Citation

Malafouris L. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 2010; 5(2-3): 264-273.

Affiliation

McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. lm243@cam.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/scan/nsp057

PMID

20123661

PMCID

PMC2894672

Abstract

Cultural neuroscience provides a new approach for understanding the impact of culture on the human brain (and vice versa) opening thus new avenues for cross-disciplinary collaboration with archaeology and anthropology. Finding new meaningful and productive unit of analysis is essential for such collaboration. But what can archaeological preoccupation with material culture and long-term change contribute to this end? In this article, I introduce and discuss the notion of the brain-artefact interface (BAI) as a useful conceptual bridge between neuroplastisty and the extended mind. I argue that a key challenge for archaeology and cultural neuroscience lies in the cross-disciplinary understanding of the processes by which our plastic enculturated brains become constituted within the wider extended networks of non-biological artefacts and cultural practices that delineate the real spatial and temporal boundaries of the human cognitive map.

Language: en