Cognitive archaeology, attention, and visual behavior

Abstract

Primates largely rely on vision as an adaptation to diurnal life, and this phylogenetic specialization has shaped their neural and sensory capacities. Visual attention is a crucial interface between the body and environment, and a key factor in the planning and execution of most primate behaviors. The patterns of visual attention can be studied through eye-tracking technology, which consists in measuring eye position and movements. Taking into account the importance of visual perception and visuospatial integration in the human genus, this technology can provide a useful approach to understand the visual behavior from an evolutionary perspective. In this chapter, we review the application of these experimental procedures in prehistoric archaeology, focusing on the visual response triggered by different lithic technologies associated with the earliest (Lower Palaeolithic) stone tools.