Monday Ground Up: Phylogenies And Evolutionary Biology in Anthropology:

Contributing author Maria Rainier

In biology, a phylogeny is the historical evolution of an organism as understood by ancestor and descendant relationships. Phylogenies help biologists plot and understand how a given organism has arrived at its present condition, giving valuable insight into the evolutionary process. By now, you're probably wondering whether or not you've arrived at the Ancient Digger page, but you're right – this is an anthropological blog. So how does evolutionary biology fit into the picture?

Cultural Phylogenies

As discussed in Wired Science, anthropologists Thomas Currie and Ruth Mace of University College in London decided to address the issue of complex society evolution with the phylogeny approach, borrowed from evolutionary biology. The evolution of post-ice age complex societies has long been a topic of fierce contention and inconclusive tests in anthropological circles, and although Currie and Mace haven't designed the perfect study, its innovative design has a lot of potential for future inquiry.

The Pacific Islands Case Study

Currie and Mace set about using cultural phylogenies to determine whether a sample of complex societies evolved and dissolved incrementally and linearly, or in a more haphazard and unpredictable fashion. They chose an area of the Pacific Islands between Madagascar and Easter Island to conduct their study, gathering information on inhabitants who lived up to 5,200 years ago. The main indicator of cultural development in this study was the bifurcation of language, which often coincided with moves from one island to the next. This led researchers to construct a solid chronological history of 84 island societies based primarily on language comparison techniques.

Findings: Steps to Progress and Leaps to Dissolution 

The patterns of political differentiation that were discovered as Currie and Mace constructed a phylogeny-inspired tree diagram were consistent with linear development. These researchers found that, by comparing their tree to computer-generated versions that mimicked both linear and nonlinear development, they could demonstrate their tree's strong similarities to the linear model. In other words, their cultural phylogeny tree showed that societies develop in small, consistent steps rather than in unpredictable leaps.

However, to complicate matters, the linear model didn't fit their data in terms of direction: not all Pacific Island societies had made consistent progress. Some had regressed, and that happened at a different pace. Societies that had dissolved were shown to have done so at an alarmingly fast rate, demonstrating that the complex society evolution debate is still in need of high-quality and innovative research to reach a resolution.

While it can be reasonably stated that these societies progressed linearly in small, consistent increments and dissolved in large regressive steps, there's no solid evidence that this was the case in all situations. The study conducted by Currie and Mace can also be criticized for its generalizations and lack of specificity in categorizing political differences. But these small faults are no reason to dismiss the conclusions of the research. In fact, it's likely that other anthropologists will adopt the cultural phylogeny strategy to map trees of societies in southern and central Africa, where well-preserved chronological language patterns would allow for lucrative comparisons and strong conclusions.

Bio: Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education, researching various online programs and blogging about student life issues. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

Resources

Photo of Easter Island Statues: Public Domain
Haeckel tree

Monday Ground Up: Archaeological Discovery of Viking Artifacts Reveals Facts about Ancient Society

Guest Article By Maria Rainier

Scientists working in Norway’s Jotunheimen mountain range have been reaping the benefits of climate change, taking advantage of warmer conditions to make an exciting archaeological discovery whose implications may help to reconstruct the region’s ancient society.

With glaciers melting quickly enough to reveal layers of ice that have never been exposed before, it’s an archaeological opportunity almost too much to handle. Artifact collection in frozen areas is a delicate process which often requires finding an artifact within a few days of its emergence. The artifact must then be carefully removed, transported to a laboratory, and frozen to keep it from disintegrating. This is especially true of any type of fiber (clothing, rope, and thread), animal skins, feathers, or hair, while wood takes a few years to rot and is easier to manage for archaeologists.

The Viking artifacts being discovered in Norway are predominantly wooden hunting weapons, but archaeologists are still struggling to collect all specimens before they start to fall apart.

Artifacts from Viking Hunters

Archaeologists are quickly learning more about Viking reindeer hunters based on the tools they’re finding in the mountains. The most commonly discovered artifacts are part of an innovative scare tactic meant to drive reindeer toward hidden batteries of Viking archers. This scare tactic involved creating a barrier of wooden stakes spaced about 6 ½ feet apart. Each stake had a foot-long piece of wood tied to its tip so any gust of wind would cause the entire row of stakes to start “flapping,” scaring reindeer toward the waiting Viking hunters.

Most of these archaeological discoveries are incomplete, missing the thread which tied the moving pieces to the stakes, but scientists are hoping to find some intact as they increase their efforts. Bows and arrows and a leather shoe have also been found at the Jotunheimen sites.

Reconstructing Norway’s Ancient Society

According to Norse mythology, the Jotunheimen mountains were inhabited by the “Ice Giants,” also called Frost Giants or Jötunn (Jotunheimen means “home of the giants”). While they may have been tall in stature, these “giants” weren’t the superhuman entities of lore.

What archaeologists do know about them is that they had an organized society, a conclusion drawn from the way Vikings would have cooperated to create the stake barriers for reindeer hunting. Scientists hypothesize that they hunted in groups of 15 or 20, lying in wait together with their bows and arrows until the frightened reindeer ran within about 65 feet of them. This implies that Norway’s ancient society was characterized by hierarchy, as leadership would have been a necessary part of organizing and executing a collective hunting strategy. The prolific Jotunheimen sites are likely to offer more insights into this ancient society and scientists are working to make more meaningful archeological discoveries.


Bio: Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at Online Degrees, researching areas of online colleges. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

Sources:

Photo: Marcin Szala, used with permission