Archaeological Tests of Alternative Models of Early Hominid Behaviour: Excavation and Experiments

Several rival hypotheses have been advanced regarding behavioural innovations, which may have put important selection pressures towards the development of cognitive faculties and expanded brain functions. These hypothesized changes in behaviour include increased dependence on tool-making, intensification of hunting as a subsistence activity and social patterns involving food-sharing. Archaeology constitutes one of the principal sources of evidence against which such hypotheses can be tested and the paper reports on research that has been undertaken in recent years to make the tests clear and explicit. In addition to excavation, the work reported includes experimental studies of bone fracture, experiments in the manufacture and use of stone tools and experiments on processes of site formation.