The emergence and complexification of symbolic practices in the Homo lineage: an archaeological and cognitive perspective

Recent archaeological discoveries, reviewed in this essay, challenge traditional views on the emergence of human symbolic cognition. Once believed to have originated in Europe around 40,000 years ago, new evidence shows it emerged much earlier across diverse regions. Geometric engravings from Blombos Cave in South Africa date back 77,000 years, while body ornaments over 140,000 years old have been found in North Africa, with similar artifacts from Africa and the Middle East ranging from 120,000 to 70,000 years ago. Human remains from Africa suggest a gradual accretion of modern anatomical traits starting 300,000 years ago, challenging the idea of a sudden cognitive leap due to speciation. Neanderthals also displayed symbolic behaviours such as using pigments, creating ornaments, engravings, burials, and symbolic cave spaces. Evidence of interbreeding between Upper Pleistocene Homo populations further indicates that symbolic cognition was not unique to Homo sapiens . These findings suggest that cognitive evolution was a gradual process shaped by regional ecological and cultural dynamics. This novel view on the emergence of symbolic cognition underscores the role of cultural transmission and niche construction in the development of symbolic capacities, rather than a single species‐specific event.