Archaeological Evidence for the Emergence of Language,Symbolism, and Music–An Alternative Multidisciplinary Perspective

In recent years, there has been a tendency to correlate the origin of modern culture and language with that of anatomically modern humans. Here we discuss this correlation in the light of results provided by our first hand analysis of ancient and recently discovered relevant archaeological and paleontological material from Africa and Europe. We focus in particular on the evolutionary significance of lithic and bone technology, the emergence of symbolism, Neandertal behavioral patterns, the identification of early mortuary practices, the anatomical evidence for the acquisition of language, the development of conscious symbolic storage, the emergence of musical traditions, and the archaeological evidence for the diversification of languages during the Upper Paleolithic. This critical reappraisal contradicts the hypothesis of a symbolic revolution coinciding with the arrival of anatomically modern humans in Europe some 40,000 years ago, but also highlights inconsistencies in the anatomically–culturally modern equation and the potential contribution of anatomically pre-modern human populations to the emergence of these abilities. No firm evidence of conscious symbolic storage and musical traditions are found before the Upper Paleolithic. However, the oldest known European objects that testify to these practices already show a high degree of complexity and geographic variability suggestive of possible earlier, and still unrecorded, phases of development.     

Not just cattle: Cranial perforations revisited

The phenomenon of perforated cattle skulls is well known to archaeozoologists. It is a condition that has not only been reported during routine faunal analyses but, unusually for animal palaeopathological studies, it has also been the subject of dedicated research papers. A revolutionary moment in the understanding of this anomaly came with its detection in the skull of a European bison. As a result of this discovery, a developmental disorder of genetic origin is now accepted as the most probable cause. In this paper, it is suggested that the perforations are caused by a developmental disorder that is expressed during the pneumatisation of the frontal, parietal and occipital bones in animals with a large sinus frontalis. The first published example of this condition in pig supports this hypothesis. It is argued that the anomaly is a hereditary trait caused by a recessive gene, the phenotypic expression of which only appears in homozygous recessive individuals. Higher incidences of this condition in past cattle and pig populations in certain places at times, may therefore testify to the occurrence of population bottlenecks and/or inbreeding practices. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Communities of Resistance: Women and the Catholic Left of the Late 1960s

This article examines how gender shaped the political cultureand political communities that developed among radical Catholicsin their direct action protests against the Vietnam War. Itsfocus is on the Catholic Left, an informally-organized but highlyinfluential group of resisters defined by their participationin the draft board raids made famous by the radical priestsDaniel and Philip Berrigan. Then as now, the grassroots natureof this movement disappeared in the shadow of the Berrigan brothers'fame. Women became the most notable victims of this phenomena,receiving little publicity or acclaim despite the fact thatthey played pivotal roles both behind the scenes and on thestreets. Using a combination of oral interviews and archivalsources, this article seeks to put these women back into thehistory of the Catholic Left and onto the front lines of a broaderunderstanding of the nature of political struggle.