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Technical study of tools made from unknapped stone from early times to the Neolithic has allowed the identification of marks found on these tools and inferences from them about the actions they involved. On the basis of this analysis, a schema is proposed for the evolution of technical actions. It seems that we have here a concrete example of a mechanism of technical innovation and that this mechanism may be simply an illustration of a more general schema of the evolution of technology. Comparing these results with those of cognitive psychology on problem solving, it seems possible to propose several hypotheses about the cognitive content of major technical innovations by Homo sapiens sapiens and their less sapient predecessors. If these hypotheses are confirmed, then the cognitive processes that trigger invention must have appeared as early as the Lower Paleolithic. Reprinted by permission of the University of Chicago Press. © All rights reserved

Sophie A. de Beaune, Le proche et le lointain : la perception sensorielle en préhistoire. — De même que les ethnologues étudiant des populations lointaines leur prêtent des intentions et des volitions en s’appuyant sur leur propre vie psychologique, les préhistoriens prêtent des aptitudes sensorielles aux hommes de la préhistoire en s’appuyant sur leurs propres sensations. On examinera ici le bien-fondé d’une telle démarche. À partir d’indices indirects, nous verrons qu’il est possible d’avancer l’hypothèse que la perception sensorielle des uns et des autres participe d’une commune humanité. Le préhistorien travaille sur de l’ineffable, du quasi-imperceptible. Il n’est pourtant pas illusoire de constituer un système d’hypothèses cohérent, dès lors qu’on soumet chacune de ces traces aux contrôles que permettent aujourd’hui des disciplines auxiliaires d’une haute technicité, et qu’on s’ouvre à la comparaison avec les apports des autres sciences humaines. Se fondant sur les données accessibles aujourd’hui en préhistoire et, en particulier, sur ses propres recherches sur les techniques préhistoriques, sans toutefois s’interdire quelques incursions dans le domaine ethnographique, l’auteure propose ici des hypothèses sur les perceptions sensorielles des hommes du Paléolithique.

The archaeological record of Later Pleistocene South Asia has a crucial role to play in our understanding of the evolution of modern human behavior and the dispersal of anatomically modern humans around the Old World. Later Pleistocene records of South Asia are here summarized and placed in the context of the modernhumanorigins debate. Aspects of the South Asian record share familiar traits with other regions of the Old World, but South Asia also appears to have its own adaptive features and material culture developments. The fluctuating environment during the Later Pleistocene would have influenced the adaptations of anatomically modern and archaic humans, affecting population size, movement, and the usefulness of cultural innovations. On the basis of prevailing genetic, archaeological, and biogeographic information, it is hypothesized thatHomo sapienscolonized South Asia as part of an early southern dispersal from Africa. The effect of demographic processes on the rate and direction of cultural change is proposed as an explanation for the lack of a symbolic revolution signaling the arrival of anatomically modern humans on the Indian subcontinent. Instead, the Late Paleolithic represents a diversification of adaptive behaviors that may be traced to the Middle Paleolithic.

Just as ethnologists studying distant peoples endow them with intentions and desires based on their own psychology, prehistorians also attribute sensory aptitudes to prehistoric humans based on their own sensory experiences. Here, I will examine just how valid such an approach can be. Starting with indirect evidence, we will see that it is possible to propose the hypothesis that the sensory perception of various peoples belongs to a shared humanity. Prehistorians largely attempt to recover what is ineffable, i.e. things that are almost imperceptible. It is, nevertheless, realistic to construct a coherent system of hypotheses if each material trace undergoes verification, which is facilitated today by highly sophisticated technologies developed in auxiliary disciplines, and one is open to comparison with results from other social sciences. Working with currently accessible data in prehistory and, in particular, using the author's own research related to prehistoric techniques, in addition to a few forays into the ethnographic field, the author proposes herein hypotheses on the sensory perceptions of Palaeolithic peoples.‪

Sophie A. de Beaune, Le proche et le lointain : la perception sensorielle en préhistoire. — De même que les ethnologues étudiant des populations lointaines leur prêtent des intentions et des volitions en s’appuyant sur leur propre vie psychologique, les préhistoriens prêtent des aptitudes sensorielles aux hommes de la préhistoire en s’appuyant sur leurs propres sensations. On examinera ici le bien-fondé d’une telle démarche. À partir d’indices indirects, nous verrons qu’il est possible d’avancer l’hypothèse que la perception sensorielle des uns et des autres participe d’une commune humanité. Le préhistorien travaille sur de l’ineffable, du quasi-imperceptible. Il n’est pourtant pas illusoire de constituer un système d’hypothèses cohérent, dès lors qu’on soumet chacune de ces traces aux contrôles que permettent aujourd’hui des disciplines auxiliaires d’une haute technicité, et qu’on s’ouvre à la comparaison avec les apports des autres sciences humaines. Se fondant sur les données accessibles aujourd’hui en préhistoire et, en particulier, sur ses propres recherches sur les techniques préhistoriques, sans toutefois s’interdire quelques incursions dans le domaine ethnographique, l’auteure propose ici des hypothèses sur les perceptions sensorielles des hommes du Paléolithique. Sophie A. de Beaune, The Near and the Far : Sensory Perceptions in Prehistory. — Just as ethnologists studying distant peoples endow them with intentions and desires based on their own psychology, prehistorians also attribute sensory aptitudes to prehistoric humans based on their own sensory experiences. Here, I will examine just how valid such an approach can be. Starting with indirect evidence, we will see that it is possible to propose the hypothesis that the sensory perception of various peoples belongs to a shared humanity. Prehistorians largely attempt to recover what is ineffable, i.e. things that are almost imperceptible. It is, nevertheless, realistic to construct a coherent system of hypotheses if each material trace undergoes verification, which is facilitated today by highly sophisticated technologies developed in auxiliary disciplines, and one is open to comparison with results from other social sciences. Working with currently accessible data in prehistory and, in particular, using the author’s own research related to prehistoric techniques, in addition to a few forays into the ethnographic field, the author proposes herein hypotheses on the sensory perceptions of Palaeolithic peoples.

Just as ethnologists studying distant peoples endow them with intentions and desires based on their own psychology, prehistorians also attribute sensory aptitudes to prehistoric humans based on their own sensory experiences. Here, I will examine just how valid such an approach can be. Starting with indirect evidence, we will see that it is possible to propose the hypothesis that the sensory perception of various peoples belongs to a shared humanity. Prehistorians largely attempt to recover what is ineffable, i.e. things that are almost imperceptible. It is, nevertheless, realistic to construct a coherent system of hypotheses if each material trace undergoes verification, which is facilitated today by highly sophisticated technologies developed in auxiliary disciplines, and one is open to comparison with results from other social sciences. Working with currently accessible data in prehistory and, in particular, using the author’s own research related to prehistoric techniques, in addition to a few forays into the ethnographic field, the author proposes herein hypotheses on the sensory perceptions of Palaeolithic peoples.‪

Les fouilles menées par R. et S. de Saint-Périer dans les années 1920 à la grotte des Scilles (Lespugue, Haute-Garonne) ont livré un ensemble de vestiges attribués au Magdalénien. L'étude de cette collection ancienne offre désormais la possibilité de préciser cette caractérisation à la lumière de travaux récents sur cette période. La présentation des différentes catégories de vestiges (industries lithique et osseuse, faune, parure, art mobilier et lampe) permet d'appréhender l'ensemble des registres d'activités documentés sur le site. En particulier, cet article présente les éléments typotechnologiques qui fournissent des arguments pour rattacher l'occupation de cette cavité au Magdalénien inférieur. Une date 14C par SMA situe cette période autour de 16000 BP (19400 cal. BP) à la grotte des Scilles. La mise en évidence de ce premier jalon pyrénéen conduit ensuite les auteurs à discuter du peuplement magdalénien à la fin du Dernier Maximum glaciaire dans le Sud-Ouest de la France et le Nord de l'Espagne. The excavations by R. and S. de Saint-Périer at the Grotte des Scilles (Lespugue, Haute-Garonne, France) in 1923-1924 yielded archaeological material attributed to the Magdalenian. The re-examination of this old collection now allows a more precise characterization of it, in the light of recent research on this period. This article presents the different artefact types found (lithic and bone tools, faunal remains, personal ornaments, portable art items and one sandstone lamp) in order to consider all activities documented on the site. Particular attention is given to typological and technological data, the analyses of which point to a Lower Magdalenian chronological attribution. An SMA 14C date shows that occupation of the Grotte des Scilles took place around 16000 BP (19400 cal. BP). The identification, for the first time, of a Lower Magdalenian presence in the Pyrenees raises new questions concerning Magdalenian occupation at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum in southwestern France and northern Spain.

In this book, Frans de Waal addresses the issue of gender by comparing it to our non-human primate cousins. He denounces stereotypes on this subject and shows that the case of baboons - where the domination of males is real - cannot be generalized. This book encourages reflection on gender relations during prehistory. Dans cet ouvrage, Frans de Waal aborde la question du genre à partir d’une comparaison avec nos cousins les primates non humains. Il dénonce les stéréotypes qui ont cours à ce sujet et montrent que le cas des babouins – où la domination des mâles est bien réelle – ne peut être généralisé. Cet ouvrage incite à réfléchir aux rapports entre genres durant la Préhistoire.