Systematic analyses of innovative behaviours during the Palaeolithic. A case study of the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa. (working title)

The Phd thesis aims to analyse quantitative and qualitative differences in innovative behaviours during the Palaeolithic. The main goal is to develop a systematic and universal approach to analyse artefact spectrums in the context of the capacity for innovation, which is accessible through the material remains. This approach includes the quantitative and qualitative characterisation of object behaviour of a chosen region, under consideration of typological aspects, various attributes like material, form or function and the cognitive level. In doing so, it will become possible to detect diverse aspects of tool behaviour. The focus of the research lies on the reconstruction of tool behaviour and the underlying actions and thoughts. To this end, two qualitative methods, cognigrams and effective chains, will be applied. As a last step of the developed approach the diverse aspects of tool behaviour are than evaluated in terms of their innovativeness, by comparative analyses on a larger geochronological scale. In the context of this thesis, the developed approach is applied to the Middle Stone Age (MSA) of southern Africa. Thus the cultural change of this region during the MSA can be determined and it is possible to gain insight into various innovation processes and to detect cognitive abilities, which could have played a crucial rule in the context of human evolution and the origins of modern human behaviour.

since 2015 Ph.D. student Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Cognitive Archaeology Unit
Working title: „Qualitative und quantitative Unterschiede des Innovationsverhaltens im Paläolithikum am Beispiel von Middle Stone Age-Technokomplexen des südlichen Afrikas.“

since 2012  Ph.D. student Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Research Center ‘The role of culture in early expansions of humans’, Senckenberg, Research Institute and Natural History Museum and University of Tuebingen

2003 –2010 Prehistoric Archaeology, Palaeoanthropology and Geology, University of Tübingen (with a M.A. degree). M.A. Thesis: „Das Werkzeugverhalten von Schimpansen. Kognitive Flexibilität, Variabilität und Komplexität.“ („Tool use and tool production in wild chimpanzees. Cognitive flexibility, variability and complexity“)

2012 –2016 researcher in DFG project „Qualitative and quantitative differences in innovative behaviours during the Palaeolithic. A case study of the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa.”, project management / petitioner PD Dr. Miriam N. Haidle

2010-2012 research assistant, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Research Center ‘The role of culture in early expansions of humans’, Senckenberg, Research Institute and Natural History Museum and University of Tuebingen

2006-2009  student research assistant, Archaeobotany, Library, Palaeoanthropology (osteological collection), Institute for Prehistoric Archaeology, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen.

Stolarczyk, R.E. & Schmidt, P. (2018): Is early silcrete heat treatment a new behavioural proxy in the Middle Stone Age? PLoS One. Link.

Haidle, M.N., Garofoli, D., Scheiffele, S. & Stolarczyk, R. (2017): Die Entstehung einer Figurine? Material Engagement und verkörperte Kognition als Ausgangspunkt einer Entwicklungsgeschichte symbolischen Verhaltens. In: Etzelmüller, Gregor, Fuchs, Thomas and Christian Tewes (eds.), Verkörperung – Eine neue interdisziplinäre Anthropologie. Berlin: de Gruyter, 251-279.

Stolarczyk, R. & Schmidt, P. (2016): “Heat treatment: understanding complexity, innovative impact and implications for the cultural development during the Middle Stone Age.” In: 6th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Human Evolution, 229.

Stolarczyk, R. (2015): „Das Werkzeugverhalten von Schimpansen. Kognitive Variabilität, Flexibilität und Komplexität.“ Cognitive perspectives in tool behaviour Vol. 3, DOI: 10.15496/publikation-8593

Stolarczyk, R. (2015): “Innovations in the spotlight: what's really new about the Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa?” In: ROCEEH Newsletter 10/2015.

Stolarczyk, R. & Haidle, M. (2015): “Innovations in the spotlight: a new approach to study qualitative and quantitative differences of innovative behaviour and cultural change during the Middle Stone Age (MSA) of Southern Africa.” In: 5th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Human Evolution, 212.

9/2016  Stolarczyk, R., Schmidt, P.: “Heat treatment: understanding complexity, innovative impact and implications for the cultural development during the Middle Stone Age.”  at the 6th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Human Evolution, Madrid, Spain (poster)
 
7/2016  Stolarczyk, R., Schmidt, P.: “Understanding heat treatment: Complexity, innovative impact and implications for cultural development during the Middle Stone Age.” at the 23rd Biennial meeting of the Society of Africanist Archaeologist, Toulouse, France (oral)

4/2016  “Understanding Retouchers: Cognigrams a new way to analyse complexity, innovative capability and technological change.” at the 59. Annual Meeting of the Hugo Obermaier Society, Budapest, Hungary (poster)

9/2015  Stolarczyk, R., Haidle, M.: “Innovations in the spotlight: a new approach to study qualitative and quantitative differences of innovative behaviour and cultural change during the Middle Stone Age (MSA) of Southern Africa.” at the 5th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Human Evolution, London (UK) (poster)

10/2015  Stolarczyk, R.E., Haidle, M.N.: “Deconstructing retouchers: Effective chains and cognigrams as a tool for analysing object behaviour.” at the Retouching the Palaeolithic. International Workshop on Palaeolithic bone tools, Hannover, Germany (oral)

7/2015  „The expansion of behavioral performance: Innovations during the Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa.” at the International ROCEEH Conference on Human Expansions, Senckenberg Museum Frankfurt, Germany (oral)

9/2014 “A systematic approach for analyzing innovations and cultural change: the bone artefacts of the Middle Stone Age of South Africa.” at the Workshop: „Contextualizing technological change and cultural evolution in the MSA of southern Africa“, Tübingen, Germany (oral)

9/2014  “Technological change and behavioral variability in the MSA”, Titel: “A systematic approach for analyzing innovations and cultural change: the bone artefacts of the Middle Stone Age of South Africa.” At the XVII World UISPP Congress, Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain (oral)

9/2013  „Neue Wege zur systematischen Analyse von Innovationen. Die Knochenartefakte des Middle Stone Ages in Südafrika und Lesotho.“ at the DAI Forschungscluster 2: Innovationen: technisch, sozial Workshop des AK Wasserwirtschaft, Berlin, Germany (oral)

9/2009  “Innovation and Evolution”, Stolarczyk, R., Haidle, M.: “Innovative Potential of Chimpanzees. A Comparative Study of the Tool Behaviour” at the 15th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists“, Riva del Garda, Trento, Italy (oral)