The evolution of human culture during the later Pleistocene: Using fauna to test models on the emergence and nature of “modern” human behavior

Clark, Jamie L.

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2011.04.002

Cited by 61 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 93 publications

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“…It has also resulted in the recovery of large, well-dated faunal assemblages associated with some of the earliest or most convincing examples of modern behavioural complexity (Clark, 2011;Clark and Plug, 2008;Dusseldorp, 2012;Marean et al, 2007;Thompson, 2010a;Thompson and Henshilwood, 2011;Wadley, 2010). Within this body of work there has been differential emphasis on the significance of big-game hunting ability, although recent research has begun to also explore small ungulate acquisition (Clark and Plug, 2008;Wadley, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recent work has indicated MSA people had an unrestricted hunting ability (Dusseldorp, 2010;Faith, 2008;Marean et al, 2000;Milo, 1998;Thompson, 2010a;Thompson and Henshilwood, 2011). Such work has also examined the possibility that small ungulate trapping and snaring reflected technological subsistence solutions as complex as those used by modern people (Clark, 2011;Clark and Plug, 2008;Wadley, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nutritional values of tortoises relative to ungulates from the Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa: Implications for foraging and social behaviour

Thompson

Henshilwood

2014

Journal of Human Evolution

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The site of Blombos Cave (BBC), Western Cape, South Africa has been a strong contributor to establishing the antiquity of important aspects of modern human behaviour, such as early symbolism and technological complexity. However, many linkages between MSA behaviour and the subsistence record remain to be investigated. Understanding the contribution of small fauna such as tortoises to the human diet is necessary for identifying shifts in overall foraging strategies as well as the collecting and processing behaviour of individuals unable to participate in large-game hunting. This study uses published data to abundance data show that during the ca. 75 ka upper Still Bay M1 phase at BBC tortoises contributed twice as many calories to the diet relative to ungulates than they did during the ca. 100 ka lower M3 phase. However, in spite of the abundance of their fossils, their absolute caloric contribution relative to ungulates remained modest in both phases. At the end of the site's MSA occupation history human subsistence strategies shifted to emphasise high-return hunted mammals, which likely precipitated changes in the social roles of hunters and gatherers during the Still Bay.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutritional values of tortoises relative to ungulates from the Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa: Implications for foraging and social behaviour

Thompson

Henshilwood

2014

Journal of Human Evolution

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“…Long, seemingly static, periods are interspersed between "cultural explosions," periods of sudden cultural accumulation (3-13). Further, in some populations, there is evidence that whole suites of cultural traits, such as the ability to make tools, clothing, and fire (14-16), may be lost, defying the general trend of cultural accumulation over time (4,7,8).Reasons for the sudden changes in hominid material culture in the archaeological record continue to be debated; they could be related to demographic factors (17), rapid cognitive change (18-21), relatively sudden changes in hand morphology (22, 23), or dramatic climatic shifts (10,(24)(25)(26)(27)(28). Further, intermediate-scale environmental change or migration to a new environment also could affect the accumulation and loss of traits that are primarily useful in specific environments (29-33).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Depending on the timescale studied, change in tool repertoire may appear punctuated and stepwise. Long, seemingly static, periods are interspersed between "cultural explosions," periods of sudden cultural accumulation (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13). Further, in some populations, there is evidence that whole suites of cultural traits, such as the ability to make tools, clothing, and fire (14)(15)(16), may be lost, defying the general trend of cultural accumulation over time (4,7,8).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution in leaps: The punctuated accumulation and loss of cultural innovations

Kolodny

Creanza

Feldman

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

138

185

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Archaeological accounts of cultural change reveal a fundamental conflict: Some suggest that change is gradual, accelerating over time, whereas others indicate that it is punctuated, with long periods of stasis interspersed by sudden gains or losses of multiple traits. Existing models of cultural evolution, inspired by models of genetic evolution, lend support to the former and do not generate trajectories that include large-scale punctuated change. We propose a simple model that can give rise to both exponential and punctuated patterns of gain and loss of cultural traits. In it, cultural innovation comprises several realistic interdependent processes that occur at different rates. The model also takes into account two properties intrinsic to cultural evolution: the differential distribution of traits among social groups and the impact of environmental change. In our model, a population may be subdivided into groups with different cultural repertoires leading to increased susceptibility to cultural loss, whereas environmental change may lead to rapid loss of traits that are not useful in a new environment. Taken together, our results suggest the usefulness of a concept of an effective cultural population size.T he breadth and diversity of cultural traits and their rates of accumulation have received a great deal of scholarly attention. Scientific knowledge in many fields appears to accumulate exponentially (1, 2). However, although the number of tool types in the archaeological record also seems to fit this pattern of exponential increase broadly (3), the number of tools and other cultural traits does not increase steadily and monotonically over time. Depending on the timescale studied, change in tool repertoire may appear punctuated and stepwise. Long, seemingly static, periods are interspersed between "cultural explosions," periods of sudden cultural accumulation (3-13). Further, in some populations, there is evidence that whole suites of cultural traits, such as the ability to make tools, clothing, and fire (14-16), may be lost, defying the general trend of cultural accumulation over time (4,7,8).Reasons for the sudden changes in hominid material culture in the archaeological record continue to be debated; they could be related to demographic factors (17), rapid cognitive change (18-21), relatively sudden changes in hand morphology (22, 23), or dramatic climatic shifts (10,(24)(25)(26)(27)(28). Further, intermediate-scale environmental change or migration to a new environment also could affect the accumulation and loss of traits that are primarily useful in specific environments (29-33). In addition, the relationship between the number of cultural traits in a population and population size has been debated (4,14,29,(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41); this relationship also might depend on the social learning strategies of the population (42, 43). Further, there could be a feedback process between the number of tools in a population and the population size: A larger population might be able to invent and retain m...

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“…Species listed in Affad correspond to the ecology of central and eastern Sudan during Terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene (Peters 1989b(Peters , 1992), but they stand in marked contrast to the contemporaneous environment recorded in Lower Nubia. Besides the classical Levallois stone-processing methods, it is the habitat and hunting strategies identified in our study that point to the Bclassic^Middle Stone Age behaviour of communities inhabiting Affad (Clark 2011;Gagnon and Chew 2000;Hovers and Belfer-Cohen 2006). With regard to the absolute chronology and state of knowledge regarding the Terminal Pleistocene societies of Lower Nubia, the model was archaic, and comparable only to a much older Khormusan dated generally to MIS4 (Wendorf and Schild 1992).…”

Section: Ecology and Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 71%

Animal Exploitation and Behaviour of the Latest Middle Stone Age Societies in the Middle Nile Valley: Archaeozoological and Taphonomic Analysis of Late Pleistocene Fauna from the Affad Basin, Sudan

Osypińska

Osypiński

2016

Afr Archaeol Rev

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With the research on the issue in its initial phases, the behaviour and hunting strategies of MSA communities inhabiting the Nile Valley in the Late and Terminal Pleistocene have been fragmentarily recognised thus far. Osteological materials from the area of the Affad Basin in the Middle Nile Valley, recorded in archaeological contexts and dated to the sixteenth millennium BP using OSL methods, have significantly enhanced our knowledge in this regard. It is the first time that an opportunity has occurred to construct a reliable model of the environment exploitation and the behaviour of human groups producing lithic tools using Levallois methods in the Terminal Pleistocene. Archaeozoological analyses have allowed the identification of taxa, species and anatomical origin of remains and enabled the establishment of a database of osteometric measurements. The animals hunted in the Sudanese Nile Valley during the Terminal Pleistocene have been classified with a view to refer the data to the results of analogous studies on MSA in South Africa. The behaviour of the communities occupying the Affad Basin 15,000 years ago was connected to the environment of the tree-covered, swampy savannah and extensive backwaters. Medium-sized antelope (kobus) was hunted most often. People hunted also, albeit less frequently, for large ruminants (buffalo), guenons and large rodents. Remains of fish and mega-fauna (hippopotamus and elephant) have been found in isolated concentrations, away from the camp sites. Remains of molluscs or ostrich eggs have not been registered. The condition of the osteological materials, notably their anatomical distribution, is shown to have been largely affected by wetland environment, rich in iron and manganese.

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The evolution of human culture during the later Pleistocene: Using fauna to test models on the emergence and nature of “modern” human behavior

Cited by 61 publications

References 93 publications

Nutritional values of tortoises relative to ungulates from the Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa: Implications for foraging and social behaviour

Nutritional values of tortoises relative to ungulates from the Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa: Implications for foraging and social behaviour

Evolution in leaps: The punctuated accumulation and loss of cultural innovations

Animal Exploitation and Behaviour of the Latest Middle Stone Age Societies in the Middle Nile Valley: Archaeozoological and Taphonomic Analysis of Late Pleistocene Fauna from the Affad Basin, Sudan

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