The Prehistory of the Mind.

Steven Mithen. New York: Thames & Hudson, Inc. (800-233-4830), 1996. Illus., 304 pp., hardcover, $27.50.

If the review of Mary Anne Stankiewicz's book piqued your interest in the origins of art and creativity, this book will propel you into an even headier rumination on that and related topics and queries, including a new theory for the evolution of the human mind. The author, an archaeologist, views the mind as a collection of specialized intelligences or cognitive domains (does the term "multiple intelligences" sound familiar?) that can best he investigated via archaeology. Viewing the mind as an intangible abstraction that slowly evolved an ability to conceptualize art, science and religion, Mithen posits one provocative insight after another as he traces the development of the human mind. He defines art as culturally meaningful and specific with comments about symbols, artifacts, creativity, and art for personal decoration. The author suggests that variability in intensity for art-making relates to variation in economics, social organizations, and environmental factors. This is a scholarly study of the mind, with more than thirty-five pages of notes and suggestions for further reading, followed by a twenty page bibliography and a comprehensive index. This is a significant contribution from the discipline of archaeology and is worth reading if the topic is of interest to you.