Evolution in Archaeology

This review begins with a brief outline of the key concepts of Darwinian archaeology. Its history is then summarized, beginning with its emergence as a significant theoretical focus within the discipline in the early 1980s; its main present-day currents are then presented, citing examples of recent work. The developments in archaeology are part of broader trends in anthropology and psychology and are characterized by the same theoretical disagreements. There are two distinct research traditions: one centered on cultural transmission and dual inheritance theory and the other on human behavioral ecology. The development of specifically archaeological methodologies within these two traditions for testing evolutionary hypotheses relating to diachronic questions using archaeological data is discussed. Finally, this review suggests that the greatest challenge for the future lies in finding ways of using archaeological data to address current major debates in evolutionary social science as a whole concerning, for example, the emergence of largescale cooperation

Demography and cultural innovation: A model and its implications for the emergence of modern human culture

In recent years there has been a major growth of interest in exploring the analogies between the genetic transmission of information from one generation to the next and the processes of cultural transmission, in an attempt to obtain a greater understanding of how culture change occurs. This article uses computer simulation to explore the implications of a specific model of the relationship between demography and innovation within an evolutionary framework. The consequences of innovation appear far more successful in larger populations than in smaller ones. In conclusion, it is suggested that the model has major implications for the origins of modern human culture in the last 50,000 years, which may be seen not as the result of genetic mutations leading to improved cognitive capacities of individuals, but as a population consequence of the demographic growth and increased contact range which are evident at this time. It is also proposed that the model may be of general relevance for understanding the process of cultural evolution in modern and pre-modern humans

State-of-the-art in studies of glacial isostatic adjustment for the British Isles: a literature review

Understanding the effects of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) of the British Isles is essential for the assessment of past and future sea-level trends. GIA has been extensively examined in the literature, employing different research methods and observational data types. Geological evidence from palaeo-shorelines and undisturbed sedimentary deposits has been used to reconstruct long-term relative sea-level change since the Last Glacial Maximum. This information derived from sea-level index points has been employed to inform empirical isobase models of the uplift in Scotland using trend surface and Gaussian trend surface analysis, as well as to calibrate more theory-driven GIA models that rely on Earth mantle rheology and ice sheet history. Furthermore, current short-term rates of GIA-induced crustal motion during the past few decades have been measured using different geodetic techniques, mainly continuous GPS (CGPS) and absolute gravimetry (AG). AG-measurements are generally employed to increase the accuracy of the CGPS estimates. Synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) looks promising as a relatively new technique to measure crustal uplift in the northern parts of Great Britain, where the GIA-induced vertical land deformation has its highest rate. This literature review provides an in-depth comparison and discussion of the development of these different research approaches

Evolutionary Demography and the Population History of the European Early Neolithic

In this paper I propose that evolutionary demography and associated theory from human behavioral ecology provide a strong basis for explaining the available evidence for the patterns observed in the fi rst agricultural settlement of Europe in the 7th–5th millennium cal. BC, linking together a variety of what have previously been disconnected observations and casting doubt on some long-standing existing models. An outline of relevant aspects of life history theory, which provides the foundation for understanding demography, is followed by a review of large-scale demographic patterns in the early Neolithic, which point to rapid population increase and a process of demic diffusion. More localized socioeconomic and demographic patterns suggesting rapid expansion to local carrying capacities and an associated growth of inequality in the earliest farming communities of central Europe (the Linear Pottery Culture, or LBK) are then outlined and shown to correspond to predictions of spatial population ecology and reproductive skew theory. Existing models of why it took so long for farming to spread to northern and northwest Europe, which explain the spread in terms of the gradual disruption of hunter-gatherer ways of life, are then questioned in light of evidence for population collapse at the end of the LBK. Finally, some broader implications of the study are presented, including the suggestion that the pattern of an initial agricultural boom followed by a bust may be relevant in other parts of the world

Narratives of Distinctiveness or Similarity and Connection - A Response to Korman, De Jong and Jordan’s Steve de Shazer’s Theory Development

روایت‌ از تفاوت‌‌ها، شباهت‌ها و ارتباط پاسخی به توسعه‌ی نظریه‌ی کورمان، دی یونگ و استیو دی شیزرِ جوردان در سال 2020 مجله‌ی شیوه‌های راه‌حل محور مقاله‌ای با عنوان توسعه‌ی نظری استیو دی شیزر منتشر کرد. این پژوهش به عنوان کاری تخصصی از دی شیزر مورد بررسی قرار گرفت که محققان آن را به 4 گروه تقسیم‌بندی کردند. در این مقاله 6 قاعده‌ی کلی شناسایی شد که آن‌ها معتقدند اساس تفکر دی شیزر می‌باشد. در تفسیر آن‌ها در ورای این شش اصل، نکات قابل تاملی درباره‌ی متمایز بودنSFBT وجود دارد که محققان مشتاق هستند آن‌ها را با توجه به ابعاد اساسی‌شان از بیشتر راه‌حل‌ها و شاید همه‌ی راه‌حل‌ها متفاوت جلوه دهند. این مقاله پاسخی به جنبه‌ی خاص توسعه‌ی نظری استیو دی شیزر است. در این‌جا نشان داده شده است که امکان روایت های متمایز شده ای در همین زمینه در مقایسه با رویکردهای مختلف وجود دارد و روایت‌های مشابه و موارد مرتبط با آن مطرح می‌شوند. برخی استدلال‌ها برای توسعه‌ی روایت‌های بیشتر، شباهت‌ها و ارتباطات توسعه یافته‌اند

Towards a Critical Solution-Focused Practice?

This article explores possible connections between solution-focused practice, collective action, and social change. It considers how solution-focused practice might enter and be used in such contexts. A case is made for collective action as one type of response to the sort of difficulties that lead people to seek therapy. This is addressed first in a solution-focused way, by considering characteristics of the approach that might help its adaptation for social and collective action. Finally, ideas are offered to make solution-focused practice more suited to such endeavors

Social inequality and the transmission of cultural traditions in forager societies

The object of this chapter is to sketch out the basis of an archaeological approach to examining the interrelationships between cultural traditions, inequality and the maintenance of social groups through time. The approach is intended to be of general relevance, but the discussion will be concentrated on the anthropology of foraging societies, since, for a variety of reasons, these are generally agreed to be of most relevance to providing a perspective for the analysis and discussion of inferred patterns of long-term human evolution