Particularism and the retreat from theory in the archaeology of agricultural origins

Abstract

The introduction of new analytic methods and expansion of research into previously untapped regions have greatly increased the scale and resolution of data relevant to the origins of agriculture (OA). As a result, the recognition of varied historical pathways to agriculture and the continuum of management strategies have complicated the search for general explanations for the transition to food production. In this environment, higher-level theoretical frameworks are sometimes rejected on the grounds that they force conclusions that are incompatible with real-world variability. Some of those who take this position argue instead that OA should be explained in terms of local and historically contingent factors. This retreat from theory in favor of particularism is based on the faulty beliefs that complex phenomena such as agricultural origins demand equally complex explanations and that explanation is possible in the absence of theoretically based assumptions. The same scholars who are suspicious of generalization are reluctant to embrace evolutionary approaches to human behavior on the grounds that they are ahistorical, overly simplistic, and dismissive of agency and intent. We argue that these criticisms are misplaced and explain why a coherent theory of human behavior that acknowledges its evolutionary history is essential to advancing understanding of OA. Continued progress depends on the integration of human behavior and culture into the emerging synthesis of evolutionary developmental biology that informs contemporary research into plant and animal domestication. evolutionary theory | behavioral ecologyOver the last decade there has been a major expansion of knowledge regarding the timing and socioecological context of plant domestication and emerging agricultural systems. This wealth of data is due in large part to methodological innovations (e.g., in genetics and paleogenomics, in the analysis of plant micro-and macroremains and biological residues, and in the physical and biogeochemical analyses of anthropogenic sediments), reexcavations of some important archaeological sites, and the expansion of archaeological research into regions whose record of agricultural origins has been until recently poorly known [such as New Guinea (1, 2), lowland areas of Mesoamerica and northern South America (3-7), and northern and southern China (8-13)]. These research activities have enriched both the scale and resolution of the data relevant to agricultural origins worldwide. One result of this welcome enhancement of the empirical record is wider acknowledgment of the variability in the historical pathways taken by emerging food production systems across space and time. The dichotomy between foraging and food production has been discarded in favor of a continuum of landscape, plant, and animal management strategies that sometimes resist classification. However, for some scholars (2, 14), the richly detailed records of change seem to have dampened the appeal of general explanations for the transition to agriculture. This tr...

Niche Construction and Theory of Agricultural Origins. Case studies in punctuated equilibrium

“…Parallel to the rapid expansion of empirical data and knowledge pertaining to the archaeological, palaeogenetic, and socioecological context of Early Neolithic plant cultivation and animal domestication in the Near East, what we observe in the archaeological theory of agricultural origins (TAO) -according to Gremillion et al (2014) -is an increase in particularism and a major retreat from generalising anthropological theory. The authors propose that this change in research traditions may be due to the wealth of archaeological records, the very richness of which appears to "dampen the appeal of general explanations for the transition to agriculture" (Gremillion et al 2014.6171), and which has the effect of producing an "increasingly critical attitude of archaeologists towards hypothetico-deductive science".…”

“…In a recently published study, Kristen Gremillion et al (2014) have argued that it may be possible to unify the scientific results pertaining to TAO under the umbrella of neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory. To the same topic, Kim Niche construction and theory of agricultural origins.…”

“…As indicated above, many PE related processes are (today) subsumed under what is more commonly called the Theory of Complex Systems (or similar), but I propose we continue to use the term PE. An example from physics would be coulomb excitation, whereby a subatomic particle passes so close to an atomic nucleus that the local disturbance of the electromagnetic field triggers the production of a new particle (Alder, Winther 1958 Gremillion et al (2014) -is an increase in particularism and a major retreat from generalising anthropological theory. The authors propose that this change in research traditions may be due to the wealth of archaeological records, the very richness of which appears to "dampen the appeal of general explanations for the transition to agriculture" (Gremillion et al 2014.6171), and which has the effect of producing an "increasingly critical attitude of archaeologists towards hypothetico-deductive science".…”

Assessing elements of an extended evolutionary synthesis for plant domestication and agricultural origin research

“…Some archaeologists also point out that CNC speaks little to why and when humans may choose to modify environments, questions that potentially complementary fields of study in human behavioral ecology, such as optimal foraging theory, may address better (e.g., refs. 8,11,82,84,85).…”

“…Human-caused depression of valued prey shortly before and/ or at domestication origins is well known and influenced the constituents of the plant and animal complexes chosen for attention by the last foragers and first cultivators, along with the timing of domestication origins (e.g., refs. 6,8,76,[89][90][91]. The ecological contexts of early farming could have resulted from either positive or negative CNC, the latter in a context of resource limitation.…”