Indigenous hunter-gatherers view the world differently than do WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) societies. They depend—as in prehistoric times—on intimate relationships with elements such as animals, plants and stones for their successful adaptation and prosperity. The desire to maintain the perceived world-order and ensure the continued availability of whatever is necessary for human existence and well-being thus compelled equal efforts to please these other-than-human counterparts. Relationships of consumption and appreciation characterized human nature as early as the Lower Palaeolithic; the archaeological record reflects such ontological and cosmological conceptions to some extent. Central to my argument are elephants and handaxes, the two pre-eminent Lower Palaeolithic hallmarks of the Old World. I argue that proboscideans had a dual dietary and cosmological significance for early humans during Lower Paleolithic times. The persistent production and use of the ultimate megaherbivore processing tool, the handaxe, coupled with the conspicuous presence of handaxes made of elephant bones, serve as silent testimony for the elephant–handaxe ontological nexus. I will suggest that material culture is a product of people's relationships with the world. Early humans thus tailored their tool kits to the consumption and appreciation of specific animal taxa: in our case, the elephant in the handaxe.

中文翻译：

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手斧中的大象：旧石器时代早期的本体论和表征

土著狩猎采集者对世界的看法与 WEIRD（西方、受过教育、工业化、富裕和民主）社会不同。与史前时期一样，它们依赖于与动物、植物和石头等元素的亲密关系，才能成功适应和繁荣。维持感知到的世界秩序并确保人类生存和福祉所必需的任何东西的持续可用性的愿望迫使人们做出同样的努力来取悦这些非人类的对应物。早在旧石器时代晚期，消费和欣赏的关系就成为了人性的特征。考古记录在一定程度上反映了这种本体论和宇宙论的观念。我的论点的核心是大象和手斧，它们是旧世界下旧石器时代两个杰出的标志。我认为，在旧石器时代晚期，长鼻类动物对早期人类具有双重饮食和宇宙学意义。终极巨型食草动物加工工具手斧的持续生产和使用，再加上由大象骨头制成的手斧的显眼存在，为大象手斧本体论的联系提供了无声的见证。我认为物质文化是人们与世界的关系的产物。因此，早期人类根据特定动物类群的消费和欣赏定制了他们的工具包：在我们的例子中，手斧中的大象。再加上由大象骨头制成的手斧的显眼存在，作为大象-手斧本体论联系的无声见证。我认为物质文化是人们与世界的关系的产物。因此，早期人类根据特定动物类群的消费和欣赏定制了他们的工具包：在我们的例子中，手斧中的大象。再加上由大象骨头制成的手斧的显眼存在，作为大象-手斧本体论联系的无声见证。我认为物质文化是人们与世界的关系的产物。因此，早期人类根据特定动物类群的消费和欣赏定制了他们的工具包：在我们的例子中，手斧中的大象。