Clive Gamble's Analysis

To understand the origins of symbolic thought and expression, examining the practices of prehistoric people will unveil what thought and expression may have been like, the roots of this modern behavior, and the role they played in the lives of our distant ancestors. From middle Palaeolithic tick shells from South Africa to Neanderthal cave art in Spain, fostering a wide-range analysis of various forms of art and interpretations allows us to take a glimpse into the past. Through this, different perspectives and forms of the emergence of modern human behavior can begin to piece together what life may have been like through various symbolic expressions. If shedding new light on the capabilities of prehistoric people and understanding them as complex,

There is no linear line of its origin and advancement, nor did it arise universally across the globe in one specific time or space. To understand these symbolic practices is to acknowledge its production as the result of various causes. According to “Part 1 Steps to the present” of Clive Gamble’s work titled Origins and Revolutions, many revolutions took place prior to symbolic expressions, such as the use of fire and the production of tools. It was the course of millions of years where we find origins and innovations that act as evidence towards untangling how hominids transitioned into modern humans. However, what it means to be a modern human and what modern human behavior constitutes is a continuous subject of debate amongst researchers. Gamble provided a table constructed by Sally McBrearty and Alison Brooks in “Chapter Two the human revolution” that attempted to outline what separates modern humans from other animals and how to define fully modern human behavior. Under the table numbered 2.2, Brooks and McBrearty list cultural and cognitive terms and archaeological traces in Africa. Focusing on the cognitive capabilities and skills, they note that planning depth, symbolic behavior, abstract thinking, and innovation are over lining characteristics of modern humans. While the table is

Modern evidence illustrates that, more than likely, many forms of symbolic origins cannot be directly linked to a single early population or exact location. Moreover, researchers have found that Neanderthals were far more capable than once presumed. Kate Wong, senior editor of evolution and ecology at Scientific American, writes on ancient cave paintings of Spain and Neanderthal symbolism in her article “The Meaning of European Upper Palaeolithic Rock Art” to contribute data to the study of early Hominid cognition. Wong discusses various sites where cave art has been found and was believed to be the product of early Homo sapiens. While Homo sapiens and Neanderthals are known to have existed simultaneously at a certain point in our timeline and have had contact with one another, experts believed only Homo sapiens had the cognitive capabilities to develop symbolic behavior and create art. However, with some of the sites dating further back than the earliest Homo sapiens fossils, it implies the art left behind was actually from the Neanderthals. Wong notes that this discovery raises even further questions on the origin of symbolic thought and Neanderthals, who had been given a poor image due to Marcellin Boule. For a period of time, a primary distinction between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens was that Neanderthals did not partake in symbolic thought. With new research, however, Wong