Opening Remarks: The Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology of Non-modern Humans

Summary

The study of archaic hominins (non-modern humans) poses some unique challenges to archaeological interpretation, and relies on close integration of archaeological data with those from other allied fields including palaeoanthropology, genetics, primatology, and ethnography. In this opening paper, I reflect on some of the recent advances and discoveries in these fields which are changing the ways in which we both conduct and conceptualise research in to non-modern humans in archaeology. I then introduce the main themes of the symposium, including models of interaction between different hominin species, the interpretation and analysis of material culture produced by archaic hominins, and the question of the cognitive abilities of non-modern humans and how these can be inferred from archaeological data.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20978