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The Colonization of Australia and Its Adjacent Islands and the Evolution of Modern Cognition

Iain Davidson

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    59 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The first colonization of the Greater Australian continent, known as Sahul, indicated that humans had modern cognitive ability. Such modern human abilities probably emerged earlier in Africa. I will argue that the only way we can identify what constitutes modern human behavior is to look at the record in Australia - the first place colonized only by modern humans. I place this argument within recent theorizing about cognitive evolution.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)S177-S189
    JournalCurrent Anthropology
    Volume51
    Issue numberSupplement 1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2010

    Keywords

    • Archaeology of Asia, Africa and the Americas
    • Archaeological Science
    • Archaeology of Australia (excl Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander)
    • Cognitive Science
    • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Archaeology

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