Cultural transmission, networks, and clusters among Austronesian-speaking peoples

With its linguistic and cultural diversity, Austronesia is important in the study of evolutionary forces that generate and maintain cultural variation. By analysing publicly available datasets, we have identified four classes of cultural features in Austronesia and distinct clusters within each clas...

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Main Authors: Joshua C. Macdonald, Javier Blanco-Portillo, Marcus W. Feldman, Yoav Ram
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2024-01-01
Series:Evolutionary Human Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2513843X24000458/type/journal_article
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author Joshua C. Macdonald
Javier Blanco-Portillo
Marcus W. Feldman
Yoav Ram
author_facet Joshua C. Macdonald
Javier Blanco-Portillo
Marcus W. Feldman
Yoav Ram
author_sort Joshua C. Macdonald
collection DOAJ
description With its linguistic and cultural diversity, Austronesia is important in the study of evolutionary forces that generate and maintain cultural variation. By analysing publicly available datasets, we have identified four classes of cultural features in Austronesia and distinct clusters within each class. We hypothesized that there are differing modes of transmission and patterns of variation in these cultural classes and that geography alone would be insufficient to explain some of these patterns of variation. We detected relative differences in the verticality of transmission and distinct patterns of cultural variation in each cultural class. There is support for pulses and pauses in the Austronesian expansion, a west-to-east increase in isolation with explicable exceptions, and correspondence between linguistic and cultural outliers. Our results demonstrate how cultural transmission and patterns of variation can be analysed using methods inspired by population genetics.
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spelling doaj-art-7c492611fa854c54a8ddf7957a936b812024-12-06T07:21:34ZengCambridge University PressEvolutionary Human Sciences2513-843X2024-01-01610.1017/ehs.2024.45Cultural transmission, networks, and clusters among Austronesian-speaking peoplesJoshua C. Macdonald0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3643-6266Javier Blanco-Portillo1Marcus W. Feldman2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0664-3803Yoav Ram3School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, IsraelDepartment of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USADepartment of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USASchool of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel Safra Center for Bioinformatics, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, IsraelWith its linguistic and cultural diversity, Austronesia is important in the study of evolutionary forces that generate and maintain cultural variation. By analysing publicly available datasets, we have identified four classes of cultural features in Austronesia and distinct clusters within each class. We hypothesized that there are differing modes of transmission and patterns of variation in these cultural classes and that geography alone would be insufficient to explain some of these patterns of variation. We detected relative differences in the verticality of transmission and distinct patterns of cultural variation in each cultural class. There is support for pulses and pauses in the Austronesian expansion, a west-to-east increase in isolation with explicable exceptions, and correspondence between linguistic and cultural outliers. Our results demonstrate how cultural transmission and patterns of variation can be analysed using methods inspired by population genetics.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2513843X24000458/type/journal_articlecultural evolutionAustronesianPolynesianOceaniacultural networks
spellingShingle Joshua C. Macdonald
Javier Blanco-Portillo
Marcus W. Feldman
Yoav Ram
Cultural transmission, networks, and clusters among Austronesian-speaking peoples
Evolutionary Human Sciences
cultural evolution
Austronesian
Polynesian
Oceania
cultural networks
title Cultural transmission, networks, and clusters among Austronesian-speaking peoples
title_full Cultural transmission, networks, and clusters among Austronesian-speaking peoples
title_fullStr Cultural transmission, networks, and clusters among Austronesian-speaking peoples
title_full_unstemmed Cultural transmission, networks, and clusters among Austronesian-speaking peoples
title_short Cultural transmission, networks, and clusters among Austronesian-speaking peoples
title_sort cultural transmission networks and clusters among austronesian speaking peoples
topic cultural evolution
Austronesian
Polynesian
Oceania
cultural networks
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2513843X24000458/type/journal_article
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