The Nature of Culture

Beschreibung

This volume introduces a model of the expansion of cultural capacity as a systemic approach with biological, historical and individual dimensions. It is contrasted with existing approaches from primatology and behavioural ecology; influential factors like differences in life history and demography are discussed; and the different stages of the development of cultural capacity in human evolution are traced in the archaeological record.  
The volume provides a synthetic view on a) the different factors and mechanisms of cultural development, and b) expansions of cultural capacities in human evolution beyond the capacities observed in animal culture so far. It is an important topic because only a volume of contributions from different disciplines can yield the necessary breadth to discuss the complex subject. The model introduced and discussed originates in the naturalist context and tries to open the discussion to some culturalist aspects, thus the publication in a series with archaeological and biological emphasis is apt. As a new development the synthetic model of expansion of cultural capacity is introduced and discussed in a broad perspective.
This volume introduces a model of the expansion of cultural capacity as a systemic approach with biological, historical and individual dimensions. It is contrasted with existing approaches from primatology and behavioural ecology; influential factors like differences in life history and demography are discussed; and the different stages of the development of cultural capacity in human evolution are traced in the archaeological record.  
The volume provides a synthetic view on a) the different factors and mechanisms of cultural development, and b) expansions of cultural capacities in human evolution beyond the capacities observed in animal culture so far. It is an important topic because only a volume of contributions from different disciplines can yield the necessary breadth to discuss the complex subject. The model introduced and discussed originates in the naturalist context and tries to open the discussion to some culturalist aspects, thus the publication in a series with archaeological and biological emphasis is apt. As a new development the synthetic model of expansion of cultural capacity is introduced and discussed in a broad perspective.
Introduces a systemic-approach model for the expansion of cultural capacity with biological, historical, and individual elements Provides a synthetic view of the different factors and mechanisms of cultural development and on expansions of cultural capacities in human evolution beyond the capacities observed in animal culture Traces the different stages of the development of cultural capacity in humans through the archaeological record Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autor*in

Miriam N. Haidle

Themen in »The Nature of Culture«

Cultural capacity Hominin cultures Stone tools Evolution of play Demographics Behavioral ecology Cultural anthropology

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“This book is the result of an interdisciplinary symposium held in 2011 to explore the role that culture played in early human expansions. The editors of this volume present a mix of both primatological and archaeological discussion on cultural origins to answer the question of when and why hominins became dependent on technology. The primatological papers are very much fixated on common chimpanzees, but authors throughout the book recognize how widespread the evidence for culture is among mammals and birds. The archaeological papers range from the earliest Paleolithic to the Early Upper Paleolithic. The volume contains many beautiful and informative photos and other illustrations, and the book is also available in electronic format.” (Susan Cachel, Rutgers University)
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