Reconstructing Early Adhesive Technology, Dr Paul Kozowyk

Dr Paul Kozowyk, Technische Universiteit Delft, on 'Reconstructing Early Adhesive Technology: Implications on the Evolution of Technological and Cultural Complexity'
Cognitive and behavioural development in Palaeolithic Neanderthals and Middle Stone Age humans is often studied based on what are considered to be complex technologies left behind in the archaeological record. Generally, more complex technologies indicate more modern behaviour, which requires more complex cognition. Adhesives are one such complex technology. Birch bark tar is particularly interesting, as it is the earliest known adhesive. Used as glue by Neanderthals at least 200,000 years ago, it predates anything similar from anatomically modern human contexts by a considerable margin. It also does not occur naturally in the same way as other ancient adhesives, such as pine resin, which is sticky and viscous straight from the tree. Birch tar can only be made by manipulating a particular part of the tree (in this case the bark) with fire in specific ways. However, before we use archaeological birch bark tar to make inferences about human behaviour, two issues must first be addressed: 1) How was birch bark tar made? Several possibilities exist, but they each vary in perceived complexity. 2) How do we measure such ‘complexity’? What exactly does it mean when we say one technology is more complex than another, and how does that influence the behaviour behind that technology? Here, I will review some findings from my last ten years of research into Palaeolithic adhesive technology. I will focus on the experimental reproduction of birch bark tar to identify ancient production processes, and the use of computer modelling to understand the complexity of the behaviour behind those processes. Findings suggest that producing birch tar probably required several cognitive traits that archaeologists often associate with modern behaviour. Finally, new evidence is continually shedding more light on this exciting field of research, providing archaeologists with new ways to understand both Neanderthals and ourselves.
Hosted by PhD students in Archaeology at the University of Liverpool.
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[@matthewbergosh9627]

Great explanation! Cool way to quantify behavioral complexity and then link it to cognition.