Overview

By employing a cognitive semiotic theory based on pragmatism and enactivism, this book explores the nature and emergence of early body ornamentation, which has long been at the forefront of the debate on modern human origins. Using a range of artefacts including the Blombos Cave Beads, ostrich eggshells, and engraved pieces of ochre, the book examines the connection between early body ornaments and the semiotic mind, and addresses the question of whether early body ornaments were made by a symbolic mind, or whether they provided the material and semiotic scaffolding required for such a mind to emerge.

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9781350260078

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Reviews

How did Mark Making and Meaning morph into Signs, Symbols and Syntax through Shells-- the S and M of the semiotic emergence of modern human cognition? Iliopoulos, in highly persuasive argument, shows how the semiotics of archaeological ornaments allowed complex processes, not states, to transform material signs of meaning. * Iain Davidson, Emeritus Professor, University of New England, Australia *

Author Information

Antonis Iliopoulos is a postdoctoral researcher for the ERC HANDMADE project at the University of Oxford, UK, which explores creative gesture in pottery-making.

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