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This work examines the cognitive capacity of great apes in order to
better understand early man and the importance of memory in the
evolutionary process. It synthesizes research from comparative
cognition, neuroscience, primatology as well as lithic archaeology,
reviewing findings on the cognitive ability of great apes to
recognize the physical properties of an object and then determine
the most effective way in which to manipulate it as a tool to
achieve a specific goal. The authors argue that apes (Hominoidea)
lack the human cognitive ability of imagining how to blend reality,
which requires drawing on memory in order to envisage alternative
future situations, and thereby modifying behavior determined by
procedural memory. This book reviews neuroscientific findings on
short-term working memory, long-term procedural memory, prospective
memory, and imaginative forward thinking in relation to manual
behavior. Since the manipulation of objects by Hominoidea in the
wild (particularly in order to obtain food) is regarded as
underlying the evolution of behavior in early Hominids, contrasts
are highlighted between the former and the latter, especially the
cognitive implications of ancient stone-tool preparation.
Archaic humans were present for over a million years in western
Mediterranean Europe where they left very many traces of their
early stone-age activities and behaviour, and sometimes even human
skeletal remains. This book evaluates archaeological findings about
their life-ways at many important sites in Italy, southern France,
and Spain, from the earliest ones 1,300,000 years ago, to those of
Neanderthals fifty-thousand years ago, just before they were
superseded by skeletally-"modern" humans. The cognitive and manual
skills of archaic humans in western Mediterranean Europe are
considered in the Pleistocene contexts of major climatic
fluctuations and changing environmental circumstances. The book
focusses on their remarkable capacity to adapt, frequently reinvent
themselves, and persist for long periods of time, even though
finally they did not endure. Their achievements and abilities
withstand comparison to those of ancient humans in Africa or Asia
during Early, Middle, and early Late Pleistocene times.
The Neandertal site at Sima de las Palomas del Cabezo Gordo,
located in Murcia in southeastern Spain, is unique in several
respects. Its most important contribution to the field of study,
however, may be the fact that it consists of the remains of
multiple individuals, adding appreciable breadth to the available
data for a greater understanding of Neandertals. Further, its
location in the Iberian Peninsula south of the Pyrenees suggests
potential for studying a population that may have been somewhat
isolated from contemporaneous groups of early humans. This
comprehensive analysis represents the first detailed overview of
the human fossil assemblage found at the Sima de las Palomas site.
While scientific discussion continues regarding the precise impact
of Neandertals upon modern human physiology and biology, The People
of Palomas adds significantly to our knowledge of the human fossil
record of the Late Pleistocene.
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