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<p>Artificial Memory Systems (AMSs) are tools that allow for the storage and retrieval of coded information beyond the physical body, ranging from computers and writing systems to tallying sticks. Current scientific knowledge suggests humans are the only species to manufacture and use these tools. While a number of artifacts dating back to the Middle Paleolithic have been considered to be early instances of AMS, conclusive and systematic evidence of this function is absent. Here we contrast the spatial distribution of markings on these potential early AMSs to other Paleolithic artifacts displaying butchery and ornamental marks, as well as ethnographically recorded cases of AMS. We find that both ethnographic and Upper Paleolithic AMSs are endowed with systematically different signatures that distinguish them from the other artifacts. These findings suggest that modern humans in at least Africa and Europe had sophisticated cognitive capabilities for information storage and retrieval, providing insights into the possible development of quantity-related cognition.</p>

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Identifying potential palaeolithic artificial memory systems via Spatial statistics: Implications for the origin of quantification

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年7月23日

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  • Lloyd Austin Courtenay,
  • Francesco d’Errico,
  • Rafael Núñez,
  • Damián E. Blasi

摘要

Artificial Memory Systems (AMSs) are tools that allow for the storage and retrieval of coded information beyond the physical body, ranging from computers and writing systems to tallying sticks. Current scientific knowledge suggests humans are the only species to manufacture and use these tools. While a number of artifacts dating back to the Middle Paleolithic have been considered to be early instances of AMS, conclusive and systematic evidence of this function is absent. Here we contrast the spatial distribution of markings on these potential early AMSs to other Paleolithic artifacts displaying butchery and ornamental marks, as well as ethnographically recorded cases of AMS. We find that both ethnographic and Upper Paleolithic AMSs are endowed with systematically different signatures that distinguish them from the other artifacts. These findings suggest that modern humans in at least Africa and Europe had sophisticated cognitive capabilities for information storage and retrieval, providing insights into the possible development of quantity-related cognition.