Environment-induced changes in selective constraints on social learning during the peopling of the Americas


Journal article


Briggs Buchanan, A. Chao, Chun‐Huo Chiu, R. K. Colwell, M. J. O’Brien, Angelia Werner, M. Eren
Scientific reports, 2017

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APA   Click to copy
Buchanan, B., Chao, A., Chiu, C. H., Colwell, R. K., O’Brien, M. J., Werner, A., & Eren, M. (2017). Environment-induced changes in selective constraints on social learning during the peopling of the Americas. Scientific Reports.


Chicago/Turabian   Click to copy
Buchanan, Briggs, A. Chao, Chun‐Huo Chiu, R. K. Colwell, M. J. O’Brien, Angelia Werner, and M. Eren. “Environment-Induced Changes in Selective Constraints on Social Learning during the Peopling of the Americas.” Scientific reports (2017).


MLA   Click to copy
Buchanan, Briggs, et al. “Environment-Induced Changes in Selective Constraints on Social Learning during the Peopling of the Americas.” Scientific Reports, 2017.


BibTeX   Click to copy

@article{briggs2017a,
  title = {Environment-induced changes in selective constraints on social learning during the peopling of the Americas},
  year = {2017},
  journal = {Scientific reports},
  author = {Buchanan, Briggs and Chao, A. and Chiu, Chun‐Huo and Colwell, R. K. and O’Brien, M. J. and Werner, Angelia and Eren, M.}
}

Abstract

The weaponry technology associated with Clovis and related Early Paleoindians represents the earliest well-defined evidence of humans in Pleistocene North America. We assess the technological diversity of these fluted stone points found at archaeological sites in the western and eastern halves of North America by employing statistical tools used in the quantification of ecological biodiversity. Our results demonstrate that the earliest hunters in the environmentally heterogeneous East used a more diverse set of points than those in the environmentally homogenous West. This and other evidence shows that environmental heterogeneity in the East promoted the relaxation of selective constraints on social learning and increased experimentation with point designs.