarchical and sequential action processing compared to earlier technologies. Additionally, neuroimaging studies have shown higher activation of the right Broca's area and temporal cortici during Acheulean compared to Oldowan toolmaking. Recently, a study by our lab comparing sidescraper manufacture, associated with Homo heidelbergensis and Neanderthals, and Oldowan toolmaking has found higher involvement of visuospatial and executive functions in the former task. While it is hard to generalize based on this data, we will suggest some implications for the existence of language in early Homo.

• Keywords (english): language evolution; stone tools; Acheulean; Oldowan
• Language: english
• Publication type: Other - Conference abstract
• Publication status: Published
• Peer review: No peer review
• Publication version: Published version
• Publication title: 9th NeuRi Student Congress of Neuroscience: Abstract Book
• Numbering: p. 69
• p-ISSN: 2623-6273
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:566322
• Publication: 2019-04
• Conference: Title: 9th NeuRi Student Congress of Neuroscience; Acronym: NeuRi; Location: Rijeka, Croatia; Location: Rab, Croatia; Organizer: University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine; Organizer: Rab Psychiatric Hospital; Start date: 2019-04-26; End date: 2019-04-28; Assembly type: Poster
• Document URL: https://neuri.uniri.hr/arhiva
• Type of resource: Text
• Publisher: FOSS MedRi
• Publishing place: Rijeka, Hrvatska
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2021-02-26 16:23:51