Experimental evidence for the co-evolution of hominin tool-making teaching and language

T. J. H. Morgan; N. T. Uomini; L. E. Rendell; L. Chouinard-Thuly; S. E. Street; H. M. Lewis; C. P. Cross; C. Evans; R. Kearney; I. de la Torre; A. Whiten; K. N. Laland

doi:10.1038/ncomms7029

Experimental evidence for the co-evolution of hominin tool-making teaching and language

T. J. H. Morgan, N. T. Uomini, L. E. Rendell, L. Chouinard-Thuly, S. E. Street, H. M. Lewis, C. P. Cross, C. Evans, R. Kearney, I. de la Torre, A. Whiten, K. N. Laland

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Hominin reliance on Oldowan stone tools—which appear from 2.5 mya and are believed to have been socially transmitted—has been hypothesized to have led to the evolution of teaching and language. Here we present an experiment investigating the efficacy of transmission of Oldowan tool-making skills along chains of adult human participants (N=184) using five different transmission mechanisms. Across six measures, transmission improves with teaching, and particularly with language, but not with imitation or emulation. Our results support the hypothesis that hominin reliance on stone tool-making generated selection for teaching and language, and imply that (i) low-fidelity social transmission, such as imitation/emulation, may have contributed to the ~700,000 year stasis of the Oldowan technocomplex, and (ii) teaching or proto-language may have been pre-requisites for the appearance of Acheulean technology. This work supports a gradual evolution of language, with simple symbolic communication preceding behavioural modernity by hundreds of thousands of years.

Original language	English
Article number	6029
Number of pages	8
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7029
Publication status	Published - 13 Jan 2015

Keywords

Tool-use
Human evolution
Social transmission
Language evolution

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10.1038/ncomms7029

morgan et al accepted version
Copyright 2015. Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.
Accepted author manuscript, 0.98 MB

EVOCULTURE: The Evolution of Culture
Lala, K. (PI)
European Research Council
1/04/09 → 31/03/15
Project: Standard

Cite this

@article{58c967416f93427ea97f0fa77bbdb760,

title = "Experimental evidence for the co-evolution of hominin tool-making teaching and language",

abstract = "Hominin reliance on Oldowan stone tools—which appear from 2.5 mya and are believed to have been socially transmitted—has been hypothesized to have led to the evolution of teaching and language. Here we present an experiment investigating the efficacy of transmission of Oldowan tool-making skills along chains of adult human participants (N=184) using five different transmission mechanisms. Across six measures, transmission improves with teaching, and particularly with language, but not with imitation or emulation. Our results support the hypothesis that hominin reliance on stone tool-making generated selection for teaching and language, and imply that (i) low-fidelity social transmission, such as imitation/emulation, may have contributed to the ~700,000 year stasis of the Oldowan technocomplex, and (ii) teaching or proto-language may have been pre-requisites for the appearance of Acheulean technology. This work supports a gradual evolution of language, with simple symbolic communication preceding behavioural modernity by hundreds of thousands of years.",

keywords = "Tool-use, Human evolution, Social transmission, Language evolution",

author = "Morgan, {T. J. H.} and Uomini, {N. T.} and Rendell, {L. E.} and L. Chouinard-Thuly and Street, {S. E.} and Lewis, {H. M.} and Cross, {C. P.} and C. Evans and R. Kearney and {de la Torre}, I. and A. Whiten and Laland, {K. N.}",

note = "Research supported in part by an ERC Advanced Grant to K.N.L. (EVOCULTURE, ref: 232823) and grants to N.T.U. from the British Academy (Centenary Project {\textquoteleft}Lucy to Language: the Archaeology of the Social Brain{\textquoteright}) and the Leverhulme Trust (ECF 0298).",

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month = jan,

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doi = "10.1038/ncomms7029",

language = "English",

volume = "6",

journal = "Nature Communications",

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T1 - Experimental evidence for the co-evolution of hominin tool-making teaching and language

AU - Morgan, T. J. H.

AU - Uomini, N. T.

AU - Rendell, L. E.

AU - Chouinard-Thuly, L.

AU - Street, S. E.

AU - Lewis, H. M.

AU - Cross, C. P.

AU - Evans, C.

AU - Kearney, R.

AU - de la Torre, I.

AU - Whiten, A.

AU - Laland, K. N.

N1 - Research supported in part by an ERC Advanced Grant to K.N.L. (EVOCULTURE, ref: 232823) and grants to N.T.U. from the British Academy (Centenary Project ‘Lucy to Language: the Archaeology of the Social Brain’) and the Leverhulme Trust (ECF 0298).

PY - 2015/1/13

Y1 - 2015/1/13

N2 - Hominin reliance on Oldowan stone tools—which appear from 2.5 mya and are believed to have been socially transmitted—has been hypothesized to have led to the evolution of teaching and language. Here we present an experiment investigating the efficacy of transmission of Oldowan tool-making skills along chains of adult human participants (N=184) using five different transmission mechanisms. Across six measures, transmission improves with teaching, and particularly with language, but not with imitation or emulation. Our results support the hypothesis that hominin reliance on stone tool-making generated selection for teaching and language, and imply that (i) low-fidelity social transmission, such as imitation/emulation, may have contributed to the ~700,000 year stasis of the Oldowan technocomplex, and (ii) teaching or proto-language may have been pre-requisites for the appearance of Acheulean technology. This work supports a gradual evolution of language, with simple symbolic communication preceding behavioural modernity by hundreds of thousands of years.

AB - Hominin reliance on Oldowan stone tools—which appear from 2.5 mya and are believed to have been socially transmitted—has been hypothesized to have led to the evolution of teaching and language. Here we present an experiment investigating the efficacy of transmission of Oldowan tool-making skills along chains of adult human participants (N=184) using five different transmission mechanisms. Across six measures, transmission improves with teaching, and particularly with language, but not with imitation or emulation. Our results support the hypothesis that hominin reliance on stone tool-making generated selection for teaching and language, and imply that (i) low-fidelity social transmission, such as imitation/emulation, may have contributed to the ~700,000 year stasis of the Oldowan technocomplex, and (ii) teaching or proto-language may have been pre-requisites for the appearance of Acheulean technology. This work supports a gradual evolution of language, with simple symbolic communication preceding behavioural modernity by hundreds of thousands of years.

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KW - Social transmission

KW - Language evolution

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SN - 2041-1723

VL - 6

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

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ER -

Experimental evidence for the co-evolution of hominin tool-making teaching and language

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EVOCULTURE: The Evolution of Culture

Kevin Lala

Luke Edward Rendell

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Experimental evidence for the co-evolution of hominin tool-making teaching and language

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Keywords

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