When studying the history of human rights and humanitarianism, the Enlightenment and the Post-War period are often the starting points used to explore the concept. This thesis seeks to look further back into the human past to the Paleolithic for potential precursors to the more modern idea of human rights and humanitarianism by building on philosophical and scientific notions of mutual aid and cooperation to better understand what these prefigurations might look like. Furthermore, this thesis is based on archaeological foundations to better understand the prehistoric time period at hand. Focusing specifically on the Magdalenian era of the Paleolithic in the Mediterranean Region, this study utilized a content analysis of relevant archaeological research to identity themes relating to human rights and humanitarianism, and explore the implications thereof. The three major themes that emerged from this research related to gender, children and interconnection respectively, all of which highlighted potential for mutual aid and cooperative behavior in the Magdalenian era. Specific topics of gender equality, gender roles, child-rearing, social organization, knowledge sharing, communal projects, resource acquisition, trade, network building all emerge from these three overarching themes. The implications for precursors to human rights and humanitarianism are multifold-deeping our understanding of life in the Magdalenian era, showing that underlying ideas of mutual aid and cooperation have a legacy stretching back to the Paleolithic, and reframing human rights and humanitarian related concerns in the present as a continuation of this broader tendency.
Sadie Testa-Secca (Fri,) studied this question.