Cultural Phylogenetics: Concepts and Applications in Archaeology

2016

This book explores the potential and challenges of implementing evolutionary phylogenetic methods in archaeological research, by discussing key concepts and presenting concrete applications of these approaches. The volume is divided into two parts: The first covers the theoretical and conceptual implications of using evolution-based models in the sociocultural domain, illustrates the sorts of questions that these methods can help answer, and invites the reader to reflect on the opportunities and limitations of these perspectives. The second part comprises case studies that address relevant empirical issues, such as inferring patterns and rates of cultural transmission, detecting selective pressures in cultural evolution, and explaining the nature of cultural variation. This book will appeal to archaeologists interested in applying evolutionary thinking and inferential methods to their field, and to anyone interested in cultural evolution studies

[paper available through link (above) or by request from author] Archaeology has much to contribute to the study of cultural evolution. Empirical data at archaeological timescales are uniquely well suited to tracking rates of cultural change, detecting phylogenetic signals among groups of artefacts, and recognizing long-run effects of distinct cultural transmission mechanisms. Nonetheless, these are still relatively infrequent subjects of archaeological analysis and archaeology’s potential to help advance our understanding of cultural evolution has thus far been largely unrealized. Cultural evolutionary models developed in other fields have been used to interpret patterns identified in archaeological records, which in turn provides independent tests of these models’ predictions, as demonstrated here through a study of late Prehistoric stone projectile points from the US Southwest. These tests may not be straightforward, though, because archaeological data are complex, often representing events aggregated over many years (or centuries or millennia), while processes thought to drive cultural evolution (e.g. biased learning) operate on much shorter timescales. To fulfil archaeology’s potential, we should continue to develop models specifically tailored to archaeological circumstances, and explore ways to incorporate the rich contextual data produced by archaeological research.

This paper is a review of evolutionary thought in archaeology. It explains why and how the application of Darwinian evolutionary theory to archaeology is possible and, moreover, useful. It expounds what this scientific field gains from considering the study of material culture and, by extension, of cultural change from this perspective. After explaining the main theoretical principles, it develops a his- tory of the application of this epistemology in archaeology, focusing particularly on the tasks of classification and sequencing of data and thus entering into the current field of cultural phylogenetics.

Cultural Phylogenetics: Concepts and Applications in Archaeology (2016)

Inferring and explaining cultural patterns and the ways in which human groups relate and interact over large spans of time or space is one of the biggest challenges for archaeologists. When dealing with either the remote past or the present , researchers struggle to learn about the conditions and mechanisms by which cultural traits originate, move, change, and disappear. The use of phylogenetic methods, originated in evolutionary biology to measure relatedness between species , can help to make signifi cant advances toward those aims. This introduction maps the fi eld of cultural phylogenetics, considers its potential for archaeological research, and summarizes the proposals laid out by the contributors of this book.

Handbook of Evolutionary Research in Archaeology. A.Prentiss (Ed.), 2019

In recent decades, phylogenetic methods originated in evolutionary biology have been put forward as fruitful strategies to trace and reconstruct the origin, development, distribution, and interrelatedness of archaeological artifacts and traditions. Artifact phylogenies are increasingly being used by archaeologists to infer, develop, and test hypotheses about the processes that originate and shape material culture sets, as well as to study the extent and rates of cultural innovation, borrowing, diffusion, convergence, and loss. As an analytical tool, cultural phylogenetics can also be used to test hypotheses about the emergence, change, and exchange of artifact types, thereby allowing researchers to make inferences about temporal and regional behavioral patterns. This chapter will review some basic concepts of cultural phylogenetics, discuss its applications in archaeology, and reflect on some of the main challenges and prospects faced by the field.

2012

The 10th Nordic TAG conference fell together with the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s seminal On the Origin of Species as well as the 200th anniversary of his birth. Over the last 15 years a new theoretical discourse on the use of evolutionary theory in archaeology has emerged, but this has largely bypassed the Scandinavian countries, despite the fact that Scandinavian archaeology has a solid foundation of empirical work, especially with regards to technology and ecological relations. Both research areas can benefit tremendously from evolutionary insights. This chapter reviews some of the historical and current trends in evolutionary analyses of material culture change. Despite some large difference in epistemology and methodology, substantial overlap in research interests exists between evolutionary and non-evolutionary archaeologists, and integration of the theories and methods advocated by evolutionary archaeologists into more main-stream Scandinavian pra...

Annual Review of Anthropology, 2008

This review begins with a brief outline of the key concepts of Darwinian archaeology. Its history is then summarized, beginning with its emergence as a significant theoretical focus within the discipline in the early 1980s; its main present-day currents are then presented, citing examples of recent work. The developments in archaeology are part of broader trends in anthropology and psychology and are characterized by the same theoretical disagreements. There are two distinct research traditions: one centered on cultural transmission and dual inheritance theory and the other on human behavioral ecology. The development of specifically archaeological methodologies within these two traditions for testing evolutionary hypotheses relating to diachronic questions using archaeological data is discussed. Finally, this review suggests that the greatest challenge for the future lies in finding ways of using archaeological data to address current major debates in evolutionary social science as a whole concerning, for example, the emergence of largescale cooperation.

The 10th Nordic TAG conference fell together with the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's seminal On the Origin of Species as well as the 200th anniversary of his birth. Over the last 15 years a new theoretical discourse on the use of evolutionary theory in archaeology has emerged, but this has largely bypassed the Scandinavian countries, despite the fact that Scandinavian archaeology has a solid foundation of empirical work, especially with regards to technology and ecological relations. Both research areas can benefit tremendously from evolutionary insights. This chapter reviews some of the historical and current trends in evolutionary analyses of material culture change. Despite some large difference in epistemology and methodology, substantial overlap in research interests exists between evolutionary and non-evolutionary archaeologists, and integration of the theories and methods advocated by evolutionary archaeologists into more main-stream Scandinavian practice is both possible and desirable.

2009

Signed papers are the responsibility of their authors alone. Les texts signés sont de la seule responsabilité de ses auteurs.