Psychological worlds within and without : human-environment relations in early parts of the Palaeolithic

In seeking to build up a picture of human evolution, we use abilities which have themselves evolved, and which are unique to human beings. As a matter of scientific epistemology we can benefit from examining those abilities to see how they condition our view of the past ; at the same time we can seek to document their emergence, using archaeological and fossil evidence.

My paper examines the way in which we label time and entities, and the difficulties which we have in modelling change when hampered by poor sampling. It then reviews psychological approaches which can be used for evaluating early archaeological evidence. It finishes by drawing examples from the record, considering the ancient environments in which we map hominid activity, and weighing the alternative interpretations of controversial evidence. Special consideration is given to questions of raw material transport and its significance, and to sequences of operations. The paper addresses the question : How important should « deliberateness » or « intentionality » be in our assessment of the capabilities if early hominids ?