Behavioral Specialization During the Neolithic—An Evolutionary Model
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13076899 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Zsóka Vásárhelyi (0000-0003-0137-455X, HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research), István Scheuring (0000-0002-8108-8897, Eötvös Loránd University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 3 |
| Publication date | 2018-11-29 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2297-7775 • E-ISSN: 2297-7775 |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fsoc.2018.00035 |
| OpenAlex | W2903143098 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 44 |
The emergence of agriculture and complex societies during the Near-Eastern Neolithic opened a new era in human evolution. Food production seriously affected the ecological environment, and societies answered this with large-scale division of labour and specialisation. In this paper we study this transition with an individual based model framework. Our model captures the connections between the appearance of agriculture, social division of labour, and behavioural diversity. Our two main settings represent different habitats: In the pre-Neolithic habitat resources fluctuate in time and there is no large-scale food storage. In the Neolithic habitat active food production results in economic surplus. We consider a sexually reproducing social group, where individuals solve different tasks for survival. We assume that the task solving effectiveness has a genetic basis, but also improves with experience and learning. Since tasks can require more or less different skills, there is a trade-off between the genetic affinities for different tasks. Individuals are born with inherited task choice strategies that they can improve by imitating more successful peers. We have shown that for the Neolithic case both phenotypic (task choice strategy) and genetic specialisation is possible, if scarcer goods are more valuable. As the number of tasks increase, specialisation evolves only in a much larger group. Although phenotypic specialisation is often present, genetic specialisation requires strong assortativity both during imitation and mate choice. Our model shows that if economic surplus becomes available, behavioural specialisation and large-scale division of labour is likely to appear
Adaptation (eye · Agriculture · Assortativity · Biology · Division of labour · Economic geography · Economics · Geography · Imitation · Market economy · Scale (ratio · Sociocultural evolution · Sociology · Task (project management · Computer Science · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Language and cultural evolution · Psychology · Social Psychology · Ecology
Evolution in Changing Environments
Three Laws of Behavior Genetics and What They Mean
Experimental evidence for the influence of group size on cultural complexity
The benefits of costly signaling
Coevolution of neocortical size, group size and language in humans
Regional population collapse followed initial agriculture booms in mid-Holocene Europe
Ecological consequences of human niche construction
Craft Specialization and Social Evolution
The Hadza
Exploring the long-term associations between adolescents’ music training and academic achievement
The Major Transitions in Evolution
Hierarchy in the forest
Hunting in lowland, tropical rain forest
The ultrasocial origin of the Anthropocene
Educational and social class assortative mating in fertile British couples
Guns, Germs, and Steel
On the Nature of Transitions
Hunting, social status and biological fitness
A Bioeconomic Approach to Marriage and the Sexual Division of Labor
Myths about Hunter-Gatherers
Demography and Cultural Evolution
Willow Smoke and Dogs' Tails
Household Task Delegation among High-Fertility Forager-Horticulturalists of Lowland Bolivia
Hunting Ability and Reproductive Success Among Male Ache Foragers
Food Sharing Among Ache Hunter-Gatherers of Eastern Paraguay
The Pre-Natufian Epipaleolithic
| Highly cited | No |
|---|