How do we tell if something has a purpose, anyway? Well, even in everyday situations, it may not be terribly easy. When we see some complicated object, what is functional about it? What is ornamental? What is ceremonial? Think about Stonehenge. Or think about early handprint cave paintings. It seems like the only way to tell if these things have purposes is to have some kind of historical, cultural connection to them. I mean, if you find a flint from the Stone Age, and it’s been chipped away, was it a Stone Age tool built for a purpose, or just some stone with random chippings on it?
