Phylogenetic Approaches to Culture I & II
Lectures
Phylogenetic Approaches to Culture - Part 1: Introduction
Fiona Jordan introduces the use of cultural phylogenetic comparative methods in detail, including the nature of phylogenetic hypotheses, key phylogenetic terminology, and the interpretation and construction of phylogenetic trees.
Phylogenetic Approaches to Culture – Part 2: Inferring Phylogenies
Whereas biologists may rely on the fossil record for inferring phylogenetic relationships between species, phylogenetic relationships between cultures are not always readily observable. The present video discusses the key role played by linguistic data in developing evidence-based cultural phylogenies. Also introduces the use of network approaches for representing more complex evolutionary relationships.
Presentation Slides
Additional Reading
Revell, L. J. and L. J. Harmon. 2022. Phylogenetic Comparative Methods in R. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ. 440 pp.
Evans, C. L., Greenhill, S. J., Watts, J., List, J. M., Botero, C. A., Gray, R. D., & Kirby, K. R. (2021). The uses and abuses of tree thinking in cultural evolution. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 376(1828), 20200056. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0056