Fotini Kofidou (University of Southampton)

The aim of this paper is to look at possible ways of creating social meaning and constructing human identity through the distribution and accumulation of material culture. An evolved human brain recognises the discrete entity of the “self” and works towards its definition and realisation both in a self- and in a hetero-referential way. Modern cognition observes the separate and unique condition of being a human person through the mental process of self-awareness. At the same time, the social aspect of cognition stresses the process of constantly negotiating and reinventing identity and personhood through social interactions and roles. A modern brain, with its ability to operate in an abstract and symbolic way, can use material culture as a tool for creating individual as well collective identities.

In this context, the Final Upper Palaeolithic lithic assemblages from the interstadial complex (the traditional Bölling and Alleröd, 15450 – 14000 cal BP) are interpreted as a dynamic system of personhood creation in a relational landscape. The diversity of Lateglacial material culture, and especially assemblage variability, is seen as representing individual engagement with broader social structures. The case studies of Hengistbury Head (Britain) and Rekem (Belgium) are brought forward so as to examine the diverse social practices and contexts that play an active role in the negotiation, maintenance and transformation of hunter-gatherer social identities. In doing so, stone artefacts and the technology behind them are considered as possible means of producing at least aspects of the human self via hybrid social engagements.