Evolutionary household archaeology: Inter-generational cultural transmission at housepit 54, Bridge River site, British Columbia

Prentiss, Anna Marie; Walsh, Marianne E.; Foor, Thomas A.; Hampton, Ashley; Ryan, Ethan

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2020.105260

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Floors IIf-IIl reflect a larger rectangular-shaped house (occupied by populations that could have ranged between about 10 and 30), while floors IIa-IIe represent the house at full size, an approximate 13 m diameter oval, with house populations estimated between about 25 and 45 [26,37]. Prentiss et al [54] provide a phylogenetic model suggesting that rules for social interactions evolved from a communalistic (IIh-IIl) to a more collectivist (IIa-IIg) social strategy. This suggests that over time families shifted from communal cooking and sharing of other work (communalist) Here we replicate the procedure followed by Prentiss et al [27] but with some changes.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prentiss et al . [54] provide a phylogenetic model suggesting that rules for social interactions evolved from a communalistic (IIh–IIl) to a more collectivist (IIa–IIg) social strategy. This suggests that over time families shifted from communal cooking and sharing of other work (communalist) to separation into distinct family work spaces (collectivist).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Later reoccupations included a brief period of use during ca 900-1000 cal. BP (IIa1 floor) and a substantial Fur Trade period floor and roof dating to the mid-ninteenth century CE [53]. The IIa1 floor was largely removed by occupants of the Fur Trade floor.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emergence of persistent institutionalized inequality at the Bridge River site, British Columbia: the roles of managerial mutualism and coercion

Prentiss

Foor

Hampton

et al. 2023

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Persistent institutionalized inequality (PII) emerged at the Bridge River site by ca 1200–1300 years ago. Research confirms that PII developed at a time of population packing associated with unstable fluctuations in a critical food resource (anadromous salmon) and persisted across multiple generations. While we understand the demographic and ecological conditions under which this history unfolded, we have yet to address details of the underlying social process. In this paper, we draw on Bridge River's Housepit 54 to examine two alternative hypotheses. Hypothesis 1, mutualism, suggests that household heads signalled to maintain and attract new members as a means of supporting the demographic viability of the house. Inequality is indicated by variation in prestige markers but less obviously in economic fundamentals. Hypothesis 2, coercion, asserts that the more successful households developed control over access to critical food resources, forcing others into the choice between emigration and subjugation. Inequality is indicated by inter-family differences in prestige markers and economic fundamentals. Results suggest that inequality emerged under a mutualism scenario but persisted for subsequent generations under more coercive conditions. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Evolutionary ecology of inequality’.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emergence of persistent institutionalized inequality at the Bridge River site, British Columbia: the roles of managerial mutualism and coercion

Prentiss

Foor

Hampton

et al. 2023

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…There was a relatively rich body of archeological and ethnographic data to piece together aspects of St'at'imc land-use histories. Archeological surveys and excavations spanning decades have highlighted the extensive use and occupation of the McKay Creek region by people for millennia (Prentiss and Kuijt, 2012;Prentiss et al, 2014Prentiss et al, , 2020. Archeological data provided glimpses into pre-colonial seasonal rounds and broad usage of fish, plant, animals.…”

Section: St'at'imc Territory Mckay Creek Wildfire Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Pop-up restoration in colonial contexts: applying an indigenous food systems lens to ecological restoration

Grenz,

Armstrong

2023

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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As environmental injustices and their disproportionate harms to Indigenous communities are increasingly acknowledged, restoration strategies are being deployed widely by environmental NGOs, resource extraction industries, and government agencies. The inclusion of Indigenous communities and their knowledges in restoration efforts are often considered progress in the pursuit of ecological reconciliation. However, in some cases we have observed a lack of meaningful progress as settler colonial prescriptions for land-healing can eschew efforts to decolonize ecological restoration — what we have labeled “pop-up restoration.” We consider two restoration efforts underway in St’at’imc and Quw’utsun territories (Canada) and contrast them with what we are learning alongside the communities’ own values and efforts to reclaim and revitalize food systems throughout forest, wetland, and grassland systems. Utilizing culturally appropriate pathways, we then evaluate how applying an Indigenous Food Systems lens to ecological restoration may provide a framework to remedy pop-up restoration, confronting settler colonial aspirations to transform Indigenous homelands while asserting justice in ecological restoration contexts.

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“…I have explored relationships between demography, subsistence, and social change in village-scale settlements using theoretical models drawn from HBE including foraging theory, demographic ecology, and socioecology (145). CTT is very useful in helping us to understand intergenerational change in cultural practices as with the evolution of house architecture and tool-making traditions within and between communities (84,146). EES-aligned frameworks (e.g., punctuated equilibria, evo-devo, exaptation, niche construction, and ecological inheritance) are critical for the study of cultural change across long timescales where data might span lithic scatters to urban centers (111,118,119,147).…”

Section: Concluding Thoughtsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theoretical plurality, the extended evolutionary synthesis, and archaeology

Prentiss

2021

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The study of cultural evolution now includes multiple theoretical frameworks. Despite common influence from Darwinian evolutionary theory, there is considerable diversity. Thus, we recognize those most influenced by the tenets of the Modern Synthesis (evolutionary archaeology, cultural transmission theory, and human behavioral ecology) and those most aligned more closely with concepts emerging in the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (cultural macroevolution and evolutionary cognitive archaeology). There has been substantial debate between adherents of these schools of thought as to their appropriateness and priority for addressing the fundamentals of cultural evolution. I argue that theoretical diversity is necessary to address research questions arising from a complex archaeological record. Concepts associated with the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis may offer unique insights into the cultural evolutionary process.

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Evolutionary household archaeology: Inter-generational cultural transmission at housepit 54, Bridge River site, British Columbia

Cited by 5 publications

References 42 publications

Emergence of persistent institutionalized inequality at the Bridge River site, British Columbia: the roles of managerial mutualism and coercion

Emergence of persistent institutionalized inequality at the Bridge River site, British Columbia: the roles of managerial mutualism and coercion

Pop-up restoration in colonial contexts: applying an indigenous food systems lens to ecological restoration

Theoretical plurality, the extended evolutionary synthesis, and archaeology

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