A myth debunked. The Porosphaera globularis beads and their relation to the onset of symbolic thinking in prehistory - HAL-SHS - Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Année : 2022

A myth debunked. The Porosphaera globularis beads and their relation to the onset of symbolic thinking in prehistory

Résumé

Abstract Because of their inherent symbolic significance, personal ornaments gained a key role in the scientific debate regarding the emergence and evolution of symbolic behaviour; the presumed Acheulean beads discovered in the nineteenth century in northern Europe’s sites are considered crucial evidence of this. The fossils of the sponge Porosphaera globularis , because of their morphological characteristics, have been interpreted by some archaeologists as the starting point of this evolutionary path. In this work, the largest collection of Porosphaera globularis specimens is analysed, after remaining unpublished to this day. This was originally found in the French site of Saint-Acheul and preserved at the Civic Museums of Modena. An integrated analysis was carried out to understand whether these fossils were indeed used as beads; results revealed that they were actually not used as ornaments. This suggests the importance of finding strong arguments and evidence to support theories about the development of cognitive abilities in the genus Homo .
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Dates et versions

hal-03806716 , version 1 (08-10-2022)

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Gabriele Luigi Francesco Berruti, Dario Sigari, Cristiana Zanasi, Stefano Bertola, Allison Ceresa, et al.. A myth debunked. The Porosphaera globularis beads and their relation to the onset of symbolic thinking in prehistory. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2022, 14 (8), pp.162. ⟨10.1007/s12520-022-01629-9⟩. ⟨hal-03806716⟩
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