Behavioral modernity, evolutionary synergies, and the symbolic species

Many of the hallmarks of “what makes us human”—complex cognition and language, self-consciousness, and symbolic and artistic behaviors—are commonly subsumed under the term “behavioral modernity.” Several models have been proposed to account for its emergence and different ways of understanding the term itself exist. However, the concept of behavioral modernity remains elusive and difficult to define in a consistent manner. It is vulnerable to critique from a number of perspectives, both theoretically and methodologically, especially on how to recognize its expression in the archaeological record. Overview of the proposed behavioral traits and archaeological features indicate: (1) that highlighting assumptions implicit in those traits and features may allow us to avoid inconsistencies when identifying behaviorally modern populations in the archaeological record; and (2) that elaborating methods for recognizing archaeological indicators of “symbolically mediated behavior” might represent the most reliable pathway to define what constitutes “modern behavior” and identify surviving tangible expression of it in past material culture.