James Nathan Cole

University of Brighton · School of Environment and Technology

The Pleistocene localities of Chesowanja lie to the east of Lake Baringo in Kenya, near the foot of the Laikipia escarpment at 0.65οN, 36.2οE (Fig. 1). The sites occupy a fault-step raised 200 m above the level of the present-day lake. Finds include remains of robust australopithecines (Australopithecus boisei, or Paranthropus boisei) (cf., Wood an...

Kilombe is an extinct volcano lying on the western flank of the Rift Valley in Kenya, immediately south of the Equator. Over the period it has been subject to research, it has yielded a remarkably long sequence of archaeological sites with different typo-technological characteristics, including Early Stone Age (ESA: Oldowan and Acheulean), Middle S...

This paper reviews some of the main advances in our understanding of human evolution over the last 1 million years, presenting a holistic overview of a field defined by interdisciplinary approaches to studying the origins of our species. We begin by briefly summarizing the climatic context across the Old World for the last 1 million years before di...

Understanding the cognitive abilities of ancestral hominins remains challenging, despite the many advances of recent years, including new fossil discoveries and paleogenetic data. However, the primary route to accessing the behavioral and cognitive worlds of our hominin ancestors still remains firmly rooted in the archaeological record, particularl...

Acheulean biface shape and symmetry have fuelled many discussions on past hominin behaviour in regards to the ‘meaning’ of biface technology. However, few studies have attempted to quantify and investigate their diachronic relationship using a substantial dataset of Acheulean bifaces. Using the British archaeological record as a case study, we firs...

In light of changing views regarding the identity and evolutionary positions of Europe's Lower Palaeolithic hominins, a re-consideration of the hominin occupation of north-west Europe from c. 1 million years ago (mya) to c. 400 thousand years ago (kya) is timely. A change in the scale and character of the overall European Palaeolithic record around...

The Acheulean is defined by its iconic tool type, the handaxe, and a suite of other large cutting tools (LCTs). These tools retain information on technical and procedural practices concerned with the manufacture of these butchery tools and carcass processing knives. The Acheulean straddles the period in which more ancient hominin species (H. erectu...

In this chapter, we present some of the main preliminary results of the Koutroulou Magoula Archaeology and Archaeological Ethnography Project (begun in 2009), centered around the tell site of Koutroulou Magoula in northern Phthiotida, central Greece. The main occupation phase dates to the first two centuries of the sixth millennium B.C. This proved...

Corbey et al.1 have written an interesting and thoughtful paper designed to provoke debate surrounding one of the most important and persistent Stone Age artefacts, the Acheulean handaxe. They challenge the long held notion that the Acheulean handaxe was a product of a cultural landscape influenced through social learning. Instead they suggest the...

This is an open access article available for free here: http://www.nature.com/articles/srep44707 Episodes of Palaeolithic cannibalism have frequently been defined as ‘nutritional’ in nature, but with little empirical evidence to assess their dietary significance. This paper presents a nutritional template that offers a proxy calorie value for the...

This work provides new insights into human responses to and perceptions of sea-level rise at a time when the landscapes of north-west Europe were radically changing. These issues are investigated through a case study focused on the Channel Islands. We report on the excavation of two sites, Canal du Squez in Jersey and Lihou (GU582) in Guernsey, and...

Rodafnidia is an Acheulian site on Lesbos Island, in the north-east Aegean Sea. This chapter presents the model that guided Paleolithic investigations on the island, the history of research, and the results of the 2012 expedition of systematic work in the field, which consisted of surface survey and excavation. The typology and technology of lithic...

This paper examines the relationship between the presence of symmetry and the Acheulean biface within a predominantly British Lower Palaeolithic context. There has been a long-standing notion within Palaeolithic studies that Acheulean handaxes are predominantly symmetrical and become increasingly so as time progress as a reflection of increasing ho...

Discussions relating to super-volcanic eruptions (Volcanic Explosivity Index 7-8+) and their impacts on hominin evolution tend to focus on eruptions that occured within the last 100 kya and specifically relate to the impact on modern humans or Neanderthals (e.g. Ambrose 2003; Fitzsimmons et al. 2013). What is less understood is whether global super...

Exploring the link between material culture production, hominin cognition, behavioural complexity and the development of language form some of the central tenants of Palaeolithic archaeological discourse. This paper aims to bring these components together by utilising a new theoretical perspective regarding hominin identity construction and the use...

The question of language development and origin is a subject that is vital to our understanding of what it means to be human. This is reflected in the large range of academic disciplines that are dedicated to the subject. Language development has in particular been related to studies in cognitive capacity and the ability for mind reading, often ter...

Contains major review papers on human evolution Encompasses the output of a major 7-year programme grant from the British Academy Uniquely multidisciplinary Discusses new ideas about human cognitive and social evolution Illustrated throughout The concept of the social brain has become a popular topic in the last decade and has generated interest wi...

This paper introduces a new inter-disciplinary and international research project focused on the Palaeolithic site of Rodafnidia on the Greek island of Lesvos, located in the north-eastern Aegean Sea

The aim of this article is to introduce a new, inter-disciplinary and international, long-term research project, the Koutroulou Magoula Archaeology and Archaeological Ethnography Project, to outline its aims and report on some of its results. http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/hamilakis333/

The question of the development of hominin social communication is a subject that is of continual interest to researchers of human development, behaviour and cognition. Language development has in particular been related to studies in cognitive capacity and the ability for mind reading, often termed a theory of mind (ToM). There has only really bee...

Changes in the geological interpretation of the history of the ancient Solent river basin have focused attention on the handaxes discovered in the Corfe Mullen area during quarrying before the Second World War. Recent geological research suggests that the fluvial terrace the handaxes are associated with may pre-date the Anglian glaciation. This is...

Papers from the British Academy Lucy to Language: Archaeology of the Social Brain. Seminar Series on Palaeolithic Visual Display. Link: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/210797/1/HumanOriginsV1.pdf

This paper presents a summary of the first season of fieldwork and archive assessment undertaken in 2010 as part of the of Jersey, through targeted sampling and key-hole excavation of poorly understood find spots, as well as a major reassessment of La Cotte de St Brelade. This paper presents the successful results of two weeks of intensive fieldwor...

The Social Brian Hypothesis predicts the cognitive ability of hominin species by utilising estimated brain and group sizes in relation to an ordinal scale of cognitive complexity expressed as orders of intentionality. The Social Brain Hypothesis predictions however, have never been correlated to the archaeological behavioural record in order to asc...

This paper presents a summary of the first season of fieldwork and archive assessment undertaken in 2010 as part of the Quaternary Archaeology and Environments of Jersey Project. The principle aim of the project is to provide a reassessment of the early prehistoric record of Jersey, through targeted sampling and key-hole excavation of poorly unders...

This report presents the results of the geophysical survey undertaken at Wolvesey Palace, in the county of Hampshire between 23rd March and 3rd April 2009 It specifies the survey methodology together with an interpretation and discussion of the survey results. The survey was carried out around the extant remains of the palace, and in the playing fi...

The aim of this paper is to review a sample of the evidence for hominin cannibalism within the prehistoric archaeological record. The review aims to ascertain whether testable motivations and social contexts for prehistoric cannibalism can presently be offered through current interpretative techniques. This paper will also attempt to identify any d...