Convergent Evolution in Stone-Tool Technology

by Michael J. O'Brien (Editor), Briggs Buchanan (Editor), Metin I. Eren (Editor)

Overview

Scholars from a variety of disciplines consider cases of convergence in lithic technology, when functional or developmental constraints result in similar forms in independent lineages.

Hominins began using stone tools at least 2.6 million years ago, perhaps even 3.4 million years ago. Given the nearly ubiquitous use of stone tools by humans and their ancestors, the study of lithic technology offers an important line of inquiry into questions of evolution and behavior. This book examines convergence in stone tool-making, cases in which functional or developmental constraints result in similar forms in independent lineages. Identifying examples of convergence, and distinguishing convergence from divergence, refutes hypotheses that suggest physical or cultural connection between far-flung prehistoric toolmakers. Employing phylogenetic analysis and stone-tool replication, the contributors show that similarity of tools can be caused by such common constraints as the fracture properties of stone or adaptive challenges rather than such unlikely phenomena as migration of toolmakers over an Arctic ice shelf.

Contributors
R. Alexander Bentley, Briggs Buchanan, Marcelo Cardillo, Mathieu Charbonneau, Judith Charlin, Chris Clarkson, Loren G. Davis, Metin I. Eren, Peter Hiscock, Thomas A. Jennings, Steven L. Kuhn, Daniel E. Lieberman, George R. McGhee, Alex Mackay, Michael J. O'Brien, Charlotte D. Pevny, Ceri Shipton, Ashley M. Smallwood, Heather Smith, Jayne Wilkins, Samuel C. Willis, Nicolas Zayns

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262552080
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	05/21/2024
Series:	Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology , #22
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Michael J. O'Brien is Provost and Professor of History at Texas A&M University–San Antonio and the coauthor of I'll Have What She's Having: Mapping Social Behavior and The Acceleration of Cultural Change: From Ancestors to Algorithms (both published by the MIT Press).

Briggs Buchanan is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Tulsa.

Metin I. Eren is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Director of Archaeology at Kent State University.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword vii

Preface and Acknowledgments ix

I Introduction 1

1 Issues in Archaeological Studies of Convergence Michael J. O'Brien Briggs Buchanan Metin I. Eren 3

II Recognizing Convergence and Constraints 21

2 Limits on the Possible Forms of Stone Tools: A Perspective from Convergent Biological Evolution George R. McGhee 23

3 The Transparency of Imitation versus Emulation in the Middle Paleolithic R. Alexander Bentley 47

4 Why Convergence Should Be a Potential Hypothesis for the Emergence and Occurrence of Stone-Tool Form and Production Processes: An Illustration Using Replication Metin I. Eren Briggs Buchanan Michael J. O'Brien 61

5 Technical Constraints on the Convergent Evolution of Technologies Mathieu Charbonneau 73

6 Being a Carnivorous Hominin in the Lower Paleolithic: A Biological Perspective on Convergence and Stasis Daniel E. Lieberman 91

III Evidence and Other Issues 107

7 Reduction Constraints and Shape Convergence along Tool Ontogenetic Trajectories: An Example from Late Holocene Projectile Points of Southern Patagonia Judith Charlin Marcelo Cardillo 109

8 Convergence and Continuity in the Initial Upper Paleolithic of Eurasia Steven L. Kuhn Nicolas Zwyns 131

9 The Point Is the Point: Emulative Social Learning and Weapon Manufacture in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa Jayne Wilkins 153

10 Small, Sharp, and Standardized: Global Convergence in Backed-Microlith Technology Chris Clarkson Peter Hiscock Alex Mackay Ceri Shipton 175

IV Patterns in the Archaeological Record 201

11 The Convergent Evolution of Serrated Points on the Southern Plains-Woodland Border of Central North America Ashley M. Smallwood Heather L. Smith Charlotte D. Pevny Thomas A. Jennings 203

12 Clovis and Toyah: Convergent Blade Technologies on the Southern Plains Periphery of North America Thomas A. Jennings Ashley M. Smallwood 229

13 The "Levallois-like" Technological System of the Western Stemmed Tradition: A Case of Convergent Evolution in Early North American Prehistory? Loren G. Davis Samuel C. Willis 253

14 Assessing the Likelihood of Convergence among North American Projectile-Point Types Briggs Buchanan Metin I. Eren Michael J. O'Brien 275

Contributors 289

Index 291