Pattern and Process in Cultural Evolution (Origins of Human Behavior and Culture): 2 - Hardcover

Shennan, Stephen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0520255992 ISBN 13: 9780520255999

Publisher: University of California Press, 2009

Synopsis

This volume offers an integrative approach to the application of evolutionary theory in studies of cultural transmission and social evolution and reveals the enormous range of ways in which Darwinian ideas can lead to productive empirical research, the touchstone of any worthwhile theoretical perspective. While many recent works on cultural evolution adopt a specific theoretical framework, such as dual inheritance theory or human behavioral ecology, Pattern and Process in Cultural Evolution emphasizes empirical analysis and includes authors who employ a range of backgrounds and methods to address aspects of culture from an evolutionary perspective. Editor Stephen Shennan has assembled archaeologists, evolutionary theorists, and ethnographers, whose essays cover a broad range of time periods, localities, cultural groups, and artifacts.

About this title

About the Author

Stephen Shennan is Professor of Theoretical Archaeology at University College London and Director of its Institute of Archaeology. He is the author or coauthor of many books, including Genes, Memes, and Human History, and has edited or coedited many additional volumes, including The Evolution of Cultural Diversity.

From the Back Cover

"Archaeological data are uniquely suited to testing models of cultural evolution. This volume provides an excellent summary of the state of the art in this new field."--Robert Boyd, coauthor of Not By Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution

From the Inside Flap

Archaeological data are uniquely suited to testing models of cultural evolution. This volume provides an excellent summary of the state of the art in this new field. Robert Boyd, coauthor of Not By Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution

Edition details

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0520255992
• ISBN 13: 9780520255999
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336