Reframing the Chipped Edge: Combining Materiality, Ontology, and Embodiment to Rethink Stone Tool-Making and Human Conscious Behavior in the Paleolithic Past

Abstract

Combining different theoretical frameworks can lead to new insights into the role of material things in shaping human experience in the Paleolithic period. This paper first presents a historical review of three theoretical approaches in archaeology, anthropology, and the philosophy of mind: Material culture and materiality studies, the ontological turn, as it relates to the study of cognition in prehistory, and the application of embodiment theories to mind and perception, with a focus on early human consciousness. These theories then serve as a framework for the discussion of a Late Acheulean handaxe from Late Lower Paleolithic Jaljulia, Israel, with the aim of exploring the connection between objects, worldviews, and perceptions in early prehistoric times.