Stabilization of Cultural Innovations Depends on Population Density: Testing an Epidemiological Model of Cultural Evolution Against a Global Dataset of Rock Art Sites and Climate-Based Estimates of Ancient Population Densities

• Main Authors: Walker, Richard, Eriksson, Anders, Ruiz, Camille, Newton, Taylor Howard, Casalegno, Francesco
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2021
• Subjects: cultural evolution; Anthropology; Computer Sciences; Databases and Information Systems
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/discs-faculty-pubs/222; https://archium.ateneo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1212&context=discs-faculty-pubs
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Demographic models of human cultural evolution have high explanatory potential but weak empirical support. Here we use a global dataset of rock art sites and climate and genetics-based estimates of ancient population densities to test a new model based on epidemiological principles. The model focuse...