What is the evolution of "human memory"?

Question

If early man didn't have an adequate brain; then what is the evolution of human memory? Where does it start? What came first short term or long term? Before man did cave drawings, how did they express what they remembered? Was their memory blank at the beginning?

Answer 1

The evolution of "human memory" is the evolution of culture:

Remembering stories by re-enacting them ... embodying them in sacred architecture that acts as memory aid as it´s being used ... writing ... printing press ... phonograph ... audio cassettes, video cassettes ...  ... computers ... .

What´s special about human memory is that it isn´t individual, but a combination of individual and cultural (artifacts/symbols and symbolic systems), so there is cumulative learning going on over the generations.

Human memory is social and mediated by material and symbolical cultural artifacts and practices.  

Human memory is what people do within social institutions ... it does have a biological basis that is different from that of apes.  Individual memory is individual but also part of collective memory ... in an individual way.

Take a look at Michael Tomasello  (1999) The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition, Harvard University Press and the stuff he references.

Answer 2

DNA has genetic memory, although it manifests as instinct in full grown mammals!

Answer 3

Off on a tangent but remember that bipedalism was the first step (no pun intended) and a larger brain followed.

Answer 4

You have to realize that early man was already the smartest animal on earth, and already would have had a reasonable memory, both short-term and long-term.  And as they evolved, that brain got larger and more proficient.  

Their memory was never "blank, except when individuals were first born, just like you and I.  They passed on their knowledge through simple speech (probably different sorts of grunts and other sounds) and gestures (like sign language), from person to person (and generation to generation), and through example or demonstration.  For example, they would have pointed to where they found food, such as fruit or tubers, and they would have pointed to their mouths to indicate that they were referring to food.

Answer 5

Looking at this from a brain evolution standpoint, early man did have both short and long term memory.  This evolve before primates, and indeed before mammals.  That said, the nature of memory has changed.  As man has evolved, he has become more capable of abstract memories through the evolution of the neocortex.  Again, this isn't a feature unique to humans or mammals.  However, the level of development is relatively unique.  At the present time, we don't have adequate information about the developmental complexity of our ancestor's brains.  With modern imaging technology, this may start to change.  

As for expressing what was remembered, this was likely done through vocalizations and body language long before any sort of symbolic written representation.  As for which came first, sensory memory developed, then short term memory, then long term memory.