Francesco d'Errico

Professor

Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion

E-mailFrancesco.Derrico@uib.no
Visitor Address
Øysteinsgate 3
Postal Address
Postboks 7805

5020 Bergen

Publications

Academic article

2020. Un berceau à l'échelle du continent africain. La Recherche (Imprimé). 36-43.
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2020. Trajectories of cultural innovation from the Middle to Later Stone Age in Eastern Africa: Personal ornaments, bone artifacts, and ocher from Panga ya Saidi, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution. 1-25.
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2020. Quantitative methods demonstrate that environment alone is an insufficient predictor of present-day language distributions in New Guinea. PLOS ONE.
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2020. New bone tools from Beds II-IV, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania and implications for the origins and evolution of bone technology. Journal of Human Evolution.
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2020. Last Interglacial Iberian Neandertals as Fisher-Hunter-Gatherers. Science.
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2020. Fire and grass-bedding construction 200 thousand years ago at Border Cave, South Africa. Science.
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2020. Cooked starchy rhizomes in Africa 170 thousand years ago. Science. 87-91.
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2020. A Palaeolithic bird figurine from the Lingjing site, China. PLOS ONE.
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2019. What processes sparked off symbolic representations? A reply to Hodgson and an alternative perspective. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 1-8.
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2019. Variability in Still Bay symbolic traditions: the marine shell beads from Sibudu Cave, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 1-17.
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2019. Provenance, modification and use of manganese-rich rocks at Le Moustier (Dordogne, France). PLOS ONE.
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2019. Manganese and iron oxide use at Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France): A proxy for cultural change in Neanderthal communities. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 239-256.
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2019. L’industrie osseuse châtelperronienne de la Grotte du Renne, (Arcy-sur-Cure. Paleo. 139-190.
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2019. Les objets de parure. Paleo. 27 pages.
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2019. La chronologie des couches Châtelperroniennes de la Grotte du Renne. Paleo.
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2019. Engraved bones from the archaic hominin site of Lingjing, Henan Province. Antiquity. 886-900.
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2019. Characterization of bone surface modifications on an Early to Middle Pleistocene bird assemblage from Mata Menge (Flores, Indonesia) using multifocus and confocal microscopy . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 1-11.
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2018. The origin and evolution of sewing technologies in Eurasia and North America. Journal of Human Evolution. 71-86.
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2018. The antiquity of bow-and-arrow technology: evidence from Middle Stone Age layers at Sibudu Cave. Antiquity. 289-303.
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2018. Seeking black. Geochemical characterization by PIXE of Palaeolithic manganese-rich lumps and their potential sources. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 54-68.
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2018. New Excavations at Border Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Journal of Field Archaeology. 417-436.
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2018. Neuroimaging supports the representational nature of the earliest human engravings. Royal Society Open Science. 1-12.
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2018. Long-distance stone transport and pigment use in the earliest Middle Stone Age. Science. 90-94.
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2018. Innovation in bone technology and artefact types in the Late Upper Palaeolithic of China: Insights from Shuidonggou Locality 12. Journal of Archaeological Science. 82-93.
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2018. From number sense to number symbols. An archaeological perspective. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. 1-10.
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2018. Discovery of circa 115,000-year-old bone retouchers at Lingjing, Henan, China. PLOS ONE. 1-16.
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2018. Did Our Species Evolve in Subdivided Populations across Africa, and Why Does It Matter? Trends in Ecology & Evolution.
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2018. Culture: the driving force of human cognition. Topics in Cognitive Science.
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2018. Cultural Exaptation, Cultural Neural Reuse: A mechanism for the emergence of modern culture and behaviour. Biological Theory. 213-227.
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2018. Assessing the significance of Palaeolithic engraved cortexes. A case study from the Mousterian site of Kiik-Koba, Crimea. PLOS ONE. 1-26.
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2018. An abstract drawing from the 73,000-year-old levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Nature. 115-118.
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2018. 78,000-year-old record of Middle and Later stone age innovation in an East African tropical forest. Nature Communications. 1-8.
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2017. Vegetation and environmental changes at Wonderkrater, Limpopo, South Africa. Implications for Middle Stone Age cultural adaptations. Quaternary Research. 313-326.
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2017. The earliest evidence of coloured ornaments in China: The ochred ostrich eggshell beads from Shuidonggou Locality 2. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 102-113.
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2017. Identifying early modern human ecological niche expansions and associated cultural dynamics in the South African Middle Stone Age. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 7869-7876.
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2017. A technological and morphological study of Late Paleolithic ostrich eggshell beads from Shuidonggou, North China. Journal of Archaeological Science. 83-104.
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2016. The technology of the earliest European cave paintings: El Castillo Cave, Spain. Journal of Archaeological Science. 48-65.
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2015. The archaeology of teaching: a conceptual framework. Cambridge Archaeological Journal. 859-866.
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2015. Tephra studies and the reconstruction of Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic cultural trajectories. Quaternary Science Reviews. 182-193.
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2015. Taphonomic analysis of the faunal assemblage associated with the hominins (Australopithecus sediba) from the early pleistocene cave deposits of Malapa, South Africa. PLOS ONE.
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2015. Ornaments reveal resistance of North European cultures to the spread of farming. PLOS ONE.
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2015. Homo erectus at Trinil on Java used shells for tool production and engraving. Nature. 228-231.
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2015. Evaluating the photoprotective effects of ochre on human skin by in vivo SPF assessment: Implications for human evolution, adaptation and dispersal. PLOS ONE.
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2015. Assessing the photoprotective effects of red ochre on human skin by in vitro laboratory experiments. South African Journal of Science.
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2015. Assessing the accidental versus deliberate color modification of shell beads. A case study on perforated Nassarius kraussianus from Blombos Cave Middle Stone Age levels. Archaeometry. 51-76.
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2015. Analysis of site formation and assemblage integrity does not support attribution of the Uluzzian to modern humans at Grotta del Cavallo. PLOS ONE.
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2014. The way we wear makes the difference: Residue analysis applied to Mesolithic personal ornaments from Hohlenstein-Stadel (Germany). Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 133-144.
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2014. Stratigraphic and spatial distribution of ochre and ochre processing tools at Porc-Epic Cave, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. Quaternary International. 85-99.
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2014. Searching for consistencies in Châtelperronian pigment use. Journal of Archaeological Science. 180-193.
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2014. Multiproxy record of late Quaternary climate change and Middle Stone Age human occupation at Wonderkrater, South Africa. Quaternary Science Reviews. 42-59.
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2014. Il y a 100 000 ans, un atelier pour la préparation et le stockage de mélanges pigmentés. Paleo. 117-124.
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2014. An Early Upper Palaeolithic decorated bone tubular rod from Pod Hradem Cave, Czech Republic. Antiquity. 30-46.
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2014. A short-term, task-specific site: Epipalaeolithic settlement patterns inferred from marine shells found at Praileaitz I (Basque Country, Spain). Journal of Archaeological Science. 666-678.
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2014. A rock engraving made by Neanderthals in Gibraltar. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 13301-13306.
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2013. Thinking strings: Additional evidence for personal ornament use in the Middle Stone Age at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Journal of Human Evolution. 500-517.
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2013. Identifying Mechanisms behind Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age Cultural Trajectories. Current Anthropology. S371-S387.
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2013. Human-climate interaction during the Early Upper Paleolithic: testing the hypothesis of an adaptive shift between the Proto-Aurignacian and the Early Aurignacian. Journal of Human Evolution. 39-55.
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2013. Ecological constraints on the first prehistoric farmers in Europe. Journal of Archaeological Science. 2746-2753.
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2013. An ochered fossil marine shell From the mousterian of Fumane Cave, Italy. PLOS ONE. 15 pages.
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2013. Air-sea temperature decoupling in western Europe during the last interglacial-glacial transition. Nature Geoscience. 837-841.
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2012. Technological, elemental and colorimetric analysis of an engraved ochre fragment from the Middle Stone Age levels of Klasies River Cave 1, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science. 942-952.
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2012. SELECTION AND HEATING OF COLOURING MATERIALS IN THE MOUSTERIAN LEVEL OF ES-SKHUL (c. 100 000 YEARS BP, MOUNT CARMEL, ISRAEL). Archaeometry. 698-722.
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2012. Identifying regional variability in Middle Stone Age bone technology: The case of Sibudu Cave. Journal of Archaeological Science. 2479-2495.
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2012. Early evidence of San material culture represented by organic artifacts from Border Cave, South Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 13214-13219.
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2012. Criteria for identifying bone modification by termites in the fossil record. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 72-87.
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2012. Border cave and the beginning of the later stone age in South Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 13208-13213.
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2011. The reality of Neandertal symbolic behavior at the Grotte du Renne, Arcy-sur-Cure, France. PLOS ONE. 11 pages.
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2011. Eco-cultural niches of the Badegoulian: Unraveling links between cultural adaptation and ecology during the Last Glacial Maximum in France. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 359-374.
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2011. Crache perforée dans le Gravettien du Sire (Mirefleurs, Puy-de-Dôme): Etude archéozoologique, technologique et fonctionelle. Paleo. 301-310.
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2011. A 100,000-Year-Old Ochre-Processing Workshop at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Science. 219-222.
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2007. Additional evidence for bone technology in the southern African middle stone age. Journal of Human Evolution. 142-163.
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2005. Nassarius kraussianus shell beads from Blombos Cave: evidence for symbolic behaviour in the Middle Stone Age. Journal of Human Evolution. 3-24.
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2004. Middle stone age shell beads from South Africa. Science. 404-404.
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2002. Emergence of Modern Human Behaviour: Middle Stone Age engravings from South Africa. Science. 1278-1280.
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2001. An engraved bone fragment from ca. 75 kyr Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa: implications for the origin of symbolism. Antiquity. 309-318.
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2001. An early bone tool industry from the Middle Stone Age at Blombos Cave, South Africa: implications for the origins of modern human behaviour, symbolism and language. Journal of Human Evolution. 631-678.
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Lecture

2020. The origin and evolution of symbolic material culture.
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Popular scientific lecture

2020. L’emergence de comportement symboliques, fruit d’un évolution biologique ou culturelle ? .
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2020. Come abbiamo scoperto la più antica arte cinese.
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2019. A day in the life: Homo sapiens 100 000 years ago.
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2019. Nouvelles découvertes archéologiques en Europe et en Afrique: comment changent-elles notre vision de l’origine des cultures humaines ?
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2018. The origin of modern cultures.
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2018. I simboli e la mente.
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Academic lecture

2020. The complex and gradual origin of modern cognition.
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2020. Riflessioni sulla relazione tra cultura, ambiente e educazione: i San del Kalahari e gli Ovahimba del Kunene.
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2020. Origin of symbolic thinking in the Palaeolithic.
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2020. La faute des civilisations.
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2019. What does archeology tell us about the origin of modern cognition.
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2019. The origin of human creativity.
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2019. The emergence of symbolic thinking in human evolution.
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2019. The earliest beads and methods to make them speak.
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2019. Middle Stone Age symbolic material culture and its significance.
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2019. L’origine della creatività umana. Una prospettiva archeologica.
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2019. Geochemical characterization of the earliest Palaeolithic paintings from southwestern Europe: Ardales Cave, Spain.
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2019. Environmental changes and cultural adaptations of human populations during the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition in southwestern France (44,000 and 38,000 years BP).
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2019. Engravings on weathered bones from the archaic hominin site of Lingjing (Xuchang, Henan, P. R. of China).
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2019. Can we trigger Serendipity?
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2019. Archaic hominin behavioural variability and the issue of a Chinese Middle Palaeolithic. Insights from bone technologies.
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2019. Archaeological evidence for a gradual and multiregional origin of modern cognition and language.
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2018. The origin of symbolic thinking in the Palaeolithic.
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2018. The emergence of symbolic mediated behavior. Looking at Europe from Africa and Asia.
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2018. The earliest known abstract representations.
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2018. Synthesis of Previous Results Obtained on Panga ya Saidi by the Bordeaux Team and the CUMILA Project: Documenting a New Cultural Trajectory Toward Modernity.
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2018. Preliminary analysis of shell beads from recent excavations and result of the 2018 fieldwork.
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2018. Preliminary analysis of ochre from recent excavations and results of the 2018 season fieldwork.
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2018. Neanderthals and the end of the one-fossil-species-one-cognition-axiom.
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2018. Middle and Later Stone Age archaeology: interdisciplinary perspectives.
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2018. L’origine du sens esthétique. Qu’est qu’il nous enseigne l’archéologie ?
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2018. Les premières utilisations du rouge en Afrique.
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2018. La contribution de la parure châtelperronienne de la grotte du Renne à la remise en question de l’axiome d’une cognition propre à chaque espèce fossile.
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2018. I gioielli dei Neandertaliani.
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2018. From Material culture to cognition. Interdisciplinary perspectives.
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2010. Tracing the evolution of symbolically mediated behaviours within variable environments in Europe and southern Africa.
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2009. Origins of symbolically mediated behavior. From antagonistic scenarios to a unified research strategy.
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2009. Ochre as a media for symbolic expression during the Southern Africa Middle Stone Age: examining the evidence from the Western Cape, South Africa.
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2008. Les ocres gravées de Blombos Cave (Afrique du Sud) : découverte d'une tradition symbolique qui remonte à 140 00 BP. Représentations préhistoriques.
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Editorial

2013. Revisiting the chronology of the Proto-Aurignacian and the Early Aurignacian in Europe: A reply to Higham et al.'s comments on Banks et al. (2013). Journal of Human Evolution. 810-817.
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Reader opinion piece

2012. Reply to Evans: Use of poison remains the most parsimonious explanation for Border Cave castor bean extract. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. E3291-E3292.
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Academic anthology/Conference proceedings

2011. Homo Symbolicus: The Dawn of Language, Imagination and Spirituality. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
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2009. Becoming Eloquent: Advances in the emergence of language, human cognition, and modern cultures. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
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2009. Becoming Eloquent. Advances in the emergence of language, human cognition, and modern cultures. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
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2005. From Tools to Symbols. Form Early Hominids to Modern Humans. Witwatersrand University Press.
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Non-fiction book

2003. The chronology of the Aurignacian and of the transitional technocomplexes. Dating, stratigraphies, cultural implications. Proceeding of the Symposium 6.1 of the XIVth Congress of the UISPP. Instituto Portugues de Arqueologia.
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