Genesis of Symbolic Thought

Genesis of Symbolic Thought by Alan Barnard

Symbolic thought is what makes us human. Claude L vi-Strauss stated that we can never know the genesis of symbolic thought, but in this powerful new study Alan Barnard argues that we can. Continuing the line of analysis initiated in Social Anthropology and Human Origins (Cambridge University Press, 2011), The Genesis of Symbolic Thought applies ideas from social anthropology, old and new, to understand some of the areas also being explored in fields as diverse as archaeology, linguistics, genetics and neuroscience. Barnard aims to answer questions including: when and why did language come into being? What was the earliest religion? And what form did social organization take before humanity dispersed from the African continent? Rejecting the notion of hunter-gatherers as 'primitive', Barnard hails the great sophistication of the complex means of their linguistic and symbolic expression and places the possible origin of symbolic thought at as early as 130,000 years ago.

'Barnard attempts to answer the question of when and how human symbolic thought originated … The book is written in a way that should make it easily understood by nonspecialists, but it should be of value and interest to specialists as well … RecommendedAll levels/libraries.' C. L. Thompson, Choice

Alan Barnard is Professor of the Anthropology of Southern Africa at the University of Edinburgh, where he has taught since 1978. He has undertaken a wide range of ethnographic fieldwork and archaeological research in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, is a participant in the British Academy Centenary Research project 'From Lucy to Language: The Archaeology of the Social Brain' and serves as Honorary Consul of the Republic of Namibia in Scotland. His numerous publications include History and Theory in Anthropology (2000) and Social Anthropology and Human Origins (2011). In 2010 Professor Barnard was elected a Fellow of the British Academy.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781107651098
ISBN 10	1107651093
Title	Genesis of Symbolic Thought
Author	Alan Barnard
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Year published	2012-06-21
Number of pages	208
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable