Evolutionary archeology: Current status and future prospects

Abstract

Abstract Darwinian evolution can be defined minimally as “any net directional change or any cumulative change in the characteristics of … populations over many generations—in other words, descent with modification”1 (p. 5). In archeology the population comprises artifacts, which are conceived of as phenotypic.2–4 Extension of the human phenotype to include ceramic vessels, projectile points, and the like is based on the notion that artifacts are material expressions of behavior, which itself is phenotypic. Archeology's unique claim within the natural sciences is its access to past phenotypic characters. Thus, historical questions are the most obvious ones archeologists can ask, although admittedly this is hardly a strong warrant for asking them. But if the issue is evolution, then historical questions must be asked. Posing and answering historical questions is the goal of evolutionary archeology.5.

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