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eSYMB - The Evolution of Early Symbolic Behavior

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Our publications

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Wisher, I., Riede, F., Matthews, J., Pagnotta, M. & Tylén, K. (2025). Children as Playful Artists: Integrating Developmental Psychology to Identify Children’s Art in the Upper Palaeolithic. Hunter Gatherer Research, 11(1), 1-39. https://doi.org/10.3828/hgr.2024.38

Pagnotta, M., Psujek, M., Straffon, L. M., Fusaroli, R. & Tylén, K. (2025). Drawing Animals in the Paleolithic: The Effect of Perspective and Abbreviation on Animal Recognition and Aesthetic Appreciation. Topics in Cognitive Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.70023

Pagnotta, M., Tylén, K., Qvist, A. S., Kjeldsen, R. F., Rojo, S., Heimann, K., Fay, N., Johannsen, N. N., Riede, F., Lombard, M. & Fusaroli, R. (2025). Simulating Symbolic Evolution in the Lab: Potentials and Implications of Using Transmission Chains to Study Early Symbolic Behavior at the Emergence of Homo sapiens. Topics in Cognitive Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.70036

Wisher, I., Birch, T., Andreasen, R., Canosa, E., Norrehed, S., Reguer, S., Lemasson, Q., Oras, E., Johanson, K., Kinnaird, T., Birndorfer, T., Pedersen, J. B., Scott, J., Pearce, C. & Riede, F. (2025). The earliest evidence of blue pigment use in Europe. Antiquity, 99(408), 1464-1479. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2025.10184

Kaaronen, R. O., Walsh, M. J., Henrich, A. K., Wisher, I., Miu, E., Manninen, M. A., Eronen, J. T. & Riede, F. (2024). A global cross-cultural analysis of string figures reveals evidence of deep transmission and innovation. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 21(221), Article 20240673. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2024.0673

Wisher, I. & Tylén, K. (2024). Experimenting with the past: an integrative approach to early symbolic evolution . (pp. 1-14). PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/u2jgz

Wulff, F. N., Kristensen, S. K., Wisher, I. & Tylén, K. (2024). Eyes On the Past: visual exploration of Upper Palaeolithic cave art. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 46. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4xm0h6cn

Tylén, K., Hussain, S. T., Velliky, E., Gonzalez, R. M. & Straffon, L. M. (2024). Honing Tools of the Mind: A Dynamic Framework for the Study of Symbolic Behavior in Early Human Evolution. PsyArXiv. http://10.31234/osf.io/b8fz2

Pagnotta, M., Wisher, I., Petersen, M. L., Riede, F., Fusaroli, R. & Tylén, K. (2024). The evolution of symbolic artefacts: How function shapes form. Evolution and Human Behavior, 45(3), 261-267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2024.03.003

Wisher, I., Pagnotta, M., Palacio-Pérez, E., Fusaroli, R., Garate, D., Hodgson, D., Matthews, J., Mendoza-Straffon, L., Ochoa, B., Riede, F. & Tylén, K. (2023). Beyond the image: Interdisciplinary and contextual approaches to understanding symbolic cognition in Paleolithic parietal art. Evolutionary Anthropology, 32(5), 256-259. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21996

Wisher, I. & Tylén, K. (2023). On the semiotic and material constraints of ideographies. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 46, Article e257. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X23000742

Tylén, K., Fusaroli, R., Rojo, S., Heimann, K., Fay, N., Johannsen, N. N., Riede, F. & Lombard, M. (2020). The evolution of early symbolic behavior in Homo sapiens. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 117(9), 4578-4584. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910880117

Our activities

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Tylén, Kristian, Lecturer, The Dothraki Study:Investigating the impact of network topology and L2 proficiency on language change , 06.06.2024
Tylén, Kristian, Lecturer, Abstraction in human visual cognition and communication , 23.05.2024
Tylén, Kristian, Lecturer, Form and function in the evolution of symbolic artifacts: a transmission chain study , 21.05.2024
Wisher, Izzy, Lecturer, Conversations with Caves? Understanding the role of visual psychological phenomena in Upper Palaeolithic cave art making , 26.02.2024
Pagnotta, Murillo, Participant, Protolang Conference 2023 , 27.09.2023 -28.09.2023
Tylén, Kristian, Lecturer, Using transmission chain experiments to investigate the cumulative cultural evolution of the Blombos and Diepkloof engravings , 22.09.2023
Wisher, Izzy, Lecturer, Tylén, Kristian, Lecturer, eSYMb - The Evolution of Early Symbolic Behaviour , 31.07.2023
Tylén, Kristian, Lecturer, Reconstructing early human symbolic evolution using transmission experiments , 29.07.2023
Tylén, Kristian, Lecturer, What can experiments reveal about the evolution of symbolic behavior? , 29.07.2023
Tylén, Kristian, Participant, Sablé-Meyer, Mathias , Participant, Fan, Judith, Participant, Langley, Michelle, Participant, Marks and Meanings , 28.07.2023
Pagnotta, Murillo, Participant, International Conference on Perception and Action (ICPA 2023) , 27.06.2023 -30.06.2023
Tylén, Kristian, Lecturer, The evolution of early symbolic behaviour , 22.06.2023
Tylén, Kristian, Lecturer, Investigating the cognitive affordances of symbolic artefacts , 12.06.2023
Tylén, Kristian, Lecturer, The evolution of early symbolic behaviour , 09.06.2023
Tylén, Kristian, Lecturer, Investigating the cognitive affordances of symbolic artefacts , 16.05.2023
Wisher, Izzy, Organizer, Tylén, Kristian, Organizer, Pagnotta, Murillo, Organizer, Riede, Felix, Participant, Fusaroli, Riccardo, Participant, Matthews, John, Speaker, Hodgson, Derek, Speaker, Ochoa, Blanca, Speaker, Palacio-Pérez, Eduardo, Organizer, Garate, Diego, Speaker, Mendoza-Straffon, Larissa, Speaker, Understanding the Development of Symbolic Cognition through Rock Art: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue , 15.05.2023 -16.05.2023
Wisher, Izzy, Lecturer, Relational Making: The Role of Pareidolia in the Upper Palaeolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain. , 25.04.2023
Wisher, Izzy, Lecturer, The Role of Pareidolia in the Upper Palaeolithic Figurative Art of the Monte Castillo Caves. , 19.04.2023
Tylén, Kristian, Lecturer, Uncovering the Cognitive Affordances of Symbolic Artefacts , 18.04.2023
Wisher, Izzy, Lecturer, Conversations with Caves: The Role of Pareidolia in the Making of Upper Palaeolithic Cave Art. , 23.03.2023
Tylén, Kristian, Lecturer, The Evolution of Early Symbolic Behavior - an interdisciplinary approach , 17.02.2023
Wisher, Izzy, Lecturer, Pareidolia and Cave Art: Integrating Interdisciplinary Approaches to Understand the Cognitive Mechanisms Behind the Emergence of Palaeolithic Art. , 04.11.2022

Revised 25.04.2024