Population Size as an Explanation for Patterns in the Paleolithic Archaeological Record

Abstract

Recently it has become commonplace to use population size to explain patterns in the Paleolithic archaeological record. Several modeling studies support the idea that population size can affect cultural evolution, but the results of empirical studies are ambiguous. Here we report a study that used tool kit data from recent hunter-gatherers, in conjunction with correlation analysis and a global sample, a continental sample, and a regional sample. The results of the analyses do not support the hypothesis. Population size was correlated with some tool kit variables in the global sample, but these relationships disappeared when two factors that have previously been found to affect hunter-gatherer tool kits—risk of resource failure and mobility—were controlled for. Population size was not correlated with the tool kit variables in the other samples. The regression analyses also did not support the population size hypothesis. Together, these results challenge the use of population size to explain patterns in the Paleolithic archaeological record. Population size may explain some of the patterns in question, but this needs to be demonstrated through tests in which the population size hypothesis is explicitly pitted against competing hypotheses, such as adaptation to shifting ecological conditions.

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