The Cultural Transmission of Great Basin Projectile-Point Technology I: An Experimental Simulation

TLDR

Darwinian archaeology emphasizes cultural transmission, and theoretical models show that individual-level transmission details can produce detectable population-level effects in the archaeological record. This study experimentally simulates prehistoric projectile‑point technology transmission to test whether indirect bias and guided variation, as proposed by Bettinger and Eerkens, generate the observed Nevada–California attribute correlations. Participants designed virtual projectile points and evaluated them in virtual hunting environments, alternating between phases of indirectly biased cultural transmission and independent individual learning. The simulation revealed that cultural transmission phases produced significantly stronger attribute correlations than individual learning, that indirect bias outperformed costly individual learning in multimodal environments, and that such experimental simulations are valuable tools for studying cultural change.

Abstract

A Darwinian evolutionary approach to archaeology naturally leads to a focus on cultural transmission. Theoretical models of cultural evolution indicate that individual-level details of cultural transmission can have specific and significant population-level effects, implying that differences in transmission may be detectable in the archaeological record. Here we present an experimental simulation of the cultural transmission of prehistoric projectile-point technology, simulating the two transmission modes-indirect bias and guided variation-that Bettinger and Eerkens (1999) suggested were responsible for differences in Nevada and California point-attribute correlations. Groups of participants designed “virtual projectile points” and tested them in “virtual hunting environments,” with different phases of learning simulating, alternately, indirectly biased cultural transmission and independent individual learning. As predicted, periods of cultural transmission were associated with significantly stronger attribute correlations than were periods of individual learning. We also found that participants who could engage in indirectly biased horizontal cultural transmission outperformed individual-learning controls, especially when individual learning was costly and the selective environment was multimodal. The study demonstrates that experimental simulations of cultural transmission, used alongside archaeological data, mathematical models and computer simulations, constitute a useful tool for studying cultural change.