This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Most of us are familiar with the urge to pick up a seashell from the beach or keep a stone from a hiking trip. The object itself may be ordinary, but to the person who keeps it, it serves as a reminder of a particular moment, place or person.
Where did this behavior come from? Did early humans do the same? A new study by Tel Aviv University researchers suggests that this practice stretches back approximately half a million years, with important consequences for the evolution of memory.
The study was led by a team of researchers from Tel Aviv University: Dr. Yoav Ram of the School of Zoology, Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, professor Ran Barkai and Dr. Ella Assaf of the Department of Archaeology, Entin Faculty of Humanities, in collaboration with professor Liad Mudrik of the School of Psychological Sciences, Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences, and Dr.
Bar Efrati of Oxford University. The study was published in the journal Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews. The study combines archaeological findings with insights from evolutionary theory, psychology and neuroscience.
Its authors point to objects that early humans collected, carried and kept despite having no apparent practical purpose. They propose that these objects may have served as personal keepsakes, reminding their owners of a place they had visited or an experience they had had. Several examples come from archaeological sites in Israel dating back hundreds of thousands of years.
Small, colorful pebbles brought from various locations were found in Qesem Cave, although no practical use for them was identified. In the Sakhnin Valley, researchers discovered handaxes fashioned from pieces of flint containing fossils or unusual geological formations. In some of these tools, these distinctive features were preserved at the center of the stone, where they could be seen and touched.
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