Becoming Human
Innovation in Prehistoric Material and Spiritual Culture

This volume explores the relationship between symbolism, spirituality, and humanity in the prehistoric societies of Europe and traditional societies elsewhere.

Colin Renfrew (Edited by), Iain Morley (Edited by)

9780521876544, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 March 2009

324 pages, 49 b/w illus. 24 colour illus.
26 x 18.2 x 2.4 cm, 0.96 kg

'This … book contains very useful and often stimulating reviews of the essential new(ish) archaeology and ideas, written and edited with authority and clarity.' British Archaeology

The Upper Palaeolithic era of Europe has left an abundance of evidence for symbolic activities, such as direct representations of animals and other features of the natural world, personal adornments, and elaborate burials, as well as other vestiges that are more abstract and cryptic. These behaviours are also exhibited by populations throughout the world, from the prehistoric period through to the present day. How can we interpret these activities? What do they tell us about the beliefs and priorities of the people who carried them out? How do these behaviours relate to ideologies, cosmology, and understanding of the world? What can they tell us about the emergence of ritual and religious thought? And how do the activities of humans in prehistoric Europe compare with those of their predecessors there and elsewhere? In this volume, fifteen internationally renowned scholars contribute essays that explore the relationship between symbolism, spirituality, and humanity in the prehistoric societies of Europe and traditional societies elsewhere. The volume is richly illustrated with 50 halftones and 24 colour plates.

1. Introduction Colin Renfrew
2. Prologue: the emergence of symbolic thought: the principal steps of hominisation leading towards greater complexity Henry de Lumley
Part I. African Origins, European Beginnings and World Prehistory: 3. The origins of symbolism, spirituality & shamans? Exploring Middle Stone Age material culture in South Africa Christopher Henshilwood
4. Neanderthal symbolic behaviour? Jane Renfrew
5. Identifying ancient religious thought and iconography: problems of definition, preservation and interpretation Paul Taçon
6. Situating the creative explosion: universal or local? Colin Renfrew
Part II. Approaches to 'Art and Religion': 7. The roots of art and religion in ancient material culture Merlin Donald
8. The archaeology of early religious practices: a plea for a hypothesis-testing approach Francesco d'Errico
9. Out of the mind: material culture and the supernatural Steven Mithen
10. Of people and pictures: the nexus of Upper Palaeolithic religion, social discrimination and art David Lewis-Williams
11. Music and ritual - parallels and practice, and the Upper Palaeolithic Iain Morley
Part III. The European Experience: 12. Materiality and meaning-making in the understanding of the Palaeolithic 'arts' Margaret Conkey
13. Sticking bones into cracks in the Upper Palaeolithic Jean Clottes
14. Cognition and climate: why is Upper Palaeolithic cave art almost confined to the Franco-Cantabrian region? Paul Mellars
Part IV. Reflections on the Origins of Spirituality: 15. Interdisciplinary perspectives on human origins and religious awareness Wentzel Van Huyssteen
16. Innovation in material and spiritual culture: exploring conjectured relationships Keith Ward.

Subject Areas: Prehistoric archaeology [HDDA], Archaeology [HD]