Abstract
Recent attempts to reconstruct how cultural cognition has emerged and evolved frequently relyon a „techno-genetic“ (and at times even „techno-centric“) logic. Instrumental intelligence, reflected in the production and utilization of taskspecific tools, such as knapped bifaces, is considered a key motor for the development of cultural cognition. The presumption is that technological evolution parallels cognitive evolution in significant ways. Technical instruments produced by extinct hominins and early humans - most importantly, ancient stone artefacts - are therefore examined in order to map out the socio-cognitive preconditions of their manufacture and by extension the cognitive capacity of their producers. The aim of this chapter is to move beyond this one-sided conception and to extend the focus again on the social and aesthetic dimensions of the human-world interface. We show that embodiment and empathy are key concepts for understanding the evident „trans“-instrumental links between Paleolithic foraging groups, animals, and other aspects of their physical environment, including the possibility that inanimate objects were experienced as intentional agents. By drawing on examples from recent hunter-gatherer ethnography, we defend the general thesis that Pleistocene lifeworlds were likely anchored in relational ontologies, implying a considerable extension of the „space of empathy“ and the integration of nonhuman entities into the field of social relations. For this reason, it is imperative also to consider human-world relations which are „more than instrumental,“ if we wish to develop plausible scenarios for the development of exceptional cognitive capacities in the human lineage.
