ANTHR 206 LECTURE 22

Explanation PT 2

Overview: Neo-Darwinian Evolutionary Archaeology

• Concepts Covered:

  • Justification for the study of archaeology from an evolutionary perspective.

  • Important distinctions relevant to the discussion of archaeological practices:

    • Essentialism vs. Materialism

    • The classification of archaeology as a confused science.

  • Impact of Darwinian thinking on evolutionary research.

  • Tensions between progressivism and Darwinism.

Justification for Evolutionary Perspective

• Why Evolution Matters:

  • Humans as life forms subjected to evolutionary forces.

  • Behaviour: the pacemaker of evolution, influencing phenotypic traits.

  • Human behaviour variability and transmissibility through generations.

  • Technology emerges as a product of human behaviour, deemed part of human phenotype.

Important Distinctions in Perspective

• Kinds of Reality:

  • Non-organic world vs. Organic world.

  • Differences in sciences: Non-living vs. Living systems.

  • Theoretical approaches in thinking: Typological vs. Population thinking.

• Views of Reality:

  • Essentialism: Focus on types being real and empirical.

  • Materialism: Emphasizes the importance of individual variation and historical contexts.

  • The impact of placing science within the wrong worldview undermines proper understanding.

Views of Reality: Essentialism vs. Materialism

• Essentialist Perspective:

  • Types are real, individual variations seen as noise.

  • Change is driven by prime-movers and is deemed transformative.

  • Time and space considered static dimensions.

• Materialist Perspective:

  • Variation is crucial; prime-movers represent sources of variation.

  • Change viewed as cumulative; acknowledges the dynamic nature of time and space.

  • Emphasis on explanations arising from historical contingencies.

Confusion in Archaeology as a Science

• Causative Associations:

  • Influences from geology (essentialist) in Europe, ethnography (both essentialist and progressivist) in North America.

  • Ongoing methodology reliance on essentialist and a-historical sciences like physics and chemistry.

  • The necessity for archaeology to develop its theoretical framework focused on living systems.

Continued Confusion in Archaeology

• Focus Areas Lacking Balance:

  • Excessive emphasis on proximate rather than ultimate causes (e.g., "how" vs. "why").

  • Predominance of typological focus at the expense of individual variation.

  • Misguided inquiries rooted in the notion of human exceptionalism.

Evolutionary Research Fundamentals

• Key Concepts:

  • Evolution defined as the differential persistence of variation over time (biologically or behaviorally).

  • Mechanisms of Evolution:

    • Variation generation

    • Variation transmission

    • Variation selection

• Research Process:

  • Two-step approach: Document variation followed by crafting evolutionary explanations.

  • Speciation identified as a gradual aspect of evolutionary change rather than a transformative event.

Principles of Evolutionary Explanation

• Cumulative Nature of Change:

  • Individual actions as the locus of behavioural change; individuals are the targets of evolutionary mechanisms.

  • Populations as units that evolve, with time and space recognized as dynamic factors.

  • Historical contingencies underscore cumulative changes; movement away from vitalistic or teleological explanations.