Periodic Reporting for period 1 - eSYMb (The Evolution of Early Symbolic Behavior)
Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2025-02-28
Symbolic behavior is a hallmark of what makes us human. Understanding the unique evolutionary trajectory taken by humanity is impossible without an appreciation of our capacities for symbolic cognition and behavior, which have evolved into the rich and diverse practices of communication, art, reasoning, and ritual surrounding us today. The objective of eSYMb is to develop a data-driven, systematic and scientific approach to the study of early human symbolic behavior and how it evolved during the Paleolithic. This is achieved by directly engaging symbolic artefacts as stimuli in experimental and modeling studies to elucidate their impact on human cognitive processes.
eSYMb builds on the core hypothesis that symbolic artefacts evolved through processes of social transmission and incremental adaptive refinement to become better tools of the mind. We assume that these developments are measurable as cognitive implications of the structural changes to symbolic artefacts, which can be made subject of test and simulations in experiments using the archaeological artefacts as stimuli. Artefacts can serve different symbolic functions, each with their profiling of cognitive affordances. By investigating how different artifacts resonate with processes of, for instance, visual saliency, memory, and discrimination, we can quantitively inform the interpretation of their potential past symbolic use.
From these general hypotheses, the project will generate specific predictions for particular archaeological cases and materials. These are, for instance, repositories of recently published archaeological findings for which we have an extended chronological sequence: a series of artefacts from different periods in time that is an expression of a continuous symbolic practice at the site. However, some case studies also involve data from field work conducted in the context of eSYMb and experimental studies with non-human primates.
The main force of the eSYMb approach is that more traditional archaeological observations are complemented by extensive cognitive measurements allowing to test concrete predictions with state-of-the-art statistical tools and computational methods from the cognitive sciences.
eSYMb builds on the core hypothesis that symbolic artefacts evolved through processes of social transmission and incremental adaptive refinement to become better tools of the mind. We assume that these developments are measurable as cognitive implications of the structural changes to symbolic artefacts, which can be made subject of test and simulations in experiments using the archaeological artefacts as stimuli. Artefacts can serve different symbolic functions, each with their profiling of cognitive affordances. By investigating how different artifacts resonate with processes of, for instance, visual saliency, memory, and discrimination, we can quantitively inform the interpretation of their potential past symbolic use.
From these general hypotheses, the project will generate specific predictions for particular archaeological cases and materials. These are, for instance, repositories of recently published archaeological findings for which we have an extended chronological sequence: a series of artefacts from different periods in time that is an expression of a continuous symbolic practice at the site. However, some case studies also involve data from field work conducted in the context of eSYMb and experimental studies with non-human primates.
The main force of the eSYMb approach is that more traditional archaeological observations are complemented by extensive cognitive measurements allowing to test concrete predictions with state-of-the-art statistical tools and computational methods from the cognitive sciences.
During this first period of eSYMb, we have published seven articles/chapters/proceedings (notice that that this is three more than premeditated in the eSYMb grant proposal). Find a list of all publications here: https://cc.au.dk/en/esymb/publications-and-activities(opens in new window)
Similarly, the list contains references to more than 20 eSYMb papers presented at various international conferences, workshops and meetings.
Besides, we have organized one major workshop:
- “Understanding the Development of Symbolic Cognition through Rock Art: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue”, held at the new rock art center in Puente Viesgo (Cantabria, Spain). Apart from the PI, the workshop had contributions from Isobel Wisher (Aarhus University), Murillo Pagnotta (Aarhus University), Eduardo Palacio-Pérez (Gobierno de Cantabria), Riccardo Fusaroli (Aarhus University), Diego Garate (Universidad de Cantabria), Derek Hodgson (University of York), John Matthews (University of Portsmouth), Larissa Mendoza-Straffon (University of Bergen), Blanca Ochoa (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), Felix Riede (Aarhus University).
We also organized a seminar (which again goes beyond what was premeditated in the grant proposal):
- “Marks and Meanings: new perspectives on the evolution of human symbolic behavior”, as part of the 45th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Association (CogSci 2023), which apart from the PI had contributions from Mathias Sablé-Meyer (UCL, UK), Judith Fan (Stanford University, US), and Michelle Langley (Griffith University, Australia).
Similarly, the list contains references to more than 20 eSYMb papers presented at various international conferences, workshops and meetings.
Besides, we have organized one major workshop:
- “Understanding the Development of Symbolic Cognition through Rock Art: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue”, held at the new rock art center in Puente Viesgo (Cantabria, Spain). Apart from the PI, the workshop had contributions from Isobel Wisher (Aarhus University), Murillo Pagnotta (Aarhus University), Eduardo Palacio-Pérez (Gobierno de Cantabria), Riccardo Fusaroli (Aarhus University), Diego Garate (Universidad de Cantabria), Derek Hodgson (University of York), John Matthews (University of Portsmouth), Larissa Mendoza-Straffon (University of Bergen), Blanca Ochoa (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), Felix Riede (Aarhus University).
We also organized a seminar (which again goes beyond what was premeditated in the grant proposal):
- “Marks and Meanings: new perspectives on the evolution of human symbolic behavior”, as part of the 45th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Association (CogSci 2023), which apart from the PI had contributions from Mathias Sablé-Meyer (UCL, UK), Judith Fan (Stanford University, US), and Michelle Langley (Griffith University, Australia).
During the first phase of the eSYMb project, a few interesting opportunities and developments have presented themselves that allow us to complement the plans as outlined in the original grant proposal. PI Tylén has established collaborative ties to two research facilities in the Netherlands and Belgium working with primatological investigations. This allows us to study similarities and differences between human and non-human primates with regard to sensitivity to symbolic materials, which can potentially inform evolutionary questions. A first round of experimental data collection comparing human participants, chimps, and orangutans is completed, and a new round with bonobos is planned and ongoing this fall.
With the hiring of postdoc 1, Izzy Wisher, another opportunity has arisen to broaden the interdisciplinary and methodological approaches of eSYMb. Dr. Wisher is trained in archaeology and has previously done fieldwork in the Cantabria area of North Spain, which contains some of the oldest cases of Palaeolithic cave art. Through her existing contacts, it was possible to gain access to caves in Monte Castillo, which are closed to the public. Two major eSYMb subprojects are now relying on the various kinds of documentations collected by Izzy during field work in the spring 2023.
Another new development is a collaboration between eSYMb and the NSF project “A Network Approach to Magdalenian Social Landscapes” hosted by University of North Carolina at Greensboro involving a group of archaeologists and computer scientists (PIs Deng, Egeland, Kim, and Schwendler). The purpose of the project is to take a social network analysis (SNA) approach to Magdalenian social organization by investigating a special kind of engraved and perforated disks which were abundant in post-glacial Europe some 18,000 to 12,000 years ago, and thought to mark aspects of cultural group identity. eSYMb is particularly involved in an experimental dimension of the project, which is planned for the fall 2024.
With the hiring of postdoc 1, Izzy Wisher, another opportunity has arisen to broaden the interdisciplinary and methodological approaches of eSYMb. Dr. Wisher is trained in archaeology and has previously done fieldwork in the Cantabria area of North Spain, which contains some of the oldest cases of Palaeolithic cave art. Through her existing contacts, it was possible to gain access to caves in Monte Castillo, which are closed to the public. Two major eSYMb subprojects are now relying on the various kinds of documentations collected by Izzy during field work in the spring 2023.
Another new development is a collaboration between eSYMb and the NSF project “A Network Approach to Magdalenian Social Landscapes” hosted by University of North Carolina at Greensboro involving a group of archaeologists and computer scientists (PIs Deng, Egeland, Kim, and Schwendler). The purpose of the project is to take a social network analysis (SNA) approach to Magdalenian social organization by investigating a special kind of engraved and perforated disks which were abundant in post-glacial Europe some 18,000 to 12,000 years ago, and thought to mark aspects of cultural group identity. eSYMb is particularly involved in an experimental dimension of the project, which is planned for the fall 2024.