The British archaeologist and anthropologist was the guest speaker at the eighth CENIEH Distinguished Annual Lecture, an initiative that brings some of the most innovative perspectives on human evolution to a wider audience through internationally renowned specialists
This week, the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) marked the 17th anniversary of its venue at the Human Evolution Complex with the eighth edition of the CENIEH Distinguished Annual Lecture, featuring the renowned archaeologist and anthropologist David Wengrow, Professor of Comparative Archaeology at the UCL Institute of Archaeology.
The event aims to bring some of the most innovative perspectives on human evolution to a wider audience through internationally renowned specialists. For this eighth edition, David Wengrow delivered the lecture "The Role of Image Systems in Human Evolution and History", which drew a capacity audience. The lecture was also livestreamed on CENIEH’s YouTube channel with Spanish subtitles.
During his lecture, Wengrow invited the audience to reconsider the role that images have played throughout human history. Challenging the idea that they are merely illustrations of thoughts formulated through language, he explained how systems of images have functioned as cognitive and intellectual tools with a logic of their own.
From this perspective, images do more than represent the world: they also allow us to organise knowledge, connect concepts, communicate ideas and generate new forms of thought. Professor Wengrow explored their significance in processes of cultural and historical change and in the ways human societies have constructed and interpreted their realities over time.
At the close of the lecture, CENIEH Director María Martinón-Torres presented him with a commemorative gift: a sculpture representing the handaxe featured in the CENIEH logo, created by the artist Manuel Revilla, of the Burgos-based company Resistible.
Visit to CENIEH
During his stay in Burgos, Professor Wengrow visited CENIEH and toured its laboratories, where he had the opportunity to learn first-hand about the Centre’s scientific equipment, techniques and research programmes. At the end of the visit, he signed CENIEH’s Book of Honour, recording his admiration for the facilities, which he described as “unique and outstanding”.
He also visited the archaeological sites of the Sierra de Atapuerca, where he took a particular interest in the work being carried out by the research teams during this year’s excavations. His stay in Burgos also included a visit to the Museum of Human Evolution, where he was especially keen to see Excalibur at close quarters. Discovered at Sima de los Huesos, the handaxe is one of the most emblematic finds from Atapuerca and one of the Museum’s most iconic exhibits.
Sapiens Dialogues
As the culmination of a week of scientific and cultural activities, David Wengrow joined CENIEH Director María Martinón-Torres to record a new episode of the Centre’s podcast, Sapiens Dialogues, entitled "Mental Time Travellers, which will be released in September.
During the conversation, Wengrow discusses "The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity", the acclaimed book he co-authored with anthropologist David Graeber, and reflects on some of its ideas about the diversity of human societies and our capacity to imagine alternative forms of social organization.
