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MUSIC AND PALEOLITHIC MAN: THE SOUNDTRACK OF HUMAN COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

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Date Issued:
2012
Abstract/Description:
Archaeologists have pored over countless texts of the ancient civilizations, attempting to piece together bygone worlds. However, relatively little work has been done to reconstruct the musical history of these societies, and even less on why their musical histories are important. This paper aims at a synthesis between the ancient Egyptian and classical Greek archaeological records to analyze the importance of music in Paleolithic human cognitive development. Countless musical instruments have been discovered globally, ranging from pre-Columbian bone flutes in Oaxaca, Mexico to ancient trumpets in Egyptian burials (Barber et al 2009). Apart from their place in a museum, minimal work has been done to ascertain their importance to human society as a whole. This thesis attempts to display the crucial need for more research in this field. The recent decline in support for arts education in favor of 'hard sciences' and mathematics is deeply disturbing; the history of humanity should be important not only to anthropologists and historians, but to members of all disciplines. This lack of interest in 'soft sciences' and the arts may lead to a complete loss of ancient musical history; a loss that would be devastating to history, anthropology and the worlds. The contents of this paper portray both the ancient importance of music, and how it contributed to increased cognitive faculties during hominid development.
Title: MUSIC AND PALEOLITHIC MAN: THE SOUNDTRACK OF HUMAN COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT.
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Name(s): Angel, Samantha, Author
Walker, John, Committee Chair
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2012
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: Archaeologists have pored over countless texts of the ancient civilizations, attempting to piece together bygone worlds. However, relatively little work has been done to reconstruct the musical history of these societies, and even less on why their musical histories are important. This paper aims at a synthesis between the ancient Egyptian and classical Greek archaeological records to analyze the importance of music in Paleolithic human cognitive development. Countless musical instruments have been discovered globally, ranging from pre-Columbian bone flutes in Oaxaca, Mexico to ancient trumpets in Egyptian burials (Barber et al 2009). Apart from their place in a museum, minimal work has been done to ascertain their importance to human society as a whole. This thesis attempts to display the crucial need for more research in this field. The recent decline in support for arts education in favor of 'hard sciences' and mathematics is deeply disturbing; the history of humanity should be important not only to anthropologists and historians, but to members of all disciplines. This lack of interest in 'soft sciences' and the arts may lead to a complete loss of ancient musical history; a loss that would be devastating to history, anthropology and the worlds. The contents of this paper portray both the ancient importance of music, and how it contributed to increased cognitive faculties during hominid development.
Identifier: CFH0004182 (IID), ucf:44853 (fedora)
Note(s): 2012-05-01
B.A.
Sciences, Dept. of Anthropology
Bachelors
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): Anthropology
Archaeology
Music
Paleolithic
Cognition
Evolution
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004182
Restrictions on Access: campus 2015-04-01
Host Institution: UCF

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