Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2017
Abstract
The weaponry technology associated with Clovis and related Early Paleoindians represents the earliest well-defined evidence of humans in Pleistocene North America. We assess the technological diversity of these fluted stone points found at archaeological sites in the western and eastern halves of North America by employing statistical tools used in the quantification of ecological biodiversity. Our results demonstrate that the earliest hunters in the environmentally heterogeneous East used a more diverse set of points than those in the environmentally homogenous West. This and other evidence shows that environmental heterogeneity in the East promoted the relaxation of selective constraints on social learning and increased experimentation with point designs.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1038/srep44431
Volume
7
Repository Citation
Buchanan, B.; Chao, A.; Chiu, C. H.; Colwell, R. K.; O'Brien, Michael J.; Werner, A.; and Eren, M. I., "Environment-Induced Changes in Selective Constraints on Social Learning During the Peopling of the Americas" (2017). History Faculty Publications. 1.
https://digitalcommons.tamusa.edu/hist_faculty/1
Comments
© 2017 the authors. Published under Creative Commons Attribution License. Original published version available at https://doi.org/10.1038/srep44431.
Buchanan B., Chao A., Chiu C.-H., Colwell R.K., O'Brien M.J., Werner A., Eren M.I.. 2017. Environment-induced changes in selective constraints on social learning during the peopling of the Americas. Nature Publishing Group.