Consciousness, Creativity, and Self at the Dawn of Settled Life

Description

Over recent years, a number of scholars have argued that the human mind underwent a cognitive revolution in the Neolithic. This volume seeks to test these claims at the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Turkey and in other Neolithic contexts in the Middle East. It brings together cognitive scientists who have developed theoretical frameworks for the study of cognitive change, archaeologists who have conducted research into cognitive change in the Neolithic of the Middle East, and the excavators of the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük who have over recent years been exploring changes in consciousness, creativity and self in the context of the rich data from the site. Collectively, the authors argue that when detailed data are examined, theoretical evolutionary expectations are not found for these three characteristics. The Neolithic was a time of long, slow and diverse change in which there is little evidence for an internal cognitive revolution. 01.0_pp_i_ii_Consciousness_Creativity_and_Self_at_the_Dawn_of_Settled_Life 02.0_pp_iii_iii_Consciousness_Creativity_and_Self_at_the_Dawn_of_Settled_Life 03.0_pp_iv_iv_Copyright_page 04.0_pp_v_vi_Contents 05.0_pp_vii_viii_Contributors 06.0_pp_ix_x_Acknowledgments 07.0_pp_1_62_Introduction_to_the_Themes_Site_and_Region 07.1_pp_3_30_Introduction_to_the_Themes_of_the_Volume 07.2_pp_31_62_Hunter-Gatherer_Home-Making_Building_Landscape_and_Community_in_the_Epipaleolithic 08.0_pp_63_150_Higher_Levels_of_Consciousness 08.1_pp_65_89_When_Time_Begins_to_Matter 08.2_pp_90_106_Cognitive_Change_and_Material_Culture 08.3_pp_107_132_Conscious_Tokens 08.4_pp_133_150_Brick_Sizes_and_Architectural_Regularities_at_Neolithic_Catalhoeyuek 09.0_pp_151_206_Greater_Innovation_and_Creativity 09.1_pp_153_167_The_Meronomic_Model_of_Cognitive_Change_and_Its_Application_to_Neolithic_Catalhoeyuek 09.2_pp_168_189_Containers_and_Creativity_in_the_Late_Neolithic_Upper_Mesopotamian 09.3_pp_190_206_Creativity_and_Innovation_in_the_Geometric_Wall_Paintings_at_Catalhoeyuek 10.0_pp_207_288_Greater_Awareness_of_an_Integrated_Personal_Self 10.1_pp_209_229_Personal_Memory_the_Scaffolded_Mind_and_Cognitive_Change_in_the_Neolithic 10.2_pp_230_249_Adorning_the_Self 10.3_pp_250_272_From_Parts_to_a_Whole_Exploring_Changes_in_Funerary_Practices_at_Catalhoeyuek 10.4_pp_273_288_New_Bodies_From_Houses_to_Humans_at_Catalhoeyuek 11.0_pp_289_290_Notes 12.0_pp_291_298_Index