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Early Body Ornaments and the Origins of our Semiotic Mind

Early Body Ornaments and the Origins of our Semiotic Mind cover

Early Body Ornaments and the Origins of our Semiotic Mind

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Pre-order. Available Feb 05 2026
$170.95 RRP $189.95 Website price saving $19.00 (10%)

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Description

By employing a cognitive semiotic theory based on pragmatism and enactivism, this book explores the nature and emergence of early body ornamentation, which has long been at the forefront of the debate on modern human origins.

Using a range of artefacts including the Blombos Cave Beads, ostrich eggshells, and engraved pieces of ochre, the book examines the connection between early body ornaments and the semiotic mind, and addresses the question of whether early body ornaments were made by a symbolic mind, or whether they provided the material and semiotic scaffolding required for such a mind to emerge.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Introducing the Case of Early Body Ornaments
2. Searching for a Theory to Describe the Nature of Past Material Signs
3. Presenting the Semiotic Theory of Charles Sanders Peirce
4. Applying Peircean Semiotics to the Case of Early Body Ornaments
5. Searching for a Theory to Trace the Emergence of Past Material Signs
6. Composing a Pragmatic and Enactive Theory of Cognitive Semiotics
7. Applying Cognitive Semiotics to the Case of Early Body Ornaments
8. Concluding Thoughts on the Origins of our Semiotic Mind
Appendix: An Unorthodox Phenomenology of Round Shells
References
Index

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published Feb 05 2026
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 304
ISBN 9781350260078
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Illustrations 15 bw illus
Dimensions 234 x 156 mm
Series Bloomsbury Advances in Semiotics
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Antonis Iliopoulos

Antonis Iliopoulos is a postdoctoral researcher fo…

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