The Role of Haptic Expectations in Reaching to Grasp: From Pantomime to Natural Grasps and Back Again

© Copyright © 2020 Whitwell, Katz, Goodale and Enns. When we reach to pick up an object, our actions are effortlessly informed by the object’s spatial information, the position of our limbs, stored knowledge of the object’s material properties, and what we want to do with the object. A substantial body of evidence suggests that grasps are under the control of “automatic, unconscious” sensorimotor modules housed in the “dorsal stream” of the posterior parietal cortex. Visual online feedback has a strong effect on the hand’s in-flight grasp aperture. Previous work of ours exploited this effect to show that grasps are refractory to cued expectations for visual feedback. Nonetheless, when we reach out to pretend to grasp an object (pantomime grasp), our actions are performed with greater cognitive effort and they engage structures outside of the dorsal stream, including the ventral stream. Here we ask whether our previous finding would extend to cued expectations for haptic feedback. Our method involved a mirror apparatus that allowed participants to see a “virtual” target cylinder as a reflection in the mirror at the start of all trials. On “haptic feedback” trials, participants reached behind the mirror to grasp a size-matched cylinder, spatially coincident with the virtual one. On “no-haptic feedback” trials, participants reached behind the mirror and grasped into “thin air” because no cylinder was present. To manipulate haptic expectation, we organized the haptic conditions into blocked, alternating, and randomized schedules with and without verbal cues about the availability of haptic feedback. Replicating earlier work, we found the strongest haptic effects with the blocked schedules and the weakest effects in the randomized uncued schedule. Crucially, the haptic effects in the cued randomized schedule was intermediate. An analysis of the influence of the upcoming and immediately preceding haptic feedback condition in the cued and uncued random schedules showed that cuing the upcoming haptic condition shifted the haptic influence on grip aperture from the immediately preceding trial to the upcoming trial. These findings indicate that, unlike cues to the availability of visual feedback, participants take advantage of cues to the availability of haptic feedback, flexibly engaging pantomime, and natural modes of grasping to optimize the movement

Convergence in the Neolithic Human population growth at the dawn of agriculture

Prehistorians generally agree that the origin of agriculture was associated with a transition in demography, namely that there was a substantial increase in human population defined as the Neolithic demographic transition (NDT). Researchers have focused little attention on how the origin of agriculture prompts such a shift and why 1) fertility increased and 2) why human behavior accommodated the demands to invest in more children, ultimately allowing population to grow. This dissertation is focused on understanding why this occurred. In order to gain a better understanding why the NDT is a shift in fertility and human behavior, I develop a model of past population growth rates utilizing extensive archaeological data. Several variables are utilized as proxies of population: frequency of 14C dates, frequency of sites occupied, total depth of deposits, and total area occupied. These variables are tracked in 50-year increments from 22,000-8,000 calibrated years ago from the Early Epipaleolithic to the end of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic periods in the southern Levantine area of the Near East. Results suggest that population mimicked zero-growth throughout much of prehistory until approximately 11,200 years ago, when an apparent increase in population occurs in line with the first evidence of intensive food storage. I argue that this population growth was due to the temporal convergence of foundational elements including: foods that are associated with increased fertility, a series of technological inventions that increase processing and harvesting of those resources, a stabilization of human diet through storage technology, and a behavioral shift that incorporated younger age brackets into the labor force. For anthropologists the origin of agriculture is one of the most discussed events in human history. However, this study is novel by contributing a new methodology to model past population growth rates. Consequently, this study is significant because it initiates a discourse on why the NDT happened when it did, and not before, ultimately providing a greater understanding of major changes in human adaptive strategies

Chronological Frameworks and Disparate Technology : an Exploration of Chipped Stone Variability and the Forager to Farmer Transition at ‘Iraq ed-Dubb, Jordan

This report presents a detailed analysis of the chipped stone assemblages from the Late Natufian and Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) occupations of ‘Iraq ed-Dubb, Jordan. Excavations recovered artifacts from radiocarbon dated deposits from both periods, and in light of the relatively brief occupational hiatus between occupations, it is important to assess the degree to which the spatial distribution and frequency of diagnostic tool forms were influenced by site formation processes. Our contextual analysis of site and sub-sample scale collections provide important insights into occupational history. The horizontal and vertical distribution of diagnostic tool forms illustrate that while some diagnostic tools, such as projectile points and hagdud truncations, co-occur in PPNA levels, others such as lunates are generally found in the stratigraphically deeper Late Natufian layers. Co-occurrence of some tool types is a by-product of mixing of cultural deposits, probably through the construction of semi-subterranean structures by PPNA people and by bioturbation.Est présentée ici une analyse détaillée de l’industrie lithique des occupations du Natoufien final et du PPNA d'Iraq ed-Dubb, Jordanie. Les fouilles conduites sur ce gisement ont permis de recueillir des artefacts provenant de dépôts datés par le radiocarbone, les uns se situant avant, les autres après la transition chasseurs-cueilleurs/ producteurs; un hiatus a été constaté dans l’occupation du site entre les deux. Aussi est-il apparu important d’estimer à quel point aussi bien la présence de certains outils diagnostiques que l’industrie dans son ensemble avaient pu être affectées à 'Iraq ed-Dubb par les processus de formations sédimentaires ayant façonné le site; par ailleurs dans quelle mesure des associations d’artefacts et certaines formes diagnostiques peuvent réellement s’identifier à des dépôts bien définis culturellement. Deux sujets sont traités: d’une part, les résultats apportés par la description des outils taillés 'Iraq ed-Dubb; d’autre part, une étude approfondie de leurs contextes, l’idée étant d’apprécier dans quelle mesure ces derniers peuvent aider à comprendre l’histoire de l’occupation de ce site. Cette analyse des contextes a été conduite à deux niveaux: l’un, à l’échelle du site; l’autre, plus restreint a été limité à l’étude d’échantillons choisis spécifiquement. Cette recherche portant sur la distribution des outils diagnostiques fut conduite à la fois horizontalement – analyse spatiale – et verticalement – analyse stratigraphique –. Elle a montré que des formes spécifiques – pointes de projectile, troncatures Hagdud – apparaissent ensemble dans les niveaux PPNA; les segments de cercle, eux, sont attestés dans les niveaux stratigraphiquement les plus profonds (Natoufien final). Leur association résulterait d’un mélange causé par la construction de maisons semi-souterraines par les groupes humains PPNA et les perturbations qu’elles ont pu engendrer. Cette contribution prend en compte la technologie de débitage, celle liée au façonnage des outils, la variabilité typologique des outils, les différences constatées dans la répartition des outils entre le Natoufien final et le PPNA, périodes qui sont critiques.Kuijt Ian, Goodale Nathan. Chronological Frameworks and Disparate Technology : an Exploration of Chipped Stone Variability and the Forager to Farmer Transition at ‘Iraq ed-Dubb, Jordan. In: Paléorient, 2006, vol. 32, n°1. pp. 27-45

Results from the 2001 Excavations at Dhra', Jordan: Chipped Stone Technology, Typology, and Intra-Assemblage Variability

This paper provides an overview of the chipped stone assemblage recovered in the six week 2001 field season at the PPNA settlement of Dhra ' located in south Jordan. The Dhra ' site excavations produced a lithic assemblage that in numbers is comparable, or even surpasses, that of Netiv Hagdud. Lithic analysis is ongoing, and this paper represents a detailed preliminary discussion of the technology, typology, and distributional patterns yielded by the Dhra ' lithic assemblage. Some initial comparisons are made between these results and other PPNA lithic assemblages recovered in the southern Levant.Présentation de l'industrie lithique recueillie en 2001 lors d'une campagne de fouilles de six semaines sur le site PPNA de Dhra ' au sud de la Jordanie. Les fouilles sur ce site ont produit un assemblage lithique qui est comparable ou même surpasse par sa qualité celui de Netiv Hagdud. L 'analyse étant en cours nous présentons ici une discussion détaillée de la technologie, de la typologie et de la répartition dans le site de l'assemblage lithique. Quelques premières comparaisons peuvent être faites entre nos résultats et ceux obtenus sur d'autres sites PPNA du Sud-Levant.Goodale Nathan, Kuijt Ian, Finlayson Bill. Results from the 2001 Excavations at Dhra', Jordan: Chipped Stone Technology, Typology, and Intra-Assemblage Variability. In: Paléorient, 2002, vol. 28, n°1. pp. 125-140

Along the Margins? The Later Bronze Age Seascapes of Western Ireland

This article presents the results of multi-scalar investigations into the Later Bronze Age (LBA; 1500–600 bc) landscape of Inishark in County Galway, Ireland. The European LBA along the Atlantic coast was characterized by the development of long-distance maritime exchange systems that transformed environmentally marginal seascapes into a corridor of human interaction and movement of goods and people. Archaeological survey, test excavation, and radiocarbon analysis documented the LBA occupation on Inishark. The communities living on Inishark and other small islands on the western Irish coast were on the periphery of both the European continent and of the elite spheres of influence at hillforts in Ireland; yet they were connected to the Atlantic maritime exchange routes. A focus on small coastal islands contributes to a better understanding of LBA socioeconomic systems and the development of social complexity in Bronze Age societies

"A Journey Upstream: The Past and Presence of an "Extinct" People (Trailer)"

Curatorial note from Digital Pedagogy in the Humanities: This is a trailer for the documentary “A Journey Upstream: The Past and Presence of an ‘Extinct’ People,” directed by anthropology PhD candidate Erica Kowsz. The project documents the history and continued presence of the Sinixt, or Arrow Lakes people, in British Columbia, despite the Canadian government having pronounced the Sinixt “extinct” in 1956. This trailer, associated with a thirty-five-minute video, is itself distilled from over thirty hours of footage. The project involved working with multiple stakeholders—students, faculty members from different institutions, Indigenous leaders and educators, and local activist communities—an ambitious task for a project begun during undergraduate study, especially regarding negotiating ownership rights and access management. Currently only the trailer is publically available online; the full-length video has been shared with participants and select audiences for educational purposes. This artifact demonstrates the necessarily collaborative aspects of ethnographic fieldwork and the complexities of engaging simultaneously in digital video production

Lithic Technological Organization and Hafting in Early Villages

Hafting is an important part of lithic technology that can increase our understanding of socioeconomic behavior in the past. In this article, we develop a holistic approach to studying hafting by using the concept of curation within a broader assessment of lithic technological organization in early villages. Early villages were loci of socioeconomic transformation as part of the shift from mobile foraging to more sedentary cultivation lifeways. We suggest that an examination of hafting can provide new insights into how early villagers negotiated technological requirements, economic decision making, and social interactions in these novel contexts. As a case study, we develop a curation index and apply it to an archaeological context of hafted and unhafted pointed tools from the early Neolithic village of Dhra’, Jordan. This curation index allows for a discussion of the technological, economic, and social dimensions of hafting strategies at Dhra’. The presence of multiple hafting traditions within early Neolithic villages of Southwest Asia is evidence of persistent social segmentation despite food storage and ritual practices that emphasized communal integration. Through the lens of lithic technological organization, we demonstrate that hafting and curation patterns can increase our understanding of technological, economic, and social strategies in early villages