Complex cognition

PROTEIN RESIDUES IN THE FIRST EVIDENCE OF COMPLEX MODERN HUMAN COGNITION

The processes that have led human populations of the past to develop the cultural innovations that make us different from our phylogenetically closer relatives (e.g., making composite tools, creating symbolic items, developing numerical symbol systems etc.) are the subject of an intense debate. This debate is biased by the reduced information archeologists detain about the emergence of cultural innovations implying the use of organic material (resins for hafting, poison for hunting, binders to produce paints, etc.) since the preparation of such compounds is often cognitively demanding and complex to transmit to new generations. We know that complex organic compounds were produced by both Middle Stone Age populations in Africa and Neanderthals in Europe and the Near East since at least 180 ka but evidence for these innovations remains circumstancial. PUSHH will substantially contribute to fill this gap by conducting analyses on key artifacts and introducing new standards in the study of ancient material culture. PROJECT 8 will apply the methods currently developed and used in TEMPERA to identify protein binders present in liquefied ochre-rich mixtures from Blombos Cave, South Africa, dated to ~100 ka ago and considered among the first hallmarks of complex modern human cognition. Similarly, the inner surface of ostrich eggshells from the key site of Klipdrift, South Arica will be tested, in collaboration with KP @UoY, to identify possible protein residues deriving from foodstuff or beverages originally contained in the eggshells.