ASEBL Journal – Volume 11 Issue 2, Spring 2015
Foreword
Gregory F. Tague
Studies of human evolution are paramount in terms of answering why we have culture
and make art. Without doubt, research into our prehistoric ancestors, their habits,
minds, and manners brings us closer to understanding ourselves, our cultural diversity,
our social relations, and our group identities. This issue of ASEBL features a paper by
Anthony Lock, who digs into that past to help explain our artistic behaviors and their
possible origins. Following his paper are illuminating comments by experts in the
field, concluding with a response by Lock.
We have now, which was not available in Darwin’s day, a tree of our hominid and
hominin ancestors. In terms of the continuities with our ape relations, primate researchers and ethologists have explained patterns of chimpanzee and bonobo politics
and social behavior. From as early as the beginning of the twentieth century, some
researchers posited basic correspondences between ape and human mentality and
ideation. Other primatologists have explained the cohesive family groups of mountain
gorillas or the more solitary orangutans. Our human life is on an ever-branching continuum with other species, but we are clearly different having made our own evolutionary niche with an ever-increasing art culture reaching back prehistorically.
Evolutionary psychologists have stressed the importance of understanding these early
roots and fundamental behaviors during the Pleistocene in terms of our current culture
and conduct. Even archaeologists have charted the prehistory of the mind up to our
cognitive fluidity over the Neanderthals. Others have rightfully named us the symbolic species or dubbed us the cultural animal.
While Lock does not necessarily pursue continuities between us and other primates,
he indeed delves into our prehistoric and more recent past to tackle the big questions
of why we make art and some of the debatable adaptive cognitive and social functions
art serves. The editors of the journal are grateful to Anthony Lock and all of the commentators for contributing their time and effort to this important discussion about how
our prehistory impacts our present cultural practices. Thanks also to our intern.
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Because of copyright considerations and restrictions, we could not include artworks in the
journal. Readers are referred to the follow