Natalie Uomini (University of Liverpool)

This paper will explore the connections between language and tool production and use, with a particular focus on the transmission of knowledge. There is evidence from ethnographic reports of traditional peoples that tool production is not necessarily taught explicitly with language, but it may be facilitated by a linguistic mode of cognition. Several case studies will be presented from ethnography, primatology, and archaeological experiments. These will illustrate the effects of using language - or not using it - on the transmission of knowledge and skills (procedural and declarative learning). The role of language in learning subsistence skills, especially those involving object manipulation, is a current topic in the social brain theory, and can shed light on the emergence of language as a unique feature of humanity.