Animal Artefacts Challenge Archaeological Standards for Tracing Human Symbolic Cognition

Stibbard-Hawkes challenges the link between symbolic material evidence and behavioural modernity. Extending this to nonhuman species, we find that personal adornment, decoration, figurative art, and musical instruments may not uniquely distinguish human cognition. These common criteria may ineffectively distinguish symbolic from non-symbolic cognition or symbolic cognition is not uniquely human. It highlights the need for broader comparative perspectives.