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Prentiss AM, Laue C, Gjesfjeld E, Walsh MJ, Denis M, Foor TA. Evolution of the Okvik/Old Bering Sea culture of the Bering Strait as a major transition. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20210415. [PMID: 36688384 PMCID: PMC9869439 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Great transitions are thought to embody major shifts in locus of selection, labour diversification and communication systems. Such expectations are relevant for biological and cultural systems as decades of research has demonstrated similar dynamics within the evolution of culture. The evolution of the Neo-Inuit cultural tradition in the Bering Strait provides an ideal context for examination of cultural transitions. The Okvik/Old Bering Sea (Okvik/OBS) culture of Bering Strait is the first representative of the Neo-Inuit tradition. Archaeological evidence drawn for settlement and subsistence data, technological traditions and mortuary contexts suggests that Okvik/OBS fits the definition of a major transition given change in the nature of group membership (from families to political groups with social ranking), task organization (emergent labour specialization) and communication (advent of complex art forms conveying social and ideological information). This permits us to develop a number of implications about the evolutionary process recognizing that transitions may occur on three scales: (1) ephemeral variants, as for example, simple technological entities; (2) integrated systems, spanning modular technology to socio-economic strategies; and (3) simultaneous change across all scales with emergent properties. This article is part of the theme issue 'Human socio-cultural evolution in light of evolutionary transitions'.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Cheyenne Laue
- Department of Anthropology, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA
| | - Erik Gjesfjeld
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3ER, England
| | - Matthew J. Walsh
- Modern History and World Cultures Section, The National Museum of Denmark, Ny Vestergade 10 Prinsens Palæ 1471, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Megan Denis
- Department of Anthropology, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA
| | - Thomas A. Foor
- Department of Anthropology, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA
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Fernández-López de Pablo J, Romano V, Derex M, Gjesfjeld E, Gravel-Miguel C, Hamilton MJ, Migliano AB, Riede F, Lozano S. Understanding hunter-gatherer cultural evolution needs network thinking. Trends Ecol Evol 2022; 37:632-636. [PMID: 35659425 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Revised: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Hunter-gatherers past and present live in complex societies, and the structure of these can be assessed using social networks. We outline how the integration of new evidence from cultural evolution experiments, computer simulations, ethnography, and archaeology open new research horizons to understand the role of social networks in cultural evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javier Fernández-López de Pablo
- I.U. de Investigación en Arqueología y Patrimonio Histórico, Edificio Institutos Universitarios, University of Alicante, 03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain.
| | - Valéria Romano
- I.U. de Investigación en Arqueología y Patrimonio Histórico, Edificio Institutos Universitarios, University of Alicante, 03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain; IMBE, Aix Marseille Université, Avignon Université, CNRS, IRD, Marseille, France
| | - Maxime Derex
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, UMR 5314, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse 31015, France
| | - Erik Gjesfjeld
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing St., CB2 3DZ Cambridge, UK
| | - Claudine Gravel-Miguel
- Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, PO Box 878404, Tempe, AZ 85287-8404, USA; Département d'Anthropologie, Université de Montréal, 2900 Edouard Montpetit Blvd., Montreal, Quebec H3T 1J4, Canada
| | - Marcus J Hamilton
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at San Antonio, 10 Cocke Drive, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA
| | - Andrea Bamberg Migliano
- Institute of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Felix Riede
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; BIOCHANGE - Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114-116, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Sergi Lozano
- Departament d'Història Econòmica, Institucions, Política i Economia Mundial, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Av. Diagonal 690, 08034, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems (UBICS), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Martí Franqués 1, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
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Padilla-Iglesias C, Gjesfjeld E, Vinicius L. Geographical and social isolation drive the evolution of Austronesian languages. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0243171. [PMID: 33259529 PMCID: PMC7707576 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2020] [Accepted: 11/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The origins of linguistic diversity remain controversial. Studies disagree on whether group features such as population size or social structure accelerate or decelerate linguistic differentiation. While some analyses of between-group factors highlight the role of geographical isolation and reduced linguistic exchange in differentiation, others suggest that linguistic divergence is driven primarily by warfare among neighbouring groups and the use of language as marker of group identity. Here we provide the first integrated test of the effects of five historical sociodemographic and geographic variables on three measures of linguistic diversification among 50 Austronesian languages: rates of word gain, loss and overall lexical turnover. We control for their shared evolutionary histories through a time-calibrated phylogenetic sister-pairs approach. Results show that languages spoken in larger communities create new words at a faster pace. Within-group conflict promotes linguistic differentiation by increasing word loss, while warfare hinders linguistic differentiation by decreasing both rates of word gain and loss. Finally, we show that geographical isolation is a strong driver of lexical evolution mainly due to a considerable drift-driven acceleration in rates of word loss. We conclude that the motor of extreme linguistic diversity in Austronesia may have been the dispersal of populations across relatively isolated islands, favouring strong cultural ties amongst societies instead of warfare and cultural group marking.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Erik Gjesfjeld
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Lucio Vinicius
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Gjesfjeld E, Silvestro D, Chang J, Koch B, Foster JG, Alfaro ME. A quantitative workflow for modeling diversification in material culture. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0227579. [PMID: 32027685 PMCID: PMC7004301 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0227579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2019] [Accepted: 12/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Questions about the evolution of material culture are widespread in the humanities and social sciences. Statistical modeling of long-term changes in material culture is less common due to a lack of appropriate frameworks. Our goal is to close this gap and provide robust statistical methods for examining changes in the diversity of material culture. We provide an open-source and quantitative workflow for estimating rates of origination, extinction, and preservation, as well as identifying key shift points in the diversification histories of material culture. We demonstrate our approach using two distinct kinds of data: age ranges for the production of American car models, and radiocarbon dates associated with archaeological cultures of the European Neolithic. Our approach improves on existing frameworks by disentangling the relative contributions of origination and extinction to diversification. Our method also permits rigorous statistical testing of competing hypotheses to explain changes in diversity. Finally, we stress the value of a flexible approach that can be applied to data in various forms; this flexibility allows scholars to explore commonalities between forms of material culture and ask questions about the general properties of cultural change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik Gjesfjeld
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
| | - Daniele Silvestro
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Jonathan Chang
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
| | - Bernard Koch
- Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
| | - Jacob G Foster
- Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
| | - Michael E Alfaro
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America.,Institute for Society and Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
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Abstract
The Circumpolar North is generally recognized as a challenging environment to inhabit and yet, we know relatively little about how people managed their welfare in these places. Here, we add to the understanding of maritime hunter-gatherers in the subarctic North Pacific through a comparative approach that synthesizes biogeographic and archaeological data from the Kuril Islands. We conclude that our faunal, ceramic and lithic evidence support expectations from biogeography as assemblages from low biodiversity and insular regions show limited diet breadth, more locally produced pottery and a conservation of lithic resources. However, we highlight that these ecological factors did not strictly determine the occupation history of the archipelago as radiocarbon data suggests all regions experienced similar demographic fluctuations regard-less of their biogeography. These results imply additional pressures influenced the strategic use and settlement of the Kuril Islands and the need for increased chronological resolution to disentangle these complex historical factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik Gjesfjeld
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Michael A. Etnier
- Department of Anthropology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
| | - Katsunori Takase
- Laboratory of Archaeology, Graduate School of Humanities and Human Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - William A. Brown
- Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Ben Fitzhugh
- Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
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Fitzhugh B, Gjesfjeld E, Brown W, Hudson MJ, Shaw JD. Resilience and the population history of the Kuril Islands, Northwest Pacific: A study in complex human ecodynamics. Quat Int 2016; 419:165-193. [PMID: 28066132 PMCID: PMC5215057 DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2016.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Living in remote places can strain the adaptive capacities of human settlers. It can also protect communities from external social, political and economic forces. In this paper, we present an archaeological population history of the Kuril Islands. This string of small volcanic islands on the margins of the Northwest Pacific was occupied by maritime hunting, fishing and gathering communities from the mid-Holocene to recent centuries. We bring together (1) 380 new and previously published archaeological radiocarbon dates, (2) a new paleodemographic model based on a radiocarbon-timestamped temporal frequency distribution of archaeological deposits, (3) recently published paleoclimate trends, and (4) recently published archaeological proxy evidence for changes in the extent of social networks. We demonstrate that, over the last two millennia, inhabitants of the Kuril Islands underwent dramatic demographic fluctuations. Explanations of these fluctuations are considered in the context of environmental hazards, social networks and the emergence of an East Asian "World System", elucidating the tension between local and external adaptive strategies to social and ecological uncertainty. Results suggest that population resilience to local climate and environmental variability was achieved by virtue of social networks that maintained non-local support in times of crisis. Conversely, the expansion of the East Asian political economy into neighboring regions of the southern margin of the Kuril Islands perhaps in conjunction with exposure to epidemic diseases appears to have undermined the adaptive strategies, resulting in an increase in the vulnerability of Kuril populations to environmental fluctuations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben Fitzhugh
- Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle
| | - Erik Gjesfjeld
- Institute for Society and Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles
| | - William Brown
- Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle
| | - Mark J. Hudson
- Research Institute for Sustainable Environments and Cultures, Nishikyushu University, Japan
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