The Prehistory of the Mind: The Cognitive Origins of Art and Science, written by Steven Mithen, was published nearly thirty years ago, in 1996.

His daunting self-set task: to explain the evolution of the modern human mind.

Mithen is an archaeologist who has access to and studies artifacts from the prehistoric past. While there are many, in absolute terms, their number is comparatively small when looking at the vast ranges of time involved.

One question has often troubled tho...