Psychology is crucial for understanding human history. When aggregated, changes in the psychology of individuals – in the intensity of social trust, parental care, or intellectual curiosity – can lead to important changes in institutions, social norms, and cultures. However, studying the role of psychology in shaping human history has been hindered by the difficulty of documenting the psychological traits of people who are no longer alive. Recent developments in psychology suggest that cultural artifacts reflect in part the psychological traits of the individuals who produced or consumed them. Cultural artifacts can thus serve as 'cognitive fossils' – physical imprints of the psychological traits of long-dead people. We review the range of materials available to cognitive and behavioral scientists, and discuss the methods that can be used to recover and quantify changes in psychological traits throughout history.

心理学对于理解人类历史至关重要。当个人心理的变化——社会信任的强度、父母的关怀或求知欲的强度——聚合起来时，可能会导致制度、社会规范和文化的重要变化。然而，由于难以记录已故之人的心理特征，研究心理学在塑造人类历史中的作用受到了阻碍。心理学的最新发展表明，文化艺术品在一定程度上反映了生产或消费它们的个人的心理特征。因此，文化文物可以充当“认知化石”——已故之人心理特征的物理印记。我们回顾了认知和行为科学家可用的材料范围，并讨论了可用于恢复和量化历史上心理特征变化的方法。