An Integrated Evolutionary Scenario for the Culturalization of the Human Body
This chapter synthesizes our understanding of the earliest body modifications, including the origins of clothing and the use of mineral pigments and personal ornaments, to propose an integrated scenario for the culturalization of the body over at least 500,000 years. It is proposed that the emergence of clothing was triggered by climatic changes during the Middle-Upper Pleistocene transition. As biological adaptations became inadequate, humans developed cultural innovations to cope with harsh environments, which gradually evolved from utilitarian uses to expressions of identity and social affiliation. Evidence from Middle Stone Age sites in Africa, including the increasing use of ochre for various protective and symbolic purposes and the production of personal ornaments, suggests that these practices were well established by at least 160,000 to 140,000 years ago. They began to get more complex and diversified about 50,000 years ago. The chapter also explores how cognitive evolution, particularly in areas of the brain that enhance social cognition and symbolic reasoning, was crucial in processing the complex social signals conveyed by body modifications. This cognitive evolution, together with emerging social structures, provided significant evolutionary advantages, facilitating the permanent culturalization of the human body and the reinforcement of social hierarchies and group identities.
