Is Language Necessary for the Social Transmission of Lithic Technology?

IF 2.1 0 LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS
Dorothy O. Shilton
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引用次数: 3

Abstract

Recently, a growing number of studies have considered the role of language in the social transmission of tool-making skill during human evolution. In this article, I address this question in light of a new theory of language and its evolution, and review evidence from anthropology and experimental archaeology related to it. I argue that the specific function of language—the instruction of imagination—is not necessary for the social transmission of tool-making skill. Evidence from hunter-gatherer ethnographies suggests that social learning relies mainly on observation, participation, play, and experimentation. Ethnographies of traditional stone cultures likewise describe group activities with simple, context-bound interactions embedded in the here and now. Experiments comparing gestural and verbal teaching of tool-making skills also demonstrate that language is not necessary for that process. I conclude that there is no convincing evidence that language played an important role in the social transmission of lithic technology, although the possibility that linguistic instruction was involved as part of the social interactions accompanying tool-making cannot be excluded.
语言对于文学技术的社会传播是必要的吗?
近年来,越来越多的研究考虑了语言在人类进化过程中工具制造技能的社会传播中的作用。在这篇文章中,我将根据一种新的语言理论及其演变来解决这个问题,并回顾与之相关的人类学和实验考古学的证据。我认为,语言的特定功能——想象力的指导——对于工具制造技能的社会传播是不必要的。来自狩猎采集者民族志的证据表明,社会学习主要依赖于观察、参与、游戏和实验。传统石器文化的民族志同样描述了群体活动,这些活动是在此时此地嵌入的简单的、受上下文约束的互动。比较手势和语言教学的工具制作技能的实验也表明,语言在这个过程中不是必需的。我的结论是,没有令人信服的证据表明语言在石器技术的社会传播中发挥了重要作用,尽管不能排除语言教学作为伴随工具制造的社会互动的一部分的可能性。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Journal of Language Evolution
Journal of Language Evolution Social Sciences-Linguistics and Language
CiteScore
4.50
自引率
7.70%
发文量
8
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