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Visuospatial Integration: Paleoanthropological and Archaeological Perspectives

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Book cover Evolution of Primate Social Cognition

Part of the book series: Interdisciplinary Evolution Research ((IDER,volume 5))

Abstract

The visuospatial system integrates inner and outer functional processes, organizing spatial, temporal, and social interactions between the brain, body, and environment. These processes involve sensorimotor networks like the eye–hand circuit, which is especially important to primates, given their reliance on vision and touch as primary sensory modalities and the use of the hands in social and environmental interactions. At the same time, visuospatial cognition is intimately connected with memory, self-awareness, and simulation capacity. In the present article, we review issues associated with investigating visuospatial integration in extinct human groups through the use of anatomical and behavioral data gleaned from the paleontological and archaeological records. In modern humans, paleoneurological analyses have demonstrated noticeable and unique morphological changes in the parietal cortex, a region crucial to visuospatial management. Archaeological data provides information on hand–tool interaction, the spatial behavior of past populations, and their interaction with the environment (e.g., in domains like landscape use and navigation, the spatial relations implicit in social networks, etc.). Visuospatial integration may represent a critical bridge between extended cognition, self-awareness, and social perception. As such, visuospatial functions are relevant to the hypothesis that human evolution is characterized by changes in brain–body–environment interactions and relations, which enhance integration between internal and external cognitive components through neural plasticity and the development of a specialized embodiment capacity. We therefore advocate the investigation of visuospatial functions in past populations through the paleoneurological study of anatomical elements and archaeological analysis of visuospatial behaviors.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the many friends, colleagues, and students who helped us develop the topics introduced in this paper: Fred Coolidge, Tom Wynn, Lambros Malafouris, Duilio Garofoli, Eiluned Pearce, Atsushi Iriki, Jim Rilling, Annapaola Fedato, María Silva Gago, Sofia Pereira Pedro, Roberto Colom, Manuel Martin-Loeches, Ralph Holloway, Marina Lozano, Joseba Rios Garaizar, and Sileshi Semaw. EB is supported by the Spanish government (MINECO CGL2015-65387-C3-3-P). EES is supported by a SIR (RBSI142SRD) grant from the MIUR (Italian Ministry of University and Research).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, Burgos, Spain

    Emiliano Bruner

  2. La Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italy

    Enza Spinapolice

  3. Université de Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Ariane Burke

  4. School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Karenleigh A. Overmann

  5. Center for Cognitive Archaeology, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO, USA

    Karenleigh A. Overmann

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  1. Emiliano Bruner
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  2. Enza Spinapolice
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  3. Ariane Burke
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  4. Karenleigh A. Overmann
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Correspondence to Emiliano Bruner .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Georg-August-University Goettingen, Lichtenberg-Kolleg, Göttingen, Germany

    Laura Desirèe Di Paolo

  2. Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienzà Università di Roma, Rome, Italy

    Fabio Di Vincenzo

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, MI, USA

    Francesca De Petrillo

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Bruner, E., Spinapolice, E., Burke, A., Overmann, K.A. (2018). Visuospatial Integration: Paleoanthropological and Archaeological Perspectives. In: Di Paolo, L.D., Di Vincenzo, F., De Petrillo, F. (eds) Evolution of Primate Social Cognition. Interdisciplinary Evolution Research, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93776-2_19

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