Consider the third dimension: A new approach for measuring the symmetry of the middle Paleolithic points of the Mirak Site

A Volumetric Analysis of Handaxe Symmetry Referencing a Known Symmetrical Ideal

“…The following sections highlight several approaches to the analysis of bilateral symmetry: a radial quali cation approach (Marathe, 1980), a radial quanti cation approach (Wynn & Tierson, 1990), the Continuous Symmetry Measure (Saragusti et al, 1998), a mental folding method (McNabb et al, 2004), the Index of Symmetry measure (Lycett et al, 2008) and the Index of Deviation of Symmetry by Feizi et al (2018Feizi et al ( , 2020. The most popular approach to 2D analyses of bilateral symmetry has been the Flip Test and its Asymmetry Index (Couzens, 2013 Radial Quali cation of Handaxe Bilateral Symmetry Marathe (1980) published this method as a novel techno-typological quali cation of handaxe morphology focused on discriminating 260 handaxes from two Indian locales -an Early-to-Middle Acheulean site at Chirki-on-Pravara and a Late Acheulean site at Paleru.…”

“…used the IoS to infer that handaxe symmetry was subject to selection as the result of functional, social, or adaptive factors. Lycett and von Cramon-Taubadel (2008) used the IoS to analyze a sample of African and Eurasian handaxes to support their hypothesis that Acheulean technologies evolved in Africa and dispersed to northern and western Eurasia with migrating populations.Index of Deviation from SymmetryIn a pair of recent papers,Feizi et al (2018Feizi et al ( , 2020 have developed a novel Index of Deviation from Symmetry (IDS) as an approach to quantifying symmetry's relationship with the cognitive ability of archaic Homo by focusing on an assemblage from Mirak, Iran, an open-air Middle Paleolithic site. To evaluate bilateral symmetry, the IDS is calculated by enclosing a 3D model of an artifact within a quadrangle, then bifurcated the quadrangle down the long axis at 50% of the total width.…”

Expert Retrieval Structures and Prospective Memory in the Cognition of Acheulian Hominins

“…The material culture of earlier hominins mostly lacks artistic expressions and is dominated by stone artifacts whose makers are thereby considered by default less evolved (e.g., Herrmann et al, 2007). Stone artifacts are used by archaeologists to study the cognition of ancient hominins, applying a variety of approaches, including comparison to other tool-using primates (Schick et al, 1999), monitoring modern brain activity during knapping (Stout et al, 2000;Hecht et al, 2014) and evaluating the skill, dexterity, and cognitive abilities using psychological models (Herzlinger et al, 2017;Feizi et al, 2018).…”