1994/04/01 by Steven Mithen · 2 citations
Environmental Science · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
paper · doi:10.1017/s0959774300000949
openalex publication_date 1994/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
A model is developed for the relationship between the tool behaviour and social behaviour of Homo erectus. This explores the role of social learning as the link between social organization and techniques — the methods used to manufacture stone tools. Predictions are made as to how techniques should vary with increasing group size and these are evaluated through a case study from the Middle Pleistocene of southeast England. The case study suggests that inter-assemblage variability in the Lower Palaeolithic can partly be attributed to different relative intensities of individual and social learning arising from varying hominid group size and social interaction in open and closed (i.e. wooded) environments. As such, the paper seeks to integrate material from three fields — comparative socioecology, primate social learning and Palaeolithic archaeology — to explore the relationship between society and technology.