Behavioral modernity

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[[anthropology|Anthropologists]], [[archeology|archeologists]], and [[sociology|sociologists]] use the term '''behavioral modernity''' to refer to a list of traits that distinguish present day [[human]]s and their recent ancestors both from living primates and from other extinct hominid lineages.<ref name='wikipedia'>{{wpa|Behavioral modernity}}</ref> While it remains an influential idea in paleoanthropological contexts, John J. Shea has recently characterised the concept as "qualitative, [[essentialism|essentialist]], and a historical artifact of the [[Europe]]an origins of Paleolithic research."<ref name='shea'>Shea, J. J. (2011) [http://www.jstor.org/pss/10.1086/658067 ''Homo sapiens is as Homo sapiens was'']</ref>

==Paleoanthropology==

In paleoanthropology, the idea of behavioral modernity is associated with the belief that there are significant differences between the oldest ''Homo sapiens'' and populations younger than 50 kya.<ref name='shea'/> It is often defined as the point at which ''Homo sapiens'' began to demonstrate a reliance on symbolic thought and to express cultural creativity.<ref name='wikipedia'/><ref>{{wpa|thought}}</ref> The idea has recently come under siege; J. Shea writes: "The strongest reason for discarding 'behavioral modernity' and 'modern human behavior' is that they lack analytical precision."<ref>https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/658067?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents</ref> In the paper, he proposes that the concept be entirely replaced by the more quantitative measurement of behavioral variability.<ref name='shea'/> Behavioral modernity is also sometimes called the "Upper Paleolithic Revolution". In reference to this, [[revisionism|revisionists]] Sally McBrearty and Alison Brooks referred to it as "the revolution that wasn't," pushing back the origins of modern behavior to the Middle Stone Age.<ref>Sally McBrearty and Alison S. Brooks. (2000) [http://www.anth.uconn.edu/faculty/mcbrearty/Pdf/McB%20%26%20Brooks%202000%20TRTW.pdf The Revolution That Wasn't: A New Interpretation of the Origin Modern Human Behavior.] ''Journal of Human Evolution'', vol. 39, pp. 453–563</ref>

The difference between behaviorally modern and anatomically modern humans, or even species like ''[[Homo erectus]]'' and the [[Neanderthals]], is a subtle one, since even 300kya modern humans in Africa were conducting trade and using pigments.<ref>{{Cite journal|title= Long-distance stone transport and pigment use in the earliest Middle Stone Age|journal= Science|volume= 360|issue= 6384|pages= 90–94|year=2018|pmid=29545508|vauthors=Brooks AS, Yellen JE, Potts R, Behrensmeyer AK, Deino AL, Leslie DE, Ambrose SH, Ferguson JR, d'Errico F, Zipkin AM, Whittaker S, Post J, Veatch EG, Foecke K, Clark JB|doi-access= free}}</ref> The earliest known example of doodling comes from an engraving scratched onto a shell over 500kya by an unknown ''Homo erectus'' individual,<ref>"[https://www.nature.com/news/homo-erectus-made-world-s-oldest-doodle-500-000-years-ago-1.16477 ''Homo erectus'' made world's oldest doodle 500,000 years ago]" - ''Nature News''</ref> and some people think that ''erectus'' invented the earliest boats and rafts.<ref>{{cite journal|first= R. G.|last= Bednarik|year= 1998|title= An experiment in Pleistocene seafaring|journal= The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology|volume= 27|issue= 2|pages= 139–149|url= http://www.ifrao.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/98Nautuical.pdf}}</ref>

==External links==

* Ofer Bar-Yosef. [http://www.cameronmsmith.com/courses/EuropeanPrehistory2007/TheUpperPalaeolithicRevolution.pdf The Upper Paleolithic Revolution.] Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 2002. 31:363–93.

==References==
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{{stub|psychology}}
[[Category:Anthropology]]
[[Category:Archaeology]]
[[Category:Evolution]]
[[Category:Sociology]]

Categories: Anthropology, Archaeology, Evolution, Sociology