Cultural Phylogenies and Explanation: Why Historical Methods Matter

Abstract

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a solid demonstration of the potential of phylogenetic methods for studying the evolutionary history of human populations using a variety of data sources. It also provides a foundation for future work and offers inspiration to continue the application and development of methods for determining descent relationships and constructing evolutionary histories. The principles that drive phylogenetic methods are not restricted to the study of biological entities. Indeed, phylogenetic methods are simply algorithms for building phylogenies once descriptions of taxa are made. Adopting phylogenetic methods that have been developed primarily in biology and paleontology creates a set of theoretical, methodological, and empirical challenges as we attempt to apply the methods anthropologically. Critics argue that information about relatedness will be drowned out by noise as a result of borrowing and recent interaction, thus limiting the application of certain phylogenetic methods to cultural phenomena.

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