SO much has been written about the conscious mind in the past few years that
the experimental psychologist Stuart Sutherland pleaded last year for a
moratorium on books about the subject because 鈥渢here is nothing new to say鈥�
(Nature, 28 November 1996, p 228).
Archaeologists, however, claim to have many new and interesting things to say
about how the human mind evolved. Steven Mithen, for one, believes that
archaeology may hold 鈥渢he key to an understanding of the modern mind鈥�. He
certainly makes a good case for it in The Prehistory of the Mind (鈥淭丑别
brain鈥檚 big bang鈥�, 26 October 1996, p 44). Mithen writes so clearly on a
difficult subject that it is hard to see his book being bettered for a
considerable time.
It is certainly not eclipsed by Human Evolution, Language and Mind
by William Noble and Iain Davidson. The two books overlap to a considerable
extent, although the different presentations mean that they are not direct
competitors.
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Noble and Davidson, a psychologist and an archaeologist respectively, attempt
to unravel the signs of awareness and self-conscious perception in the
prehistoric record. But their book is a dull read after Mithen鈥檚, and some of
their discussions are frustratingly disjointed.
The authors define language as the 鈥渟ymbolic use of communicative signs鈥� and
the core of their book is a theoretical analysis of symbolism and 鈥渕inded鈥�
behaviour. This makes the middle chapters heavy-going, though useful for
students. In the concluding chapters on archaeology, which are generally easier,
the authors include discussions of some topics that Mithen does not touch
on鈥攕uch as the importance of stone throwing, pointing and gesturing for
the development of the human mind and language.
Noble and Davidson do not have an exciting style but they offer some unusual
interpretations鈥攐f the Acheulean and Levallois stone industries, for
example鈥攁nd this gives their book an extra dimension, especially for
students and specialists.
Like Mithen, they believe that language, and hence the modern human mind,
developed late in human evolution, probably only in the past 100 000 years. An
early example of the expression of modern human behaviour is, they say, the
first settlement of Australia, which required a sea crossing and 鈥渁bilities to
plan ahead that are made possible by language鈥�.