Bayesian inference of material culture phylogenies using continuous traits: A birth–death model for Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age arrowheads from Northwestern Europe

The twentieth century saw two modes of thinking spread through biological systematics: population thinking and tree thinking. Many archaeologists investigating ancient technologies have adopted the population thinking approach for archaeological systematics, as evident from the rise of work on quantifiable, attribute-based patterns of diversity in studies of past technological systems, much of it driven by application of geometric morphometrics. Yet, tree thinking, as one of the central concepts of phylogenetic biology, remains rare in the archaeological sciences. We review some of the obstacles that have impeded the uptake of this concept by archaeologists. Some of these are conceptual, but we also identify one specific methodological obstacle: the prevailing use of discrete character traits in phylogenetic analysis. This is a major challenge for archaeological applications where standardised trait-analytical protocols are scarce. To address this challenge, we present a case study that demonstrates a Bayesian framework for inferring phylogenies using continuous traits derived from artefact shape coefficients obtained via outline based geometric morphometrics. We use a previously published sample of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age arrowheads from Northwestern Europe to demonstrate the efficacy and accessibility of our approach. We also sketch out the potential for phylogenetic comparative methods to address archaeological questions. From https://github.com/benmarwick/bayesinfmatcultphyl

Auf dem Weg zu einer gemeinschaftlichen Meta-Analyse des Endpaläolithikums/frühesten Mesolithikums in Europa. Bericht über den 2. CLIOARCH-Workshop, 26.-27. November 2020

We report on a virtual workshop aimed at advancing a new synthesis of techno-cultural patterns at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary in Europe. We respond to the growing need of developing meta-analytical frameworks for comparing and eventually integrating disparate regional datasets and stress the opportunities of collaborative approaches. We propose that expert-sourced lithic data is a promising means of conducting systematic archaeological meta-analyses, and that the compilation and examination of similar continental-scale datasets may be an important research goal in the future.Wir berichten über den 2. Workshop im Rahmen des CLIOARCH-Projekts, der darauf abzielte, auf eine neue Synthese technokultureller Langzeitentwicklungen an der Pleistozän/Holozän-Grenze in Europa hinzuarbeiten. Wir reagieren damit auf den wachsenden Bedarf nach einem metaanalytischen Fundament für den Vergleich und die eventuelle Integration von heterogenen regionalen Datensätzen in der Archäologie des Spätpaläolithikums und frühesten Mesolithikums und betonen insbesondere die reichhaltigen Möglichkeiten, die kooperative Ansätze hierbei bieten. Wir schlagen vor, dass das Expert-Sourcing von vorgefilterten lithischen Informationen eine vielversprechende Grundlage zur Durchführung systematischer archäologischer MetaAnalysen ist und dass die Zusammenstellung, Untersuchung und Konservierung ähnlicher großräumiger Datensammlungen ein wichtiges Forschungsziel für die Zukunft sein könnte.CLIOARCH is an ERC Consolidator Grant project and has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 817564)

Benchmarking methods and data for the whole-outline geometric morphometric analysis of lithic tools

Originally developed for the quantitative analysis of organismal shapes, both two-dimensional (2D) and 3D geometric morphometric methods (GMMs) have recently gained some prominence in archaeology for the analysis of stone tools1-3—unquestionably the primary deep-time data source for the earliest periods of human cultural evolution.4 The key strength of GMM rests in its ability to statistically quantify and hence qualify complex shapes, which in turn can be used to infer social interaction,5 function,6, 7 reduction,8 as well as to assess classification systems and cultural relatedness.Fil: Araujo, Renata P.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Riede, Felix. University Aarhus; DinamarcaFil: Okumura, Mercedes. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Araujo, Astolfo G. M.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Leplongeon, Alice. Muséum National D'histoire Naturelle; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: Wren, Colin. University Of Colorado Colorado Springs; Estados Unidos. University of Colorado; Estados UnidosFil: Rabuñal, José R.. University Aarhus; Dinamarca. Universidad de Alicante; EspañaFil: Cardillo, Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Historia y Ciencias Humanas; ArgentinaFil: Cruz, María B.. Universidad de Valencia; EspañaFil: Matzig, David N.. University Aarhus; Dinamarc

Benchmarking methods and data for the whole-outline geometric morphometric analysis of lithic tools

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Cultural Evolution Society for funding this workshop. Additional costs were covered by funds made available by the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science (project COMPARCH, Grant Number 1113-00015B). David N. Matzig and Felix Riede's contributions are part of CLIOARCH, an ERC Consolidator Grant project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant Agreement No. 817564). Mercedes Okumura's research is funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, Grant No. 2018/23282-5). Astolfo G. M. Araujo's research is funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, Grant No. 2019/18664-9). Renata P. Araujo's research is funded by a doctoral grant from Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, Grant No. 142353/2019-1). Alice Leplongeon's research is funded by a postdoctoral grant from the Research Foundation in Flanders (FWO #12U9220N). José R. Rabuñal is supported by Margarita Salas fellowship (MARSALAS21-22) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Universities, the European Union-Next Generation EU and the University of Alicante. The authors also thank the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies for hosting all participants during this event

A quantitative analysis of Final Palaeolithic/earliest Mesolithic cultural taxonomy and evolution in Europe

Archaeological systematics, together with spatial and chronological information, are commonly used to infer cultural evolutionary dynamics in the past. For the study of the Palaeolithic, and particularly the European Final Palaeolithic and earliest Mesolithic, proposed changes in material culture are often interpreted as reflecting historical processes, migration, or cultural adaptation to climate change and resource availability. Yet, cultural taxonomic practice is known to be variable across research history and academic traditions, and few large-scale replicable analyses across such traditions have been undertaken. Drawing on recent developments in computational archaeology, we here present a data-driven assessment of the existing Final Palaeolithic/earliest Mesolithic cultural taxonomy in Europe. Our dataset consists of a large expert-sourced compendium of key sites, lithic toolkit composition, blade and bladelet production technology, as well as lithic armatures. The dataset comprises 16 regions and 86 individually named archaeological taxa ('cultures'), covering the period between ca. 15,000 and 11,000 years ago (cal BP). Using these data, we use geometric morphometric and multivariate statistical techniques to explore to what extent the dynamics observed in different lithic data domains (toolkits, technologies, armature shapes) correspond to each other and to the culture-historical relations of taxonomic units implied by traditional naming practice. Our analyses support the widespread conception that some dimensions of material culture became more diverse towards the end of the Pleistocene and the very beginning of the Holocene. At the same time, cultural taxonomic unit coherence and efficacy appear variable, leading us to explore potential biases introduced by regional research traditions, inter-analyst variation, and the role of disjunct macroevolutionary processes. In discussing the implications of these findings for narratives of cultural change and diversification across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, we emphasize the increasing need for cooperative research and systematic archaeological analyses that reach across research traditions

A quantitative analysis of Final Palaeolithic/earliest Mesolithic cultural taxonomy and evolution in Europe.

Archaeological systematics, together with spatial and chronological information, are commonly used to infer cultural evolutionary dynamics in the past. For the study of the Palaeolithic, and particularly the European Final Palaeolithic and earliest Mesolithic, proposed changes in material culture are often interpreted as reflecting historical processes, migration, or cultural adaptation to climate change and resource availability. Yet, cultural taxonomic practice is known to be variable across research history and academic traditions, and few large-scale replicable analyses across such traditions have been undertaken. Drawing on recent developments in computational archaeology, we here present a data-driven assessment of the existing Final Palaeolithic/earliest Mesolithic cultural taxonomy in Europe. Our dataset consists of a large expert-sourced compendium of key sites, lithic toolkit composition, blade and bladelet production technology, as well as lithic armatures. The dataset comprises 16 regions and 86 individually named archaeological taxa ('cultures'), covering the period between ca. 15,000 and 11,000 years ago (cal BP). Using these data, we use geometric morphometric and multivariate statistical techniques to explore to what extent the dynamics observed in different lithic data domains (toolkits, technologies, armature shapes) correspond to each other and to the culture-historical relations of taxonomic units implied by traditional naming practice. Our analyses support the widespread conception that some dimensions of material culture became more diverse towards the end of the Pleistocene and the very beginning of the Holocene. At the same time, cultural taxonomic unit coherence and efficacy appear variable, leading us to explore potential biases introduced by regional research traditions, inter-analyst variation, and the role of disjunct macroevolutionary processes. In discussing the implications of these findings for narratives of cultural change and diversification across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, we emphasize the increasing need for cooperative research and systematic archaeological analyses that reach across research traditions

A pan-European dataset revealing variability in lithic technology, toolkits, and artefact shapes ~15-11 kya

Abstract Comparative macro-archaeological investigations of the human deep past rely on the availability of unified, quality-checked datasets integrating different layers of observation. Information on the durable and ubiquitous record of Paleolithic stone artefacts and technological choices are especially pertinent to this endeavour. We here present a large expert-sourced collaborative dataset for the study of stone tool technology and artefact shape evolution across Europe between ~15.000 and 11.000 years before present. The dataset contains a compendium of key sites from the study period, and data on lithic technology and toolkit composition at the level of the cultural taxa represented by those sites. The dataset further encompasses 2D shapes of selected lithic artefact groups (armatures, endscrapers, and borers/perforators) shared between cultural taxa. These data offer novel possibilities to explore between-regional patterns of material culture change to reveal scale-dependent processes of long-term technological evolution in mobile hunter-gatherer societies at the end of the Pleistocene. Our dataset facilitates state-of-the-art quantitative analyses and showcases the benefits of collaborative data collation and synthesis

Disparity of lithic armature outlines across time (time-slices I to IV).

Disparity of lithic armature outlines across time (time-slices I to IV).</p