Multilevel Selection and Political Evolution in the Valley of Oaxaca, 500–100 B.C.

Human languages show a remarkable degree of variation in the area they cover. However, the factors governing the distribution of human cultural groups such as languages are not well understood. While previous studies have examined the role of a number of environmental variables the importance of cultural factors has not been systematically addressed. Here we use a geographical information system (GIS) to integrate information about languages with environmental, ecological, and ethnographic data to test a number of hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the global distribution of languages. We show that the degree of political complexity and type of subsistence strategy exhibited by societies are important predictors of the area covered by a language. Political complexity is also strongly associated with the latitudinal gradient in language area, whereas subsistence strategy is not. We argue that a process of cultural group selection favoring more complex societies may have been important in shaping the present-day global distribution of language diversity.cultural diversity ͉ cultural evolution ͉ cultural group selection ͉ language diversity ͉ latitudinal gradient

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political complexity predicts the spread of ethnolinguistic groups

Currie

Mace²

2009

“…Each of the three main parts of the valley was controlled by a chiefly center, with an intervening 80-km 2 buffer zone left virtually unoccupied. San José Mogote in the northern valley was still the largest center, at 60-65 hectares (ha); San Martín Tilcajete in the southern valley, at 25 ha, was probably its main rival (17,18).…”

Section: The Establishment Of Village Lifementioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the most interesting stories to emerge from recent research is Monte Albán's use of military force to subjugate Tilcajete. Details and 14 C dates have been provided by Spencer and Redmond (9,17,18). …”

Section: Military Consolidation Of the Valley Of Oaxaca: 2450 -2000 Bpmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The origin of war: New ¹⁴ C dates from ancient Mexico

Flannery

Marcus

2003

New 14 C dates from archaeological sites in Oaxaca, Mexico, support R. C. Kelly's observation that intervillage raiding may begin as soon as a region has segmentary societies. The oldest defensive palisade dates to 3260 -3160 B.P. in conventional radiocarbon years, only a few centuries after village life was established. Over the next millennium raiding evolved into war, with residences and temples burned, captives killed, and populations moving to defensible hills. 14 C dates are now available for the first use of hieroglyphic writing to record a captive's name, military victories leading to the consolidation of the Zapotec state, the first skull rack, and the building of a fortress in conquered territory.

“…Called Structure 16, it was found by Spencer and Redmond (12,13). Structure 16 was longer and narrower than most temples at Monte Albán (Fig.…”

Section: The Zapotec State and The Origins Of The Two-room Templementioning

confidence: 91%

The coevolution of ritual and society: New ¹⁴ C dates from ancient Mexico

Marcus

Flannery

2004

New 14 C dates from Oaxaca, Mexico, document changes in religious ritual that accompanied the evolution of society from hunting and gathering to the archaic state. Before 4000 B.P. in conventional radiocarbon years, a nomadic egalitarian lifeway selected for unscheduled (ad hoc) ritual from which no one was excluded. With the establishment of permanent villages (4000 -3000 B.P.), certain rituals were scheduled by solar or astral events and restricted to initiates͞social achievers. After state formation (2050 B.P.), many important rituals were performed only by trained full-time priests using religious calendars and occupying temples built by corvé e labor. Only 1,300 -1,400 years seem to have elapsed between the oldest known ritual building and the first standardized state temple.calendars ͉ Oaxaca