title: Evolution of cultural traits occurs at similar relative rates in different world regions.
abstract: A fundamental issue in understanding human diversity is whether or not there are regular patterns and processes involved in cultural change. Theoretical and mathematical models of cultural evolution have been developed and are increasingly being used and assessed in empirical analyses. Here, we test the hypothesis that the rates of change of features of human socio-cultural organization are governed by general rules. One prediction of this hypothesis is that different cultural traits will tend to evolve at similar relative rates in different world regions, despite the unique historical backgrounds of groups inhabiting these regions. We used phylogenetic comparative methods and systematic cross-cultural data to assess how different socio-cultural traits changed in (i) island southeast Asia and the Pacific, and (ii) sub-Saharan Africa. The relative rates of change in these two regions are significantly correlated. Furthermore, cultural traits that are more directly related to external environmental conditions evolve more slowly than traits related to social structures. This is consistent with the idea that a form of purifying selection is acting with greater strength on these more environmentally linked traits. These results suggest that despite contingent historical events and the role of humans as active agents in the historical process, culture does indeed evolve in ways that can be predicted from general principles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK Department of Anthropology, University College London, 14 Taviton St., London WC1H 0BH, UK t.currie@exeter.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Currie
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University College London, 14 Taviton St., London WC1H 0BH, UK.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mace
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D003468:Cultural Evolution; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny
keywords: cultural evolution; cultural phylogenetics; phylogenetic comparative methods; social evolution