2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Archaeological Study of the Learning Behaviors of the Neanderthals and Early Modern Humans
| Project Area | Replacement of Neanderthals by Homo sapiens: testing evolutionary models of learning |
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| Project/Area Number |
22101002
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Review Section |
Humanities and Social Sciences
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KADOWAKI Seiji 名古屋大学, 博物館, 助教 (00571233)
KATO Hirofumi 北海道大学, アイヌ先住民研究センター, 教授 (60333580)
SANO Katsuhiro 東北大学, 総合研究博物館, 助教 (60587781)
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| Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha) |
ONO Akira 明治大学, 黒耀石研究センター, 特任教授 (70000502)
ONUMA Katsuhiko 国士舘大学, イラク古代文化研究所, 教授 (70152204)
MATSUMOTO Naoko 岡山大学, 文学研究科, 准教授 (30314660)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2010-04-01 – 2015-03-31
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| Keywords | 考古学 / 人類進化 / ネアンデルタール人 / ホモ・サピエンス / ルヴァロワ / 石器インダストリー / 旧石器時代 / 学習行動 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
This project resulted in construction of a global-scale database (NeanderDB), which documents more than 3200 Middle and Upper Paleolithic excavated sites across Africa and Eurasia dated to between 200 and 20 kya. A critical evaluation of the spatio-temporal contexts of the compiled data revealed regionally varied replacement and assimilation processes of the two populations, suggesting their possible co-existence and cultural interaction.
The study also investigated potential differences in learning behaviors of the two populations in an effort to test the “learning hypothesis”. The results show that it is too simplistic to postulate innate cognitive differences as the single force accounting for replacement of the Neanderthals. The “learning hypothesis” proposed in 2009 now needs to be updated, taking into consideration non-innate social issues, including the population size and social organization, as important factors affecting learning behavior in the two population groups.
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| Free Research Field |
考古学
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