Olaf Jöris – författare

Behind the intriguing title of this volume is a compilation of many of the papers presented during a session of the 15th Congress of the Union Internationale des Sciences Préhistoriques et Protohistoriques held in Lisbon in 2006. The session reviewed the current state of research into the spatial analysis of western Eurasian Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites. Covering a broad temporal and geographical range, these studies reflect the enormous variety of spatial evidence preserved in the archaeological records of these periods.

This Tandem Festschrift pays tribute to Elaine Turner and Martin Street, to celebrate all they have both contributed to the MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, in ensuring high research standards, and for your contributions to Palaeolithic Archaeology in Germany and beyond. It should be understood as a big “CHEERS” from the MONREPOS staff and many other friends and colleagues from all over the world, who contributed to this Festschrift. This double volume covers a broad spectrum of topics from the Lower Palaeolithic to the early Holocene and even to the Medieval period – touching upon the vast array of topics Elaine and Martin have dealt with over the last more than 30 years. It starts with the discussion of the oldest evidence for fire and addresses many other key-topics of scientific debate at fascinating levels of detail."There is no doubt that Elaine Turner and Martin Street are to be especially acknowledged as the trailblazers for the internationalisation of Pleistocene Archaeology in Germany. The diversity of topics reflected by these contributions is due in large part to their rock-solid research, which is based on their exceptionally broad expertise and reflected in their highly interdisciplinary research projects.” (The Editors)

When did we begin to adopt the perspective of others? When did empathy cross the threshold into mutual care? When did we first begin to emphasize our place in society and develop unique identities? These questions concern the architecture of the human mind as it encounters other minds, the cognitive and emotional machinery that evolution built over hundreds of thousands of years, long before the first city wall, the first law code, the first throne. Every institution we have ever implemented rests on that older foundation. From a multi-disciplinary perspective, the volume addresses questions that span from the origins of human group size, demography, and sexual behaviour to questions at the very frontier of what science can currently answer. Drawing on material culture, developmental psychology, comparative primatology, and evolutionary modelling, the adressed questions push toward a richer account of what it means, and what it costs, to become social. In doing so, they will bring us closer to understanding the deepest paradox of human nature, i.e., that the same evolved capacity for sociality underlies both our most profound acts of care and our most devastating acts of violence.

This book is based on the research performed for the Replacement of Neanderthals by Modern Humans Project. The central issue of the project is the investigation of possible differences between the two populations in cognitive ability for learning. The project aims to evaluate a unique working hypothesis, coined as the learning hypothesis, which postulates that differences in learning eventually resulted in the replacement of those populations. The book deals with relevant archaeological records to understand the learning behaviours of Neanderthals and modern humans. Learning behaviours are conditioned by numerous factors including not only cognitive ability but also cultural traditions, social structure, population size, and life history. The book addresses the issues in two parts, comparing learning behaviours in terms of cognitive ability and social environments, respectively. Collectively, it provides new insights into the behavioural characteristics of Neanderthals and modern humans from a previously overlooked perspective. Furthermore, it highlights the significance of understanding learning in prehistory, the driving force for any development of culture and technology among human society.