This study proposes a phylogenetic approach to understanding the evolution of mythology as it relates to the interpretation of Saharan rock art. By applying evolutionary biological methods, particularly a phylogenetic algorithm, to analyze variations of the Pygmalion myth across Africa, the research uncovers insights into human migrations and mythological borrowings among tribes. The findings suggest a significant connection between the evolution of myth and demographic patterns, ultimately advancing methods of archaeological interpretation.

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

Evolutionary theory has outgrown its natural habitat. Increasingly, researchers outside biology frame their questions and results in evolutionary terms, and propose counterparts to mechanisms and entities that are central to our understanding of the organic world. This “second Darwinian revolution” has not escaped philosophical scrutiny.

Rediscovering Darwin: Evolutionary Theory in Archaeological Explanation, 1997

… in anthropology and prehistory, ed. CP …, 2006

Having long ignored cultural transmission as an important evolutionary force, archaeology has finally begun to develop models of transmission processes and actively search for archaeological evidence of them. Dual inheritance theory suggests phylogenies will be difficult to obtain, and often misleading, for behaviors largely the product of individual learning and most suitable to behaviors resulting from conformist and indirectly-biased transmission. Simulations and analysis of a very large sample of Great Basin projectile points confirms these expectations and highlights the problems involved in working with artifact classes whose variation is mainly quantitative.

[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.

Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 2002

Any evolutionary investigation is a two-step process. First, lineages are constructed, here artifact lineages; second, explanations are made for the lineages being the way they are. 6,7 The first step is the documentation of descent with modification, meaning that sequent phenomena are related through Michael J. O'Brien is Professor of Anthropology and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia. His research focuses on the prehistory of the midwestern and southeastern United States, cultural history, and the application of Darwinian evolutionary theory to the archeological record.

2013

"Abstract: Mythology, like genetics and language, provides essentials elements in the understanding of human history; phylogenetic trees based on mythological versions can allow to reconstruct the history and prehistory of human cultures right back the Palaeolithic period. Indeed, mythological versions are highly conservative. We also can reconstruct the primitive version of a mythological family using phylogenetic reconstructions of ancestral state. Résume: La mythologie, comme la génétique et les langues, fournit des éléments essentiels à la compréhension de l'histoire humaine. Des arbres phylogénétiques basés sur des versions mythologiques peuvent permettre de reconstituer l'histoire et la préhistoire de cultures humaines en remontant jusqu'à la période paléolithique. En effet, les versions mythologiques sont très conservatrices. Nous pouvons également reconstruire la version primitive d'une famille mythologique à l'aide de reconstructions phylogénétiques d'un état ​​ancestral. "

Evolution: Education and Outreach, 2011

Populations of living things evolve over time, but do other things? Evolution involves transmission, be it of genes, ideas, or designs. What is transmitted, how and by whom, influences tempo and mode of evolution. In recent years, archeologists have applied evolutionary logic and processes to their study of things made and used by ancient people. Despite differences in subject units and in modes and patterns of transmission, evolutionary processes and the transmission modes that accompany them are worth seeking in archeological data. Stone spear points are abundant in the archeological record, yet we lack a theory to explain the creation, duration, and divergence of point types. Evolutionary studies of New World Late Pleistocene Paleoindian points are a step toward such theory, but limit the form of data and the evolutionary processes considered. An alternative in the study of Paleoindian points is geometric morphometric methods that do not constrain how point size and form are characterized nor assume branching divergence between taxa. Evolutionism should not dominate archeology, but it should become a major area of research within the field.

The 145th symposium of the Wenner-Gren Foundation took place June 1–8, 2012, in Haringe Slott near Stockholm, Sweden. The primary goal of the symposium was to reframe discussions of behavioral evolution among Neanderthals and early modern humans. We hoped to replace conventions of a single scale of evolutionary progress (in which the primary benchmark is “modern human behavior”) with a more Darwinian framework that could allow for independent evolutionary trajectories in different areas. The 15 participants included archaeologists researching material culture and subsistence in Eurasia, Africa, and China; physical anthropologists; a demographer; a geneticist; modelers of cultural evolution; and a climatologist. Participants were asked to draw on evidence in their areas of expertise, focusing on evolutionary trends in both modal tendencies and levels of variation/diversity within various regions during the interval in which the Middle Stone Age and Middle Paleolithic developed, spread, and eventually disappeared. It was agreed that there is compelling evidence for very different trajectories of cultural evolution in different parts of the world but that we are not yet in a position to fully evaluate and understand the outcomes of the parallel cultural evolutionary pathways among modern Homo sapiens in Africa and Neanderthals in Europe. Answering questions this large in scope requires synthesis on a large geographic scale comparable to studies by climate scientists and biogeographers. Conventional approaches to collecting, reporting, and analyzing archaeological and skeletal data do not lend themselves to rigorous tests of alternative evolutionary models. At the same time, the intellectual tools needed to research these questions are well developed, and answers are within reach.

Nouvelle Mythologie comparée, 2018

Abstract : Different computational approaches are applied, after binary coding, to 175 versions of the Cosmic Hunt, one of the rare myths found almost worldwide. The relevance of phylogenetic networks to the analysis of myths is explained and illustrated with the Cosmic Hunt. We show how characters evolve at different rates, the fast evolving ones forming a module of characters that can be replaced almost indifferently, while slow evolving characters fit to a phylogenetic tree or network. One observes a very good correlation between the regions in which the myths were recorded and the phylogenetic representation of the data. This correlation is explained using different models of evolution taking into account different migration schemes and cultural interactions. Résumé : Différentes approches de calcul sont appliquées, après codage binaire, à 175 versions de la Chasse Cosmique, l’un des rares mythes retrouvés presque partout dans le monde. La pertinence des réseaux phylogénétiques pour l’analyse des mythes est expliquée et illustrée par la Chasse cosmique. Nous montrons comment les caractères évoluent à des rythmes différents, ceux qui évoluent rapidement formant un groupe de personnages qui peuvent être remplacés presque indifféremment, tandis que les personnages évoluant lentement s’adaptent à un arbre ou à un réseau phylogénétique. On observe une très bonne corrélation entre les régions dans lesquelles les mythes ont été enregistrés et la représentation phylogénétique des données. Cette corrélation est expliquée en utilisant plusieurs modèles d’évolution prenant en compte différents schémas de migration et interactions culturelles.

AI

Les Cahiers de l'AARS, 16, 2013: 93-106., 2013

The use of methods developed in evolutionary biology to model the processes of cultural change and innovation that amount to cultural evolution is becoming an increasingly widespread practice in the sociocultural sciences. The purpose of this book is to explore 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 set in two parts. The papers in the first part venture into the theoretical and conceptual implications of using evolution-based models in the sociocultural domain, illustrate the sorts of questions that these methods can help to answer, and invite the reader to reflect on the possibilities and limitations of these perspectives. The second part is comprised by 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.

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

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.

One of the few areas of real debate in archaeological theory today is how to classify archaeological theory. Theoretical diversity has become a hallmark of archaeology, and opinions differ as to whether this range can be accommodated within a grander scheme of at least complementary approaches (

World Archaeology, 2002

It has often been observed that archaeologists are adept at borrowing theory but not very good about building it. Analyses of the uptake by archaeologists of perspectives from a diversity of sources indicate that such borrowings rarely (if ever) lead to the building of archaeological theory. The return of explicit discussion of evolutionary theory within archaeology affords us the chance to explore whether the traditional pattern of borrowing is being repeated once again, and, if it is, to suggest some strategies which might help us to do better. The core of the paper comprises two case studies to support an argument that evolutionary archaeologists need to integrate the development of evaluation strategies into the process of theory building. These studies focus our attention on the need to reconcile interpretation and inference with the temporality of archaeological records, and provide good examples of how a serious consideration of problems that are revealed by this reconciliation can be a positive force in theory building.

2017

This thesis uses phylogenetic methods such as cladistics to address and revaluate the evolution of ceramic data. Evolution is often implied in ceramic studies but its exact operation in relation to cultural transmission is rarely specified. This thesis asks how phylogenetic methods can be used to study ceramic evolution and how these can reform our perception on the narrative of ceramic change. It does this by forming a theoretical approach based on current anthropological and archaeological theories on ceramics, in conjunction with insights from evolutionary methods. A synthesis of ceramic theory tries to outline the different theoretical approaches and how they might fit with evolutionary perceptions of material cultural change. It suggests that the chaine operatoire of ceramic production is critical in identifying ceramic characteristics to use in evolutionary analysis, and forms the key conceptual framework to address the meaning of ceramic evolution relating to cultural process...

At the Kastro rock-cut site, on Lemnos island (North-Eastern Aegean Sea, Greece), we may observe diachronic uses and modification of functions of carved rocks. Recent research has shown that various rock-cut features hint at possible symbolic behaviours as well as at practical concerns in connection to the local environment and surroundings. Mythology and ancient literary sources offer intriguing possibilities to the attempts at understanding some characteristics of both carved structures and rock-art. This complex coastal site is particularly suited for consideration of varying patterns of human behaviour in a rugged seaside scenery through time since pre-and proto-history. Résumé: Sur le site taillé dans la roche de Kastro, dans l'île de Lemnos (nord-est de la Mer Egée, Grèce), on peut observer une utilisation diachronique et des modifications des fonctions des rochers taillés. Des recherches récentes ont montré que différents éléments taillés dans la roche laissent deviner des comportements symboliques possibles ainsi que des préoccupations pratiques liés à l'environnement local et au cadre naturel. La mythologie et les sources littéraires anciennes offrent des possibilités intrigantes aux essais de compréhension de certaines caractéristiques, aussi bien des structures taillées, que de l'art rupestre. Ce site côtier complexe se prête particulièrement à l'examen des modes variés du comportement humain dans un paysage côtier accidenté, à travers le temps, depuis la pré-et protohistoire. Mots-clés: Grèce, Mer Egée, préhistoire et antiquité, art rupestre, structures taillées dans la roche

The wor(l)ds of Linear A: Interdisciplinary approaches to documents and inscriptions of a Cretan Bronze Age script, 2025

Three different administrative systems are known from the Aegean Bronze Age period – Cretan Hieroglyphics, Linear A and Linear B. Recently, there has been more intensive discussion of the types of devices (tablets, nodules, sealings etc.) associated with each of these systems, exploring what potential commonalities can tell us about their relationships, and the broader implications of these connections for our understanding of Minoan and Mycenaean history. This paper will propose that comparative work on the administrative devices to date, whilst thought-provoking, has been lacking any experimental framework to test its hypotheses. Phylogenetics is presented as an alternative approach to the analysis of these devices; originating in the field of evolutionary biology, phylogenetics can be used to analyze the “genealogical” relationships between entities, and is increasingly being applied to archaeological research. The merits of this approach are considered, as well as the suitability of employing a method intended for biological research to questions of material culture. The paper concludes with an introduction to the author’s ongoing research project, which will pilot the use of phylogenetics on Aegean administrative devices, looking at what insights it can provide about the development of these objects over time, and the connections between the different systems.

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