The Brain as a Cultural Artefact

Mithen, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3391-7443 and Parsons, L. (2008) The Brain as a Cultural Artefact. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 18 (3). pp. 415-422. ISSN 0959-7743 doi: 10.1017/s0959774308000450

Abstract/Summary

Where does biology end and culture begin? While the human body is now widely accepted as being both biological and cultural, the brain is still considered by archaeologists as being a biological entity that provides the capacity for culture and is subject to no further change after the evolution of Homo sapiens. This article reviews recent research that suggests that the brain has continued to evolve at an increasing rate in recent times under the influence Of culturally created environments and that both the anatomy and function of individual brains can be manipulated by cultural behaviour. It describes an experiment in which one of us successfully changed his own brain in response to his cultural activity.

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Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/3831
Item Type	Article
Divisions	Science > School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science > Department of Archaeology Science > School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science > Scientific Archaeology
Uncontrolled Keywords	CORTICAL DEVELOPMENT ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION CORPUS-CALLOSUM MUSICIANS SIZE NEUROSCIENCE MORPHOLOGY HUMANS CORTEX
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