The appearance of writing was a turning point in the evolution of human communication and cognition; yet writing did not evolve independently in most human societies. For millennia, many societies only used specialized graphic codes representing specific types of information—personal emblems, numbers, calendric units, among others. In the societies that invented writing independently, the notation of speech sounds is often preceded by such specialized notations, and is first used for telegraphic writing (encoding only some parts of speech), giving rise to full sentences notation only centuries later. Why? I will argue that the evolution of graphic codes is guided by a “predictability sequence”: the least predictable (hence most informative) types of information get encoded first. This hypothesis draws upon a robust finding in the study of linguistic production: we are more likely to explicitly say or write what our interlocutors cannot guess. This has consequences for the evolution of codes, as shown by experimental language evolution studies: self-sufficient codes are more likely to evolve for contextually unpredictable content. In line with this, I propose that a predictability hierarchy shapes both linguistic production today, and the evolution of graphic codes in the past. In this hypothesis, some types of content are consistently more predictable than others, in a way that is to a certain extent robust to historical and cross-linguistic variations; people can detect unpredictable content and they ascribe cognitive value to it; and the evolution of writing and other graphic codes should follow a sequence, with the invention and use of codes for highly unpredictable content (e.g. numerical quantities) occurring first, followed by the encoding of predictable content (e.g. articles or prepositions). I will present data from an ongoing project that puts these claims to the test. 

Contemporary human life is deeply shaped by the use of material tools and their properties to support our thinking, regulate our behavior, and externalize information. The emergence of exosomatic devices specifically designed to record, store, retrieve, and transmit information—such as artificial memory systems—is often presented as a unique human innovation. However, this development is neither recent nor isolated in human evolutionary history; rather, it is part of a longer trajectory with significant evolutionary predecessors. 
This talk situates the emergence of artificial memory systems within an epistemic niche construction (ENC) perspective, a framework introduced in philosophical literature to refer to the deliberate modification of environments to support cognitive performance, as well as the creation and use of tools for intelligent, coordinated action. After proposing a set of criteria to define and track ENC in the archaeological record, I will show how material culture and environments have long been transformed into scaffolds for human cognition and social organization. Applying these criteria to various domains of material culture—including the structuring of spaces and the use of personal ornamentation—I will highlight how these practices have gradually taken on collective informational roles. In doing so, I aim both to show how the evolution of exosomatic devices continues a long-standing trend of scaffolding collective intelligence and to provide a perspective for understanding the respects in which they represent a distinct phase within that broader trajectory. 

The rock art of Island Southeast Asia, particularly the Paleolithic hand stencils of Sulawesi, holds immense significance for rewriting the timeline of modern human symbolic behavior on a global scale. In this study, we present a detailed analysis focusing on a profound and widespread “early sign”: the modified negative hand stencil, where fingers are intentionally tapered or narrowed through the strategic application of red ochre pigment. 

Drawing on our extensive field documentation and recent Uranium-Thorium (U-Th) dating results, we establish the impressive geographical scope of this distinctive motif across Sulawesi’s complex karst environments. Our study includes new records from key sites such as Maros-Pangkep, Loko Malillin in Enrekang, and multiple locations across Muna and Buton Islands (e.g., Gua Mpolosa and Waburi 5). The U-Th minimum age of approximately ~ 67.8 ka for this modified motif on Muna Island places this sophisticated symbolic practice substantially earlier than much of the figurative art previously dated on the island 51.2 ka. 

We employ comparative morphological analysis across these sites to understand the pattern’s cultural meaning and its implication for population movement. We argue that this specific, shared graphic expression is not arbitrary. The transformation of the human hand into a claw-like or tapered form signifies a deliberate shift toward somatic symbolism, reflecting deep cultural concepts of human-animal integration or ritual transformation embedded in the Middle Pleistocene. The consistent, pan-Sulawesi occurrence of this highly specific symbolic sign is compelling evidence for a deeply interconnected cultural network or a shared ancestral symbolic substrate among the pioneering human populations of Wallacea, fundamentally challenging models that propose simple, culturally impoverished initial dispersal routes. 

This paper explores the relationship between different categories of human marks in the earliest Upper Paleolithic painted caves of Europe, focusing on the possible continuity between hand representations, and dot or circular motifs. While hand stencils and prints are among the most immediately recognizable anthropogenic marks in early parietal contexts, their relationship with more abstract signs, such as dots or clusters of dots, remains insufficiently explored. 

Starting from a reassessment of hand motifs, including those characterized by apparently truncated or missing fingers, we examine whether these variations reflect distinct practices or whether they may be part of a broader continuum of bodily marking and abstraction. Particular attention is given to the possibility that some dot motifs may constitute schematic or reduced representations of human body marks, rather than independent symbolic signs. This hypothesis is tested through a comparative analysis of spatial distribution, technical execution, scale, and contextual associations of hands, modified hands, and dots across several early Upper Paleolithic painted caves, with a specific focus on Chauvet Cave, but extending beyond it. 

Rather than assuming a priori symbolic meanings, this contribution adopts a methodological approach aimed at evaluating degrees of formal and conceptual continuity between bodily traces and non-figurative marks. By placing hands, missing fingers, and dots within the same analytical framework, we seek to assess whether these elements participated in shared visual grammars or marking practices, potentially reflecting early processes of abstraction rooted in the human body itself. 

In doing so, this paper contributes to ongoing debates on the emergence of symbolic behaviors by questioning rigid distinctions between figurative and non-figurative imagery in the earliest phases of Upper Paleolithic parietal art. 

Upper Paleolithic imagery includes a wide spectrum of motifs and technically demanding depictions whose execution implies shared routines and learned conventions. This paper examines whether apprenticeship and expertise can be detected through a combined reading of marks and engravings, and how a gestural reconstruction of engraving processes clarifies their place within early symbolic practices. 

The research integrates archaeological analysis (high-resolution imaging, 3D modelling, and formal study of selected Western European assemblages) with a chaîne opératoire approach to engraving. Microscopic and morphological criteria are used to reconstruct operational sequences as tool choice, hand positioning, stroke order, pressure control and the identification of technical difficulties, linking finished motifs to the gestures and decision points that produced them. Experimental replication complements this reconstruction: visual-arts/archaeology experts and non-experts completed psychometric tests and eye-tracked copying/reconstruction tasks based on Upper Paleolithic motifs and mark patterns, alongside controlled drawing and engraving using comparable techniques, monitored with motion-sensing gloves. 

Together, the results support a model in which Paleolithic art production was structured by culturally transmitted operational routines. A gestural, chaîne opératoire-based reconstruction offers a concrete bridge between material traces and learning processes, making apprenticeship archaeologically testable within early symbolic communities. 

The debate on the emergence of behavioral modernity often focuses on the meaning of early engravings. This study aims to shift the focus: rather than interrogating the symbolic value of the schematic motifs incised on ostrich eggshells from the southern African Middle Stone Age (ca. 65–60 ka), it examines the cognitive foundations that enabled their production. Through a quantitative and systematic analysis of the engraved ostrich eggshell fragments from Diepkloof, Klipdrift and Apollo 11, we integrate methods from statistics and cognitive science to reconstruct the internal structure of the marks. Our results reveal a recurrent and organized use of parallelisms, orthogonality, grids, rotations, and iterative patterns, embedded within a hierarchical structure.

This suggests that as early as 60,000 years ago Homo sapiens possessed the ability to combine simpler geometric elements into a complex structured system. We propose that these engravings emerge as earliest manifestations of a ‘geometric grammar’ governing human formal production, a capacity that underpins both symbolic behavior and later graphic practices.

West Papua is located on the island of Papua and is one of the regions in eastern Indonesia. Discussions about rock art in this region show that most of it is located in coastal areas or areas directly related to the marine environment. The existence of these rock art reflects the relationship between the marine environment and the culture of past communities. Several rock cliffs, caves, and small islands were used as galleries for rock arts, both as symbolic media and as spatial markers.  

Geometric and figurative rock art can be seen in this region. Studies of rock art in West Papua have focused more on anthropomorphic and fauna figures, while geometric figures have been less studied. This study explores the typology, distribution patterns, and symbolic meanings of various geometric forms. Geometric forms include repetitive patterns such as circles, meanders, concentric circles, lines, squares, and others. These images are not merely decorative variations but reflect local wisdom in terms of visual language communication. They reveal the relationship between symbols and the orientation of living space, knowledge systems, identity, markers of important places, and possibly as ritual practices or even as a form of respect for ancestors. 

One of the purposes of rock art is to tell stories of daily life, rituals, values, beliefs, and identity through images. The geographical distribution of figures such as the praying figure, which shows a highly schematic representation of the human body, helps identify shared codes whose origins can be explored from a cognitive perspective. Neuroscience, for example, has long emphasized the strong link between music and language, suggesting a potential shared cognitive foundation for both (Dempster 1998; Yu 2017).  

Reading narratives of prehistoric dance in rock art today involves decoding a communicative code related to immaterial cultural elements to study their context, function, and significance within the relevant human group. Research conducted by Yosef Garfinkel in the Middle East (Garfinkel 2003) has identified criteria for recognizing dance scenes based on analyses of figure arrangement, attributes, and characteristics such as uniformity and dynamism. Valcamonica, an authentic open-air museum with 1770 carved rocks, provides a comprehensive, chronologically extensive context for exploring how the human body in motion is represented.  

In particular, dance representations from the Copper and Iron Ages allow us to identify the characteristic traits of the groups inhabiting the valley. In accordance with archaeological evidence from cultures spread across the Alpine region arc, it can be seen that the interpretation of these representations changed from a community-based sense during the Copper Age to an identity-oriented one in the Bronze Age, and finally to a hierarchical-military significance in the Iron Age (Budano 2023). After introducing the characteristics of Camunian rock art, dance representations from the valley will be presented. Compared to other known contexts, these representations will prompt reflection on how the narrative of choreographic activity is constructed.