AGENTS OF CHANGE: MODELING BIOCULTURAL EVOLUTION IN UPPER PLEISTOCENE WESTERN EURASIA

C. Michael Barton and Julien Riel-Salvatore
Additional contact information
C. Michael Barton: Center for Social Dynamics and Complexity, and School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, USA
Julien Riel-Salvatore: Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Denver, USA

Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), 2012, vol. 15, issue 01n02, 1-24

Abstract: The complex interactions between social learning and biological change are key to understanding the human species and its origins. Yet paleoanthropological models often focus only on the evolution of the human genome and physical characters, while behavior is treated as an epiphenomenon of biological evolution. We present the results of a series of experiments that use computational models, parametrized with new archaeological data, to simulate the complex dynamics of human biocultural evolution in the changing environment of OIS (Oxygen Isotope Stage) 3 of western Eurasia (~58000–27000 ka). These experiments allow us to compare alternative trajectories of human evolution, resulting from differing combinations of socioecological behaviors and biological conditions, against the paleoanthropological record.

Keywords: Modeling; Neanderthals; modern human origins; human ecology; Pleistocene hominins; land-use; gene-culture coevolution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0219525911003359
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:acsxxx:v:15:y:2012:i:01n02:n:s0219525911003359

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

DOI: 10.1142/S0219525911003359

Access Statistics for this article

Advances in Complex Systems (ACS) is currently edited by Frank Schweitzer

More articles in Advances in Complex Systems (ACS) from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().