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'''Steven Mithen''', {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|size=100%|FBA|FSA|FSAs}} (born 16 October 1960) is a [[Professor]] of [[Archaeology]] at the [[University of Reading]]. He has written a number of books, including ''The Prehistory of the Mind'' (1996), ''After The Ice: A Global Human History 20,000-5000 BC'' (2003), ''The Singing Neanderthals'' (2005), ''Land of the Ileach: Journeys into islay's Past'' (2020) and ''The Language Puzzle: How We Talked Our Way Out of the Stone Age'' (2024).
'''Steven Mithen''', {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|size=100%|FBA|FSA|FSAs}} (born 16 October 1960) is an archaeologist and writer. He is noted for his work on the evolution of language, music and intelligence, prehistoric hunter-gatherers and the origins of farming,

Steven is currently Professor of Early Prehistory at the University of Reading. His most recent book is ''The Language Puzzle: How We Talked Our Way Out of the Stone Age'' (2024 UK: Profile Books, USA: Basic Books).


==Early life and education==
==Early life and education==
Mithen was born on 16 October 1960.<ref name="WW 2020">{{cite web |title=Mithen, Prof. Steven John, (born 16 Oct. 1960), Professor of Early Prehistory, University of Reading, since 2000 (Deputy Vice Chancellor, 2014–18) |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U4000733 |website=Who's Who 2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=17 July 2021 |language=en |date=1 December 2019}}</ref> He received a BA in prehistory and archaeology from [[Sheffield University]], a MSc degree in [[biological computation]] from [[York University]] and a PhD in archaeology from [[Cambridge University]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reading.ac.uk/archaeology/about/staff/s-j-mithen.aspx |title=Staff Profile:Professor Steven Mithen |publisher=University of Reading |access-date=2019-04-22}}</ref>
Mithen was born on 16 October 1960.<ref name="WW 2020">{{cite web |title=Mithen, Prof. Steven John, (born 16 Oct. 1960), Professor of Early Prehistory, University of Reading, since 2000 (Deputy Vice Chancellor, 2014–18) |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U4000733 |website=Who's Who 2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=17 July 2021 |language=en |date=1 December 2019}}</ref> After attending Peter Symonds Grammar School and Sixth Form College, Winchester, he attended the Slade School of Art (1978). After a year of volunteering on archaeological excavations in Britain, on what was then known as 'the circuit', he studied for a BA (hons) in Prehistory and Archaeology from [[Sheffield University]] (1980-1983). That was followed by a MSc degree in [[biological computation]] from [[York University]] (1983-84). Having acquired skills in computer programming and some mathematics, he undertook a PhD in archaeology at [[Cambridge University]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reading.ac.uk/archaeology/about/staff/s-j-mithen.aspx |title=Staff Profile:Professor Steven Mithen |publisher=University of Reading |access-date=2019-04-22}}</ref> His subject was hunter-gatherer decision making, with case studies from Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic of Europe. That was published in his first book, ''Thoughtful Foragers'' (Cambridge University Press, 1990).


==Academic career==
==Academic career==
Mithen began his academic career as a research fellow in archaeology at [[Trinity Hall, Cambridge]] from 1987 to 1990. He was additionally a Cambridge University [[lecturer]] in archaeology (1989–1991), and then a research associate at the [[McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research]] from 1991 to 1992. In 1992, he joined the [[University of Reading]] as a lecturer in archaeology. He was promoted to [[senior lecturer]] in 1996, made Reader in Early Prehistory in 1998, and has been Professor of Early Prehistory since 2000.<ref name="WW 2020" />
Mithen began his academic career as a research fellow in archaeology at [[Trinity Hall, Cambridge]] from 1987 to 1990. He was additionally a Cambridge University [[lecturer]] in archaeology (1989–1991), and then a research associate at the [[McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research]] from 1991 to 1992. In 1992, he joined the [[University of Reading]] as a lecturer in archaeology. He was promoted to [[senior lecturer]] in 1996, made Reader in Early Prehistory in 1998, and has been Professor of Early Prehistory since 2000.<ref name="WW 2020" /> During his career, Mithen has pursued three closely related reserach interests: the evolution of language, music and intelligence, the Mesoilithic of Europe and the orgin of farming in SW Asia. Mithen has also developed an interest in the role of cultural heritage in community engagement, well being and sustainable development.

=== Cognitive fluidity ===
Cognitive fluidity is a term first popularly applied by Mithen in his book ''The Prehistory of the Mind'', a search for the origins of Art, Religion and Science (1996).


=== Academic management ===
The term cognitive fluidity describes how a [[Modularity of mind|modular]] primate mind has evolved into the modern human mind by combining different ways of processing knowledge and using tools to create a modern civilization. By arriving at original thoughts, which are often highly creative and rely on metaphor and analogy, modern humans differ from archaic humans. As such, cognitive fluidity is a key element of the human attentive consciousness. The term has been principally used to contrast the mind of modern humans, especially those after 50,000 before present, with those of archaic humans such as Neanderthals and Homo erectus. The latter appear to have had a mentality that was originally domain-specific in structure; a series of largely isolated cognitive domains for operating in the social, material, and natural worlds. These are termed “Swiss penknife minds” with a set of special modules of intelligence for specific domains such as the Social, Natural history, Technical and Linguistic. With the advent of modern humans the barriers between these domains appear to have been largely removed in the attentive mode and hence cognition has become less compartmentalised and more fluid. Consciousness is of course attentive and self-reflective, and the role of the modular intelligences in neurological “Default mode” is a topic for current research in self-reflective human consciousness.
During his tenure at the University of Reading, Mithen undertook a sequence of managerial roles. In 2003 he was appointed the first Head of School for a new amalgam of the Departments of Archaeology, Soil Science, Geography and the Post-Graduate Institute for Sedimentalology, later known as the Schoo, of Human and Environmental Sciences. in 2008 he was elected by his academic colleagues as Dean of the Faculty of Science, followed by appointment in 2010 as the first Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Internationalisation at the University. In that role he developed new teaching and research links with many Universities in Europe, Asia and the Americas, established a joint academy between the University of Reading and the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), and sexpanded the number of international students at Reading. In 2014, Mithen was appointed as Deputy Vice Chancellor and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation. He restructured the organisation of research management and administration at the University, modernising this to be fit for purpose for the highly competitive environment created by the Research Excellent Framework. At the end of his tenure in 2018, Mithen chose to return to an academic role, resuming his position as Profesor of Early Prehistory in the Department of Archaeology.


=== Evolution of language, music and intelligence ===
Mithen uses an appropriately interdisciplinary approach, combining observations from cognitive science, archaeology, and other fields, in an attempt to offer a plausible description of prehistoric intellectual evolution.
Working across disciplines, Mithen developed a thesis for the evolution of the human mind via a collection of academic papers and a trilogy of books. These began with ''The Prehistory of the Mind'' (1996, London: Thames & Hudson/Orion) in which he argued the distinguishing feature of the modern human mind is 'cognitive fluidity’. That is the ability to combine ways of thinking and stores of knowledge which had originally evolved/developed for highly-specific tasks to create novel ideas, many of which have no basis in the real world. Mithen contrasted the cognitively fluid modern mind with those of archaic humans, notably the Neanderthals. They maintained, he argued, a domain-specific mentality, reflected in the limited diversity and long-term stability of their behaviour as evident from the archaeological record.  In ''The Singing Neanderthals'' (2005, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson), Mithen addressed a key feature of the human experience: music. He argued that musicality has a much deeper evolutionary basis in the human mind and body than does language, providing a form of pre-linguistic form of communication.  Finally, in ''The Language Puzzle'' (2024, London: Profile Books), Mithen dealt head-on with the most challenging topic, the evolution of language. He argued this evolved gradually, beginning with iconic words at 1.6 million years ago, to which arbitrary and grammatical words were added at c. 450,000 years ago. He drew on new evidence from genomics and neuroscience to support his 1996 argument for the emergence of cognitive fluidity at c. 150,000 years ago. That enabled language to use metaphor and analogy, which transformed the nature of thought and culture, leading to the invention of farming at c. 10,000 years ago.


== Sexy hand-axe hypothesis ==
== Sexy hand-axe hypothesis ==

Revision as of 17:20, 9 January 2024

Steven Mithen
FBA FSA FSA Scot
Born (1960-10-16) 16 October 1960 (age 63)
NationalityEnglish
EducationBA, MSc, PhD
Alma materSheffield University, York University, Cambridge University
Known forCognitive fluidity, Computational archaeology
Scientific career
FieldsArcheology
InstitutionsUniversity of Reading

Steven Mithen, FBA, FSA, FSA Scot (born 16 October 1960) is an archaeologist and writer. He is noted for his work on the evolution of language, music and intelligence, prehistoric hunter-gatherers and the origins of farming,

Steven is currently Professor of Early Prehistory at the University of Reading. His most recent book is The Language Puzzle: How We Talked Our Way Out of the Stone Age (2024 UK: Profile Books, USA: Basic Books).

Early life and education

Mithen was born on 16 October 1960.[1] After attending Peter Symonds Grammar School and Sixth Form College, Winchester, he attended the Slade School of Art (1978). After a year of volunteering on archaeological excavations in Britain, on what was then known as 'the circuit', he studied for a BA (hons) in Prehistory and Archaeology from Sheffield University (1980-1983). That was followed by a MSc degree in biological computation from York University (1983-84). Having acquired skills in computer programming and some mathematics, he undertook a PhD in archaeology at Cambridge University.[2] His subject was hunter-gatherer decision making, with case studies from Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic of Europe. That was published in his first book, Thoughtful Foragers (Cambridge University Press, 1990).

Academic career

Mithen began his academic career as a research fellow in archaeology at Trinity Hall, Cambridge from 1987 to 1990. He was additionally a Cambridge University lecturer in archaeology (1989–1991), and then a research associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research from 1991 to 1992. In 1992, he joined the University of Reading as a lecturer in archaeology. He was promoted to senior lecturer in 1996, made Reader in Early Prehistory in 1998, and has been Professor of Early Prehistory since 2000.[1] During his career, Mithen has pursued three closely related reserach interests: the evolution of language, music and intelligence, the Mesoilithic of Europe and the orgin of farming in SW Asia. Mithen has also developed an interest in the role of cultural heritage in community engagement, well being and sustainable development.

Academic management

During his tenure at the University of Reading, Mithen undertook a sequence of managerial roles. In 2003 he was appointed the first Head of School for a new amalgam of the Departments of Archaeology, Soil Science, Geography and the Post-Graduate Institute for Sedimentalology, later known as the Schoo, of Human and Environmental Sciences. in 2008 he was elected by his academic colleagues as Dean of the Faculty of Science, followed by appointment in 2010 as the first Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Internationalisation at the University. In that role he developed new teaching and research links with many Universities in Europe, Asia and the Americas, established a joint academy between the University of Reading and the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), and sexpanded the number of international students at Reading. In 2014, Mithen was appointed as Deputy Vice Chancellor and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation. He restructured the organisation of research management and administration at the University, modernising this to be fit for purpose for the highly competitive environment created by the Research Excellent Framework. At the end of his tenure in 2018, Mithen chose to return to an academic role, resuming his position as Profesor of Early Prehistory in the Department of Archaeology.

Evolution of language, music and intelligence

Working across disciplines, Mithen developed a thesis for the evolution of the human mind via a collection of academic papers and a trilogy of books. These began with The Prehistory of the Mind (1996, London: Thames & Hudson/Orion) in which he argued the distinguishing feature of the modern human mind is 'cognitive fluidity’. That is the ability to combine ways of thinking and stores of knowledge which had originally evolved/developed for highly-specific tasks to create novel ideas, many of which have no basis in the real world. Mithen contrasted the cognitively fluid modern mind with those of archaic humans, notably the Neanderthals. They maintained, he argued, a domain-specific mentality, reflected in the limited diversity and long-term stability of their behaviour as evident from the archaeological record.  In The Singing Neanderthals (2005, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson), Mithen addressed a key feature of the human experience: music. He argued that musicality has a much deeper evolutionary basis in the human mind and body than does language, providing a form of pre-linguistic form of communication.  Finally, in The Language Puzzle (2024, London: Profile Books), Mithen dealt head-on with the most challenging topic, the evolution of language. He argued this evolved gradually, beginning with iconic words at 1.6 million years ago, to which arbitrary and grammatical words were added at c. 450,000 years ago. He drew on new evidence from genomics and neuroscience to support his 1996 argument for the emergence of cognitive fluidity at c. 150,000 years ago. That enabled language to use metaphor and analogy, which transformed the nature of thought and culture, leading to the invention of farming at c. 10,000 years ago.

Sexy hand-axe hypothesis

In 1999, Mithen had proposed, together with the science writer Marek Kohn, the "sexy hand-axe hypothesis." This hypothesis proposes that pressures related to sexual selection could result in men making symmetric hand axes to demonstrate their cognitive and physiological fitness.[3]

Honours

In 2004, Mithen was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences.[4] He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (FSA Scot) in 1993 and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA) in 1998.[1]

See also

Publications

General academic books

  • Mithen, S. J. (2005) The Singing Neanderthals: The Origins of Music, Language, Mind and Body Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2006. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London (held in 810 libraries, according to WorldCat)
    • translated as Los neandertales cantaban rap: los orígenes de la música y el lenguaje Barcelona: Crítica, ©2007. ISBN 84-8432-887-2
    • translated as 歌うネアンデルタール: 音楽と言語から見るヒトの進化 /Utau neanderutāru: ongaku to gengo kara miru hito no shinka Tōkyō: Hayakawashobō, 2006. ISBN 4-15-208739-0
  • Mithen, S. J. (2003) After the Ice: a global human history, 20,000-5000 BC. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2004. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London (held in 903 libraries, according to WorldCat)
    • translated as Konec doby ledové: dějiny lidstva od r. 20000 do r. 5000 př. Kr. Praha: BB/art, 2006 ISBN 80-7341-768-5
  • Mithen, S. J. (1999) Problem-solving and the evolution of human culture, London: Institute for Cultural Research, 1999. ISBN 0-904674-25-8
  • Mithen, S. J. (1998) Creativity in human evolution and prehistory, London; New York: Routledge, 1998. ISBN 0-415-16096-0 (held in 175 libraries)
  • Mithen, S. J. (1996) The prehistory of the mind: a search for the origins of art, religion, and science, London: Thames and Hudson, ©1996. ISBN 0-500-05081-3 (held in 671 libraries)
    • Translated as 心の先史時代 /Kokoro no senshi jidai. Tōkyō: Seidosha, 1998. ISBN 4-7917-5653-3
    • Translated as Arqueología de la mente: Orígenes del arte, de la religión y de la ciencia Barcelona: Crítica, ©1998. ISBN 84-7423-903-6
    • translated as Aklın tarih öncesi Ankara: Dost kitapevi, 1999. ISBN 975-7501-98-0
    • translated as Η Προϊστορία του Νου, (trans. Dimitris Xygalatas and Nikolas Roubekas), Thessaloniki: Vanias, 2010. ISBN 978-960-288-246-7.
  • Mithen, S. J (1990) Thoughtful foragers: a study of prehistoric decision making Cambridge [England]; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990. ISBN 0-521-35570-2 (Held in 276 libraries)

Technical academic books

  • Mithen, S. J. et al. (2006) The early prehistory of Wadi Faynan, Southern Jordan: excavations at the pre-pottery neolithic A site of WF16 and archaeological survey of Wadis Faynan, Ghuwayr and Al Bustan Oxford: Oxbow, 2006-7. ISBN 1-84217-212-3
  • Mithen, S. J. (2000) Archaeological fieldwork on Colonsay, computer modelling, experimental archaeology and final interpretations Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, ©2000. ISBN 1-902937-11-2
  • Mithen, S. J. (2000) Hunter-gatherer landscape archaeology: the Southern Hebrides Mesolithic project, 1988-98 Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, ©2000. 2 v. (Held in 50 libraries.) ISBN 1-902937-12-0

Scholarly articles

  • Whitehead, P. G., Smith, S. J., Wade, A. J., Mithen, S. J., Finlayson, B., Sellwood, B. W. and Valdes, P. J. Modelling of hydrology and population levels at Bronze Age Jawa, Northern Jordan: a Monte Carlo approach to cope with uncertainty Journal of Archaeological Science. (in press)
  • Machin, A. J., Hosfield, R. T. and Mithen, S. J. (2005) Testing the functional utility of handaxe symmetry: fallow deer butchery with replica handaxes, Lithics: the Journal of the Lithic Studies Society, 26, 23-37.
  • Mithen, S. J. (2005) Ethnobiology and the evolution of the human mind Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 12, 45-61.
  • Mithen, S. J., Finlayson, B. and Shaffrey, R. (2005) Sexual symbolism in the Early Neolithic of the southern Levant: pestles and mortars from WF16 Documenta Prahistorica, XXXII, 103-110.
  • Mithen, S. J. (2004) Neolithic beginnings in Western Asia and beyond. British Academy Review, 7, 45-49.
  • Mithen, S. J. (2004) The Mesolithic experience in Scotland in Mesolithic Scotland: The Early Holocene Prehistory of Scotland and its European Context (Ed. Saville, A.) Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh, pp. 243–260

Book chapters

  • Smith, S. J., Hughes, J. K. and Mithen, S. J. Explaining global patterns in Lower Palaeolithic technology: simulations of hominin dispersal and cultural transmission using 'Stepping Out' in Evolutionary Approaches to Cultural Behaviour (Ed. Shennan, S.) (in press)
  • Mithen, S. J. (2006) Overview and response to reviewers of The Singing Neanderthals Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 16, 97-112.*Mithen, S. J. (2006) The evolution of social information transmission in Homo in Social Information Transmission and Human Biology (Eds. Wells, J. C. K., Strickland, S. S. and Laland, K.) CRC Press, London, pp. 151–170
  • Mithen, S. J., Pirie, A. E. and Smith, S. (2006) Newly discovered chipped stone assemblages from Tiree. Discovery and Excavation in Scotland, 6, 22.
  • Mithen, S. J. (2004) ‘Stone Tools’, ‘Fire’, ‘Wooden Tools’, ‘Grinders & Polishers’, ‘Cereal Agriculture’, and the ‘Earliest Art’ in The Seventy Great Inventions of the Ancient World (Ed. Fagan, B.) Thames & Hudson, London, pp. 21–27, 32-33, 91-94, 215-219
  • Mithen, S. J. (2004) Contemporary Western art and archaeology in Substance, Memory, Display: archaeology and art (Eds. Renfrew, C., DeMarrais, E. and Gosden, C.) McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge, pp. 153–168
  • Mithen, S. J. (2004) From Ohalo to Çatalhöyük: the development of religiosity during the early prehistory of Western Asia, 20,000-7000 BC in Theorizing Religions Past (Eds. Whitehouse, H. and Martin, L. H.) AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek CA, pp. 17–43
  • Mithen, S. J. (2003) Handaxes: the first aesthetic artefacts in Evolutionary Aesthetics (Ed. Voland, E.) Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 261–275

Book reviews

  • Mithen, S. J. (2008) Review of 'On Deep History and the Brain' by Daniel Lord Smail London Review of Books, 24 January 2008.
  • Mithen, S. J. (2006) Review of 'Before the Dawn: recovering the lost history of our ancestors' by Nicholas Wade New Scientist, 8 April.
  • Mithen, S. J. (2006) Review of 'Çatalhöyük: the Leopard's Tale. Revealing the mysteries of Turkey's ancient town' by Ian Hodder Times Higher Education Supplement, 19 August.
  • Mithen, S. J. (2006) Review of 'The Archaeology of Warfare: prehistories of raiding and conquest', edited by Elizabeth Arkush and Mark Allen New Scientist, 22 July, 54-55.
  • Mithen, S. J. (2006) Review of 'The Metaphysics of Apes: negotiating the animal-human boundary' by Raymond Corby Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 16, 257-258.
  • Mithen, S. J. (2006) Review of 'The Quest for the Shaman' by M & S Aldhouse Green Times Higher Education Supplement, 26 August.
  • Mithen, S. J. (2006) Review of 'Understanding Early Civilisations' by Bruce Trigger Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 12, 683-684.
  • Mithen, S. J. (2003) Review of 'The Museum of the Mind' by J Mack New Scientist, 5 April 2003, 52.

Other publications

  • Machin, A. J., Hosfield, R. T. and Mithen, S. J. (2006) Quantifying the Functional Utility of Handaxe Symmetry: an experimental butchery approach ADS, York.
  • Mithen, S. J. (2003) Of ice and men Times Educational Supplement Teacher Magazine, 8-11.
  • Mithen, S. J. (2003) Stepping out: when and why did our forebears first disperse from their African home? Planet Earth NERC, 28-29.
  • Mithen, S. J. (2003) Thoroughly mobile minds New Scientist, 178, 40-41.
  • Mithen, S. J. (2003) Travels in time put flesh on forebears Times Higher Education Supplement, 22-23.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Mithen, Prof. Steven John, (born 16 Oct. 1960), Professor of Early Prehistory, University of Reading, since 2000 (Deputy Vice Chancellor, 2014–18)". Who's Who 2020. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Staff Profile:Professor Steven Mithen". University of Reading. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  3. ^ Gabora, Liane; Kaufman, Scott Barry (2010), Kaufman, James C.; Sternberg, Robert J. (eds.), "Evolutionary Approaches to Creativity", The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity, Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 279–300, arXiv:1106.3386, doi:10.1017/cbo9780511763205.018, ISBN 978-1-107-74604-6, S2CID 28678743, retrieved 3 October 2022
  4. ^ "Professor Steven Mithen FBA". The British Academy. Retrieved 17 July 2021.

External links

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