The Experts below are selected from a list of 49119 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Carl P. Lipo - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Cultural Transmission Theory and the Archaeological Record: Providing Context to Understanding Variation and Temporal Changes in Material Culture
Journal of Archaeological Research, 2007Co-Authors: Jelmer W Eerkens, Carl P. LipoAbstract:Cultural Transmission (CT) is implicit in many explanations of culture change. Formal CT models were defined by anthropologists 30 years ago and have been a subject of active research in the social sciences in the ensuing years. Although increasing in popularity in recent years, CT has not seen extensive use in archaeological research, despite the quantitative rigor of many CT models and the ability to create testable hypotheses. Part of the reason for the slow adoption, we argue, has been the continuing focus on change in central tendency and mode in archaeology, instead of change in dispersion or variance. Yet archaeological research provides an excellent data source for exploring processes of CT. We review CT research in the anthropological sciences and outline the benefits and drawbacks of this theoretical framework for the study of material culture. We argue that CT can shed much light on our understandings of why material technology changes over time, including explanations of differential rates of change among different technologies. We further argue that Transmission processes are greatly affected by the content, context, and mode of Transmission and fundamentally structure variation in material culture. Including ideas from CT can provide greater context for explaining and understanding changes in the variation of artifacts over time. Finally, we outline what we feel should be the goals of CT research in archaeology in the coming years.
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Cultural Transmission copying errors and the generation of variation in material culture and the archaeological record
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2005Co-Authors: Jelmer W Eerkens, Carl P. LipoAbstract:Archaeologists are adept at analyzing variation in artifacts. The discipline has well established and tested methods to track change through time and to evaluate the function of artifacts that depend upon measures of variation in the archaeological record. Although a critical concept, the means by which variation in material culture is generated is not well understood. This paper explores one source of variation, copying errors, and systematically examines how Cultural Transmission processes act to amplify, reduce, or maintain such variation. Using simple models, we generate expected distributions for the amount of variation that occurs through time under varying circumstances. This variation is caused by small errors that are transmitted from one person to another in the propagation and replication of Cultural traits. These baseline values provide useful null models for explaining variation in prehistoric assemblages of artifacts. We use measurements of projectile points from Owens Valley and Woodland ceramics from Illinois to demonstrate the value of this approach.
Michael Krutzen - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Cultural Transmission of tool use combined with habitat specializations leads to fine scale genetic structure in bottlenose dolphins
Proceedings of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2014Co-Authors: Anna M Kopps, Corinne Y Ackermann, William B Sherwin, Simon J Allen, Lars Bejder, Michael KrutzenAbstract:Socially learned behaviours leading to genetic population structure have rarely been described outside humans. Here, we provide evidence of fine-scale genetic structure that has probably arisen based on socially transmitted behaviours in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) in western Shark Bay, Western Australia. We argue that vertical social Transmission in different habitats has led to significant geographical genetic structure of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes. Dolphins with mtDNA haplotypes E or F are found predominantly in deep (more than 10 m) channel habitat, while dolphins with a third haplotype (H) are found predominantly in shallow habitat (less than 10 m), indicating a strong haplotype–habitat correlation. Some dolphins in the deep habitat engage in a foraging strategy using tools. These ‘sponging’ dolphins are members of one matriline, carrying haplotype E. This pattern is consistent with what had been demonstrated previously at another research site in Shark Bay, where vertical social Transmission of sponging had been shown using multiple lines of evidence. Using an individual-based model, we found support that in western Shark Bay, socially transmitted specializations may have led to the observed genetic structure. The reported genetic structure appears to present an example of Cultural hitchhiking of mtDNA haplotypes on socially transmitted foraging strategies, suggesting that, as in humans, genetic structure can be shaped through Cultural Transmission.
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Cultural Transmission of tool use in bottlenose dolphins
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2005Co-Authors: Michael Krutzen, Lars Bejder, Janet Mann, Michael R Heithaus, Richard C Connor, William B SherwinAbstract:In Shark Bay, wild bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) apparently use marine sponges as foraging tools. We demonstrate that genetic and ecological explanations for this behavior are inadequate; thus, “sponging” classifies as the first case of an existing material culture in a marine mammal species. Using mitochondrial DNA analyses, we show that sponging shows an almost exclusive vertical social Transmission within a single matriline from mother to female offspring. Moreover, significant genetic relatedness among all adult spongers at the nuclear level indicates very recent coancestry, suggesting that all spongers are descendents of one recent “Sponging Eve.” Unlike in apes, tool use in this population is almost exclusively limited to a single matriline that is part of a large albeit open social network of frequently interacting individuals, adding a new dimension to charting Cultural phenomena among animals.
Jelmer W Eerkens - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Cultural Transmission Theory and the Archaeological Record: Providing Context to Understanding Variation and Temporal Changes in Material Culture
Journal of Archaeological Research, 2007Co-Authors: Jelmer W Eerkens, Carl P. LipoAbstract:Cultural Transmission (CT) is implicit in many explanations of culture change. Formal CT models were defined by anthropologists 30 years ago and have been a subject of active research in the social sciences in the ensuing years. Although increasing in popularity in recent years, CT has not seen extensive use in archaeological research, despite the quantitative rigor of many CT models and the ability to create testable hypotheses. Part of the reason for the slow adoption, we argue, has been the continuing focus on change in central tendency and mode in archaeology, instead of change in dispersion or variance. Yet archaeological research provides an excellent data source for exploring processes of CT. We review CT research in the anthropological sciences and outline the benefits and drawbacks of this theoretical framework for the study of material culture. We argue that CT can shed much light on our understandings of why material technology changes over time, including explanations of differential rates of change among different technologies. We further argue that Transmission processes are greatly affected by the content, context, and mode of Transmission and fundamentally structure variation in material culture. Including ideas from CT can provide greater context for explaining and understanding changes in the variation of artifacts over time. Finally, we outline what we feel should be the goals of CT research in archaeology in the coming years.
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Cultural Transmission copying errors and the generation of variation in material culture and the archaeological record
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2005Co-Authors: Jelmer W Eerkens, Carl P. LipoAbstract:Archaeologists are adept at analyzing variation in artifacts. The discipline has well established and tested methods to track change through time and to evaluate the function of artifacts that depend upon measures of variation in the archaeological record. Although a critical concept, the means by which variation in material culture is generated is not well understood. This paper explores one source of variation, copying errors, and systematically examines how Cultural Transmission processes act to amplify, reduce, or maintain such variation. Using simple models, we generate expected distributions for the amount of variation that occurs through time under varying circumstances. This variation is caused by small errors that are transmitted from one person to another in the propagation and replication of Cultural traits. These baseline values provide useful null models for explaining variation in prehistoric assemblages of artifacts. We use measurements of projectile points from Owens Valley and Woodland ceramics from Illinois to demonstrate the value of this approach.
Roman Zakharenko - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Endogenous Growth and Demographic Transition in a model of Cultural Transmission
2020Co-Authors: Roman ZakharenkoAbstract:Abstract A demographic transition theory is developed which highlights changing Cultural Transmission patterns as a key driver of the phenomenon. The objective of individuals is to maximize Cultural fitness, i.e. rate of absorbtion of own Cultural type by future generations. With low population density, one's culture can be picked by only by own children, thus Cultural fitness equals genetic fitness, individuals allocate all energy surplus to reproduction, and the Malthusian regime occurs. With rising population density, Cultural Transmission between non-relatives becomes possible; knowledge production by an individual makes her Cultural type more attractive. Individuals reallocate some of energy surplus from reproduction to knowledge production, which causes technological growth. The model is shown to fit the observed patterns of the demographic transition
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Endogenous Growth and Demographic Transition in a model of Cultural Transmission
2015Co-Authors: Roman ZakharenkoAbstract:Demographic transition theory is developed highlighting Cultural Transmission pattern as key driver. Individuals maximize Cultural fitness, i.e. rate of own Cultural type absorbtion by future generations. With low population density, one’s culture can be picked up only by own children, thus Cultural fitness equals genetic fitness, individuals allocate all energy surplus to reproduction, and Malthusian regime occurs. With rising population density, Cultural trans-mission between non-relatives accelerates; knowledge production by an individual makes her culture more attractive. Individuals reallocate some of energy surplus from reproduction to knowledge production, causing technological growth. The model fits observed demographic transition patterns
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nothing else matters evolution of preference for social prestige
Social Science Research Network, 2012Co-Authors: Roman ZakharenkoAbstract:This paper seeks answers to two questions. First, if a greater social activity of an individual enhances oblique (i.e. to non-relatives) Transmission of her Cultural traits, but reduces their vertical (i.e. to children) Transmission as well as family size, which behavior is optimal from Cultural evolution standpoint? I formalize a general model that characterizes evolutionarily stable behaviors. The proposed model replicates the theory of Newson et al. (2007) that fertility decline is caused by increasing role of oblique Cultural Transmission. Second, if social activity is a rational choice rather than Culturally inherited trait, and if Cultural Transmission acts on preferences rather than decisions, which preferences survive the process of Cultural evolution? I arrive at a very simple yet powerful result: under mild assumptions on model structure, only preferences which emphasize exclusively the concern for social prestige, i.e. extent to which one’s Cultural trait has been picked up by others, survive.
William B Sherwin - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Cultural Transmission of tool use combined with habitat specializations leads to fine scale genetic structure in bottlenose dolphins
Proceedings of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2014Co-Authors: Anna M Kopps, Corinne Y Ackermann, William B Sherwin, Simon J Allen, Lars Bejder, Michael KrutzenAbstract:Socially learned behaviours leading to genetic population structure have rarely been described outside humans. Here, we provide evidence of fine-scale genetic structure that has probably arisen based on socially transmitted behaviours in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) in western Shark Bay, Western Australia. We argue that vertical social Transmission in different habitats has led to significant geographical genetic structure of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes. Dolphins with mtDNA haplotypes E or F are found predominantly in deep (more than 10 m) channel habitat, while dolphins with a third haplotype (H) are found predominantly in shallow habitat (less than 10 m), indicating a strong haplotype–habitat correlation. Some dolphins in the deep habitat engage in a foraging strategy using tools. These ‘sponging’ dolphins are members of one matriline, carrying haplotype E. This pattern is consistent with what had been demonstrated previously at another research site in Shark Bay, where vertical social Transmission of sponging had been shown using multiple lines of evidence. Using an individual-based model, we found support that in western Shark Bay, socially transmitted specializations may have led to the observed genetic structure. The reported genetic structure appears to present an example of Cultural hitchhiking of mtDNA haplotypes on socially transmitted foraging strategies, suggesting that, as in humans, genetic structure can be shaped through Cultural Transmission.
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Cultural Transmission of tool use in bottlenose dolphins
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2005Co-Authors: Michael Krutzen, Lars Bejder, Janet Mann, Michael R Heithaus, Richard C Connor, William B SherwinAbstract:In Shark Bay, wild bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) apparently use marine sponges as foraging tools. We demonstrate that genetic and ecological explanations for this behavior are inadequate; thus, “sponging” classifies as the first case of an existing material culture in a marine mammal species. Using mitochondrial DNA analyses, we show that sponging shows an almost exclusive vertical social Transmission within a single matriline from mother to female offspring. Moreover, significant genetic relatedness among all adult spongers at the nuclear level indicates very recent coancestry, suggesting that all spongers are descendents of one recent “Sponging Eve.” Unlike in apes, tool use in this population is almost exclusively limited to a single matriline that is part of a large albeit open social network of frequently interacting individuals, adding a new dimension to charting Cultural phenomena among animals.
