The question of how modern human behaviour emerged from pre-human hominid behaviour is central to discussions of human evolution. This important book argues that the capacity to use signs in a symbolic way, identified by the authors as language, is the basis for behaviour that can be described as human. This book is the product of a unique collaboration between the key disciplines in the debate about human evolution and mentality - psychology and archaeology. It investigates the significance and nature of the emergence of linguistic behaviour.
The text critically examines the archaeological record of hominid evolution and argues that linguistic behaviour emerged no earlier than 100,000 years ago. The interdisciplinary approach allows critical attention to be given to an impressively broad range of relevant literature. For the first time, all the known pieces of this evolutionary puzzle are examined in detail.
The Authors
Bill Noble is a psychologist of perception and Iain Davidson an archaeologist of the Palaeolithic period, particularly in Australia and South Western Europe. Both teach at the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales in the departments of psychology, and archaeology and palaeoanthropology respectively. They have published jointly written articles in various international journals, and both have published widely in their individual fields. Dr Noble, who is an associate editor of the Australian Journal of Psychology, is the author of Assessment of Impaired Hearing. Dr Davidson, who is a member and past president of the Australian Archaeological Association and a fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities is the author of La economia del final del paleolitico en la Espana oriental.