Cognitive demands of lower paleolithic toolmaking

Area of Science:

• Paleoanthropology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Archaeology

Background:

• Stone tools are key evidence for human behavioral evolution, but their cognitive implications are not fully understood.
• Previous research has not clearly defined the neurophysiological demands of specific Paleolithic toolmaking techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neurophysiological demands of Oldowan and Acheulean stone toolmaking.
• To correlate brain activity and functional connectivity with technical judgment accuracy during toolmaking.
• To assess the role of cognitive control and working memory in different stone tool technologies.

Main Methods:

• Trained modern subjects in Oldowan and Acheulean stone toolmaking methods.
• Collected structural and functional brain imaging data during technical judgment tasks on partially completed tools.
• Analyzed neural activity and functional connectivity in relation to strategic judgment success.

Main Results:

• Stone toolmaking tasks modulated neural activity and functional connectivity in the dorsal prefrontal cortex.
• The magnitude of neural effects correlated with the accuracy of strategic judgments.
• Accurate strategic judgments predicted success in Acheulean toolmaking but not Oldowan.

Conclusions:

• Acheulean toolmaking requires significant cognitive control, particularly information monitoring and manipulation associated with the central executive of working memory.
• This study establishes empirical methods for evaluating the cognitive demands of Paleolithic technologies.
• The findings expand the range of evolutionary hypotheses testable with the archaeological record.