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Origins of human innovation and creativity /

Innovation and creativity are two of the key characteristics that distinguish cultural transmission from biological transmission. This book explores a number of questions concerning the nature and timing of the origins of human creativity. What were the driving factors in the development of new tech...

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Bibliographic Details
Corporate Author: ScienceDirect (Online service)
Other Authors: Elias, Scott A.
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Amsterdam ; Boston : Elsevier, 2012.
Series:Developments in Quaternary science ; 16.
Subjects:
Creative ability.
Technological innovations.
Human evolution.
Evolutionary psychology.
Creativity
Créativité.
Innovations.
Êtres humains > Évolution.
Psychologie évolutionniste.
creativity.
PSYCHOLOGY > Creative Ability.
SELF-HELP > Creativity.
Creative ability
Evolutionary psychology
Human evolution
Technological innovations
Electronic books.
Online Access:Connect to the full text of this electronic book
Table of Contents:
  • Front Cover; Developments in Quaternary Science; Origins of Human Innovation and Creativity; Copyright; Contents; Contributors; Chapter 1
  • Origins of Human Innovation and Creativity: Breaking Old Paradigms; 1.1. THE PROBLEM OF STASIS IN STONE TOOL TECHNOLOGY; 1.2. THE EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY OF CREATIVITY; 1.3. EMERGENT PATTERNS OF CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION IN EARLY TECHNOLOGIES; 1.4. CONCLUDING REMARKS; REFERENCES; Chapter 2
  • Creativity and Complex Society Before the Upper Palaeolithic Transition; 2.1. A DEFINITION; 2.2. MODELLING THE HOMININ MIND
  • 2.3. THE NUMBER OF MINDS AND THE EVOLUTION OF CREATIVITY2.4. SOCIAL BRAINS AND ACTIVE PERSONAL NETWORKS; 2.5. CREATIVITY, THE SENSES AND SOCIAL COMPLEXITY; 2.6. CONCLUSION; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; REFERENCES; Chapter 3
  • North African Origins of Symbolically Mediated Behaviour and the Aterian; 3.1. INTRODUCTION; 3.2. SYMBOLISM AND HUMANS; 3.3. NORTH AFRICA DURING THE MSA AND THE ATERIAN; 3.4. A REVISED CHRONOLOGY FOR THE ATERIAN; 3.5. INNOVATIONS IN THE ATERIAN; 3.5. ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT FOR DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ATERIAN; 3.6. DISCUSSION; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; REFERENCES
  • Chapter 4
  • Personal Ornaments and Symbolism Among the Neanderthals4.1. INTRODUCTION; 4.2. "NEANDERTHAL BEHAVIOUR": THE MID-20TH CENTURY KNOWLEDGE BASE AND THE HUMAN REVOLUTION; 4.3. NEANDERTHAL SYMBOLISM: THE LAST DECADE OF RESEARCH; 4.4. ONGOING CONTROVERSIES: WHY?; 4.5. CONCLUSION; REFERENCES; Chapter 5
  • Invention, Reinvention and Innovation: The Makings of Oldowan Lithic Technology; 5.1. INTRODUCTION; 5.2. WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE CREATIVE?; 5.3. A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE OLDOWAN; 5.4. "SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW"; 5.5. CONCLUDING REMARKS; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; REFERENCES
  • Chapter 6
  • Emergent Patterns of Creativity and Innovation in Early Technologies6.1. INTRODUCTION; 6.2. CONCLUSION: SOME METHODOLOGICAL CHALLENGES; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; REFERENCES; Chapter 7
  • The Evolutionary Ecology of Creativity; 7.1. MODERN HUMANS AS A 'MAJOR TRANSITION' IN EVOLUTION; 7.2. PAIR-BONDING AND COURTSHIP DISPLAYS; 7.3. FORAGING STRATEGY AND INFORMATION-SHARING; 7.4. THE EMERGENCE OF PHENOTYPIC THOUGHT; 7.5. THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF ALTERNATIVE REALITY; 7.6. CONCLUSIONS; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; REFERENCES
  • Chapter 8
  • Climate, Creativity and Competition: Evaluating the Neanderthal 'glass ceiling.'8.1. INTRODUCTION; 8.2. POSSIBLE CAUSES AND SCALES OF CHANGE; 8.3. SOCIAL PROCESSES OF POPULATION EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION; 8.4. PRECISION AND ACCURACY IN DATING THE SPREAD OF BEHAVIOURAL NOVELTY; 8.5. NEANDERTHAL INNOVATIONS; 8.6. NEANDERTHALS, CLIMATIC CHANGE AND INNOVATION; 8.7. FUTURE DIRECTIONS; NOTE; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; REFERENCES; Index