Human behavioral ecology and niche construction

Abstract

We examine the relationship between niche construction theory (NCT) and human behavioral ecology (HBE), two branches of evolutionary science that are important sources of theory in archeology. We distinguish between formal models of niche construction as an evolutionary process, and uses of niche construction to refer to a kind of human behavior. Formal models from NCT examine how environmental modification can change the selection pressures that organisms face. In contrast, formal models from HBE predict behavior assuming people behave adaptively in their local setting, and can be used to predict when and why people engage in niche construction. We emphasize that HBE as a field is much broader than foraging theory and can incorporate social and cultural influences on decision‐making. We demonstrate how these approaches can be formally incorporated in a multi‐inheritance framework for evolutionary research, and argue that archeologists can best contribute to evolutionary theory by building and testing models that flexibly incorporate HBE and NCT elements.

Ecological-cultural inheritance in the wetlands: the non-linear transition to plant food production in the southern Levant

“…NCT is complementary to a range of other concepts, including historical ecology (Crumley 1994;Balée and Erickson 2006) and human ecology (Butzer 1982). Findings interpreted by NCT can be usefully applied to adjust local optimal foraging models or plant food production models (Mohlenhoff et al 2015;Mohlenhoff and Codding 2017;Piperno et al 2017;Florin and Carah 2018;Ready and Price 2021). This nuanced and flexible application of NCT for interpreting archaeological data has led some to suggest that it is less than straightforward or even 'ununified' (Spengler 2021).…”

Beyond collective intelligence: Collective adaptation

“…and parenting strategies, cooperative and competitive strategies, etc. [94]. Cultural niche construction aims to explain how people adjust the composition of their social networks and their institutions to foster beneficial collective behaviours such as cooperation [95,96].…”

“…By assuming that humans and other animals aim to maximize their fitness, which can be defined in different ways, studies in this field aim to understand how particular socioecological contexts lead to different kinds of behaviours, including different mating and parenting strategies, cooperative and competitive strategies, etc. [ 94 ]. Cultural niche construction aims to explain how people adjust the composition of their social networks and their institutions to foster beneficial collective behaviours such as cooperation [ 95 , 96 ].…”

Contributions of evolutionary anthropology to understanding climate‐induced human migration

“…This climate diversity and the cultural adaptations that people employ to survive and reproduce in such environments is clearly represented in this special issue, from the Arctic tundra to the Australian desert (Bliege Bird & Bird, 2020 ; Kramer & Hackman, 2020 ; Pisor & Jones, 2020a ; Pisor & Jones, 2020b ; Ready & Collings, 2020 ; Scaggs et al, 2021 ). This set of specialized knowledge and behaviors in the context of a location has been referred to as the cultural niche (Ready & Price, 2021 ). But although we may observe current cultural adaptations to existing climate, without a deeper time window, we may not understand the cultural evolutionary processes that enabled these adjustments (Jones et al, 2020 ).…”