NDLI: The Neolithic Macro-(R)evolution: Macroevolutionary Theory and the Study of Culture Change

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The Neolithic Macro-(R)evolution: Macroevolutionary Theory and the Study of Culture Change

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Zeder, Melinda A.
Copyright Year	2008
Abstract	The macroevolutionary approach in archaeology represents the most recent example in a long tradition of applying principles of biological evolution to the study of culture change. Archaeologists working within this paradigm see macroevolutionary theory as an effective response to the shortcomings of neo-Darwinian biological evolution for studying cultural evolution. Rather than operating at the level of individual traits, macroevolutionary archaeologists emphasize the role of hierarchical processes in culture change. While neo-Darwinian archaeologists disavow any element of human intent in culture change, to macroevolutionary archaeologists human agency is a key component of cultural evolution that allows cultures to respond to pressures more quickly and with greater degree of flexibility and directedness than found in biological evolution. Major culture change, when it happens, is likely to be rapid, even revolutionary, with periods of rapid change separated by periods of relative stasis of actively maintained stability. The emergence of Neolithic cultures has long been recognized as one of two periods of major revolutionary culture change in human prehistory. Here I examine the record for the Near East, tracing the empirical record for the origin of agriculture in this region, as well as other demographic, social, and ideological components of Neolithic emergence. While the empirical record from the Near East subscribes in a general way to basic principles of macroevolutionary theory, cultural evolution cannot be understood through appeal to principles of biological evolution alone, whether based in macroevolutionary theory or neo-Darwinianism. Instead, the key role of human agency in culture change distinguishes cultural evolution from biological evolution and requires a more pluralistic and less doctrinaire appeal to multiple models of change based in both the biological and social sciences.
Starting Page	1
Ending Page	63
Page Count	63
File Format	PDF
ISSN	10590161
Journal	Journal of Archaeological Research
Volume Number	17
Issue Number	1
e-ISSN	15737756
Language	English
Publisher	Springer US
Publisher Date	2008-09-23
Publisher Place	Boston
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Macroevolution Evolutionary archaeology Neolithic Near East Anthropology Archaeology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Archeology Archeology (arts and humanities)

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