Macroevolution in Human Prehistory (eBook)

Acknowledgements 4
Contents 6
Contributors 8
Introduction 9
Macroevolution and Archaeology 10
Taxic Macroevolution 11
Evolutionary Anthropology 12
Units, Boundaries, and Heritability 13
Explanation and Evolutionary Process 15
Macroevolution and Human Prehistory 19
Issues in Cultural Macroevolution 19
Emergence of Cultural Variants 20
Cultural Expansion, Stasis, and Extinction as Macroevolutionary Processes 20
Closing Reflections: Archaeological Approaches to Macroevolution 21
References 22
Part I Issues in Macroevolutionary Theory 28
1 Proximate Causation, Group Selection, and the Evolution of Hierarchical Human Societies: System, Process, and Pattern 29
Introduction 29
Evolution and Multilevel Selection 31
Reductionism and Social Complexity 32
Process, Culture, and Constraint 36
Social Complexity and Group Selection 38
Proximate Causation and Exaptation 41
Conflict, Conflict Resolution, and Proximate Causation 43
Structural Variability, Structural Similarity, and Selection 47
Discussion 49
Notes 50
References 51
2 Landscape Learning in Relation to Evolutionary Theory 56
Introduction 56
Gathering Environmental Information 57
Landscape Learning and Colonization 59
Landscape Learning at the Macroscale 61
Holons and Adaptive Landscape 64
Case Studies 66
Early Hominids 66
Recolonization of Britain at the End of the Last Ice Age 68
South Pass City, Wyoming 1867--1872 69
Conclusions 70
References 72
3 The Multiplication of Forms: Bering Strait Harpoon Heads as a Demic and Macroevolutionary Proxy 77
Introduction 77
The Conundrum of Style and Function in Arctic Archaeology 85
Regional or Ethnic Differences in Aesthetic Overlays 87
The Utility of Harpoon Heads in Defining Cultural Blue Prints 90
Resolving the Classificatory Mire and Defining Macroevolutionary Trends 93
The Winged Object as an Ethnic Denominator 94
Defining Cultural and Ethnic Units in Bering Strait: Old Bering Sea, Punuk and Birnirk/Thule 96
Ethnicity in Burial Assemblages 96
Mutual Exclusivity of Birnirk and Punuk Across Bering Strait 99
The Timing of the Shifts in Bering Strait Adaptive Strategies 101
Causation of the Shifts in Bering Strait Adaptive Strategies 101
Aesthetics, Mobility, and Subsistence Production 103
Conclusions 104
Notes 105
References 105
Part II Macroevolutionary Approaches to Cultural Change 112
4 The Emergence of New Socioeconomic Strategies in theMiddle and Late Holocene Pacific Northwest Regionof North America 113
Introduction 113
Emergence in Paleobiology 114
Emergence in Archaeology 115
Pacific Northwest Prehistory 117
Emergent Collectors 119
Emergent Complex Collectors 122
Discussion 127
Notes 128
References 128
5 Testing the Morphogenesist Model of Primary State Formation: The Zapotec Case 134
Introduction 134
A Model of Primary State Formation 136
Empirical Application 141
Conclusion 152
References 152
6 Evolutionary Biology and the Emergence of Agriculture: The Value of Co-opted Models of Evolution in the Study of Culture Change 157
Introduction 157
Neo-Darwinian Selectionist Archaeology 158
Macroevolutionary Archaeology 160
Human Behavioral Ecology 165
Agricultural Origins in the Near East 170
Material Culture Attributes (Components 8--10) 175
Sedentism and Storage (Components 3 and 4) 175
Population Growth (Component 2) 177
Mechanisms for Social Cohesion (Component 6) 178
Magico-religious Traditions Emphasizing Fertility (Component 7) 180
Trade Networks (Component 5) 181
Agricultural Economy Based on Plant and Animal Domesticates (Component 1) 181
The Utility of Co-opted Evolutionary Models in Explaining Agricultural Emergence in the Near East 187
Locus of Change (Macro vs. Micro) 187
Tempo of Change (Punctuated vs. Gradual) 190
Directedness of Change (Directed vs. Undirected) 192
Human Intent in Culture Change (Lots vs. None) 193
Conclusions 196
References 197
Part III Cultural Diversification, Stasis and Extinction as Macroevolutionary Processes 211
7 A Macroevolutionary Perspective on the Archaeological Record of North America 212
Introduction 212
The Evolving Entity 213
Selection and the Manifestation of Fitness 214
Stabilizing Selection and the Emergence of New Strategies 215
Cultural Macroevolution in North America 216
Technologies 216
Earth Ovens in Northwest America 216
The Bow-and-Arrow 218
Resource Management Strategies 221
The Mississippian Package 221
Mississippian Precursors 222
Emergence of the Mississippian 224
Mississippian Expansion 225
Macroevolution and the Mississippian 226
Conclusion 227
Notes 228
References 228
8 Cultural Stasis and Change in Northern North America: A Macroevolutionary Perspective 234
Introduction 234
Why Stasis in the Archaeological Record? 235
Macroevolutionary Units 235
Cultural Stasis on the Macroevolutionary Scale 236
Arctic Prehistory 238
Pre-Dorset 238
Dorset 240
Thule 242
Extinction of Dorset 244
Discussion 245
Conclusion 246
References 247
9 Niche Construction, Macroevolution, and the Late Epipaleolithic of the Near East 251
Introduction 251
Theoretical Perspectives 251
Macroevolution and Culture 251
Niche Construction and Culture 253
Integrating Evolutionary and Ecological Views of Culture 254
Tempo and Niche Construction in the Near East Late Epipaleolithic Period 255
Emerging and Coexisting Niches 256
Emergence Events: Developments During the Epipaleolithic 258
The Epipaleolithic of the Near East: Stasis and Tempos of Change 259
Cracked Niches and RMS Extinction 261
Discussion 263
Triggers to Niche Construction 263
Cultural Extinction and Cracked Niches 264
Notes 265
References 266
Part IV Macroevolutionary Theory in Archaeology 270
10 Macroevolutionary Theory and Archaeology: Is There a Big Picture? 271
Introduction 271
Discussion 273
Fitness Landscapes and Adaptive Peaks 274
History Matters 281
Macroevolution and Cultural Transmission 283
Implications 286
References 289
11 Material Cultural Macroevolution 292
Introduction 292
What is Evolution? 293
Information in Biological and Material Cultural Systems 295
Hierarchies and Patterns 299
Hierarchies in Material Cultural Systems 301
Material Cultural Evolution and the Sloshing Bucket 305
Conclusions 307
Notes 310
References 310
Index 312