higher social levels of ideas. History of cognitive archaeology Cognitive archaeology began in the 1970s as a reaction to the insistence of Processual Archaeology that the past be interpreted strictly according to the material evidence. This rigid materialism tended to limit archaeology to finding and describing artifacts, excluding broader interpretations of their possible cognitive and cultural significance as something beyond the reach of inferential reasoning. As social anthropologist Edmund Leach once put it, "all the ingenuity in the world will not replace the evidence that is lost and gone for ever,” and “you should recognize your guesses for what they are." However, Processual Archaeology also opened up the possibility of investigating the lifestyle of those who made and used material culture. An initial approach was proposed by Lewis Binford, who suggested that ancient lifestyles could be understood by studying the traditional lifestyles of contemporary peoples. While this approach was subject to legitimate criticism, Binford's efforts nonetheless inspired further development of the idea that material forms could be informative about lifestyle, and as the product of intelligent behavior, might provide insight into how and perhaps even what their makers had thought. Archaeologists like Binford have also critiqued cognitive archaeology, stating it is only people's actions rather than their thoughts that are preserved in the archaeological record. ECA has responded to this criticism by stressing that it seeks to understand "how" ancient peoples thought using material structures, not "what" they thought. Several early books helped popularize the idea that the ancient mind could be investigated and characterized, including Merlin Donald's Origins of the Modern Mind (1991), Steven Mithen's The Prehistory of Mind (1996), and David Lewis-Williams's The Mind in the Cave (2002). See also Frederick L. Coolidge Merlin Donald David Lewis-Williams Steven Mithen Karenleigh A. Overmann Colin Renfrew Thomas G. Wynn Neuroarchaeology References Further reading Cognitive Archaeology AURA Homepage of Cognitive Archaeology 4E Cognition in the Lower Palaeolithic External links University of Colorado, Colorado Springs Center for Cognitive Archaeology Rock Art Research Institute, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Archaeological theory Cognitive science Anthropology Archaeology