Abstract

Long-term, large-scale changes in culture at the group level are the focus of cultural macroevolution. Questions about the evolution of social norms, about important human cognitive capacities, and about our diverse life-ways as a species all require an inherently multidisciplinary approach, with the input of data and theory from archaeology, anthropology, psychology, linguistics, and beyond. In this talk I’ll present work from two large multidisciplinary projects that draw on cultural evolutionary frameworks and methods, in particular, the analysis of cross-cultural data as a window on the past. The QUANTA project investigates when, why, and how humans developed number systems, and why those vary so massively across cultures. I’ll present work on “lustrous gravels” from Palaeolithic France, where we have studied collections of shiny pebbles as potential counting tools for humans living 15-20 kya. The Nordic People and Plants project aims to trace the little-studied cultural evolution of plant use from before the Viking age to today across a range of Nordic cultures. Here I’ll show how we are bringing data together from archaeology, medieval texts, material culture, linguistics and ethnography to characterise the Viking ethnobotanical tool-kit, and connect those traditions to those alive today.