Replacement of Neanderthals by Modern
Humans Series
Edited byTakeru Akazawa
Research Institute, Kochi University of Technology
Kochi 782-8502, Japanakazawa.takeru@kochi-tech.ac.jp
Ofer Bar-Yosef
Department of Anthropology, Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USAobaryos@fas.harvard.edu

The planned series of volumes will report the results of a major research project entitled“Replacement of Neanderthals by Modern Humans: Testing Evolutionary Models of Learning”, offering new perspectives on the process of replacement and on interactions between
Neanderthals and modern humans and hence on the origins of prehistoric modern cultures.
The projected volumes will present the diverse achievements of research activities, originallydesigned to implement the project’s strategy, in the fields of archaeology, paleoanthropology, cultural anthropology, population biology, earth sciences, developmental psychology,biomechanics, and neuroscience. Comprehensive research models will be used to integrate
the discipline-specific research outcomes from those various perspectives. The series, aimed
mainly at providing a set of multidisciplinary perspectives united under the overarching
concept of learning strategies, will include monographs and edited collections of papers
focusing on specific problems related to the goals of the project, employing a variety of
approaches to the analysis of the newly acquired data sets.

Editorial Board
Stanley H. Ambrose (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Kenichi Aoki (MeijiUniversity), Emiliano Bruner (Centro National de Investigacion Sobre la Evolution Humana),
Marcus W. Feldman (Stanford University), Barry S. Hewlett (Washinton State University),
Tasuku Kimura (University of Tokyo), Steven L. Kuhn (University of Arizona), Yoshihiro
Nishiaki (University of Tokyo), Naomichi Ogihara (Keio University), Dietrich Stout (EmoryUniversity), Hiroki C. Tanabe (Nagoya University), Hideaki Terashima (Kobe GakuinUniversity), Minoru Yoneda (University of Tokyo)

For further volumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/11816

Alex Mesoudi • Kenichi Aoki
Editors

Learning Strategies andCultural Evolution during
the Palaeolithic

123

Editors
Alex Mesoudi
Department of Anthropology and Centre for
the Coevolution of Biology and Culture
Durham University
Durham, UK

Kenichi Aoki
Organization for the Strategic Coordination ofResearch and Intellectual Properties
Meiji University
Tokyo, Japan

Replacement of Neanderthals by Modern Humans SeriesISBN 978-4-431-55362-5
ISBN 978-4-431-55363-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-4-431-55363-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015938595
Springer Tokyo Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London© Springer Japan 2015
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material isconcerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction
on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation,
computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does notimply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws andregulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed
to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty,
express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have beenmade.
Printed on acid-free paper
Springer Japan KK is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

Preface

This volume is being published as part of a 5-year research project, funded by the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology (Monbukagakusho), on the “Replacementof Neanderthals by Modern Humans (RNMH).” There are two basic premises of the RNMH
project. First, Neanderthals were replaced or assimilated by modern humans (Homo sapiens).
Second, the replacement or assimilation was driven by cultural differences between competing
Neanderthal and modern human groups, potentially due to some advantage(s) associated withthe culture(s) of modern humans.
The current volume focuses on how differences in the cultures of Palaeolithic or Stone
Age hominin societies might arise as a result of differences in learning strategies, social anddemographic factors, and so on. This includes the knotty inverse problem of inferring learning
strategies from actual trajectories of cultural change. With the exception of one chapter, thereplacement process itself is not addressed.
The majority of contributors to this volume are not members of the RNMH project. Nevertheless, we have invited them to submit chapters, because they are leading anthropologists,archaeologists, biologists, and psychologists who are directly involved in the effort to decipher
hominin cultural change and cultural diversity during the Palaeolithic (see list of contributors).
In addition to the contributors, we wish to thank Jelmer Eerkens, Yasuo Ihara, Jeremy
Kendal, Steven Kuhn, Charles Perreault, Katsuhiro Sano, Jonathan Scholnick, Pontus Strimling, Jamie Tehrani, Claudio Tennie, and Taro Yoshida, for valuable comments on andconstructive reviews of the chapters. Their input is gratefully acknowledged.
This volume was made possible by Monbukagakusho grant 22101004 and indirectly by theJapanese taxpayer. We are deeply grateful for their support and interest.
Finally, we thank Ken Kimlicka and Taeko Sato of Springer, Japan for their guidance
through the intricacies of the publication process.
Durham, UKTokyo, Japan

Alex Mesoudi
Kenichi Aokiv

Contents12

Introduction to “Learning Strategies and Cultural Evolution During
the Palaeolithic” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kenichi Aoki and Alex Mesoudi

1Factors Limiting the Number of Independent Cultural Traits That Can Be
Maintained in a Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Laurel Fogarty, Joe Yuichiro Wakano, Marcus W. Feldman, and Kenichi Aoki

93The Evolution of Culturally Transmitted Teaching Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wataru Nakahashi

4

A Population-Genetics Based Model for Explaining Apparent CulturalContinuity from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic in Eurasia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Yutaka Kobayashi, Seiji Kadowaki, and Masaki Naganuma

35

Mobility and Cultural Diversity in Central-Place Foragers: Implications for
the Emergence of Modern Human Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
L.S. Premo

45

Behavioral Modernity and the Cultural Transmission of Structured
Information: The Semantic Axelrod Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mark E. Madsen and Carl P. Lipo

6756237

Inferring Learning Strategies from Cultural Frequency Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Anne Kandler and Adam Powell858

Simulating Geographical Variation in Material Culture: Were Early Modern
Humans in Europe Ethnically Structured? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Mirna Kovacevic, Stephen Shennan, Marian Vanhaeren, Francesco d’Errico,and Mark G. Thomas

9Transmission of Cultural Variants in the North American Paleolithic . . . . . . . . 121
Michael J. O’Brien, Briggs Buchanan, Matthew T. Boulanger, Alex Mesoudi,Mark Collard, Metin I. Eren, R. Alexander Bentley, and R. Lee Lyman

10 Experimental Studies of Cumulative Culture in Modern Humans: What Are
the Requirements of the Ratchet? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Christine A. Caldwell
11 Learning in the Acheulean: Experimental Insights Using Handaxe Form asa ‘Model Organism’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Stephen J. Lycett, Kerstin Schillinger, Marius Kempe, and Alex Mesoudi
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167vii

Contributors

Kenichi Aoki Organization for the Strategic Coordination of Research and IntellectualProperties, Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan
R. Alexander Bentley Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Bristol,Bristol, UK
Matthew T. Boulanger Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia,MO, USA
Briggs Buchanan Department of Anthropology, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA
Christine A. Caldwell Psychology, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling,Stirling, UK
Mark Collard Human Evolutionary Studies Program and Department of Archaeology, Simon
Fraser University, Burnaby, Burnaby, BC, Canada
Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
Francesco d’Errico CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), UMR (UnitéMixte de Recherche) 5199, PACEA (De la Préhistoire à l’Actuel: Culture, Environement etAnthropologie), Université Bordeaux 1, Talence, France
Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion, University of Bergen,Bergen, Norway
Metin I. Eren Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
Marcus W. Feldman Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
Laurel Fogarty Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
Seiji Kadowaki University Museum, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
Anne Kandler Department of Mathematics, City University London, London, UKMarius Kempe Department of Anthropology and Centre for the Coevolution of Biology andCulture, Durham University, Durham, UK
Yutaka Kobayashi Department of Management, Kochi University of Technology, Kami-city,Japan
Mirna Kovacevic CoMPLEX (Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences andExperimental Biology), University College London, London, UK
Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London,London, UKix

xCarl P. Lipo Department of Anthropology and IIRMES, California State University at Long
Beach, Long Beach, CA, USA
Stephen J. Lycett Department of Anthropology, University at Buffalo SUNY, Buffalo, NY,USAR. Lee Lyman Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
Mark E. Madsen Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Alex Mesoudi Department of Anthropology and Centre for the Coevolution of Biology andCulture, Durham University, Durham, UK
Masaki Naganuma Center for Ainu & Indigenous Studies, Hokkaido University, Sapporo,JapanWataru Nakahashi School of Advanced Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate Universityfor Advanced Studies), Hayama, Japan
Michael J. O’Brien Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO,USA
Adam Powell Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Anthropology, University of Mainz, Mainz,Germany
L.S. Premo Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology,
Leipzig, Germany
Kerstin Schillinger Department of Anthropology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
Stephen Shennan Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, UK
Mark G. Thomas Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University
College London, London, UK
Marian Vanhaeren CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), UMR (UnitéMixte de Recherche) 5199, PACEA (De la Préhistoire à l’Actuel: Culture, Environement etAnthropologie), Université Bordeaux 1, Talence, FranceJoe Yuichiro Wakano School of Interdisciplinary Mathematical Sciences, Meiji University,Tokyo, Japan

Contributors