IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/chsofr/v148y2021ics0960077921004148.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Front propagation and cultural transmission. Theory and application to Neolithic transitions

Author

Listed:
  • Fort, Joaquim

Abstract

We study the front propagation of a population that incorporates individuals of a second, pre-existing population. Previous models of such incorporation deal only with vertical cultural transmission (interbreeding) and horizontal cultural transmission (acculturation of individuals of the second population by members of the first one and of similar age). Here we present the first model of oblique transmission (acculturation by individuals of an older generation), which is more complicated because a model with age structure is necessary. We compare the new, age-structured model for oblique, horizontal and vertical transmission. The most powerful mechanism (fastest fronts) is oblique transmission. Two illustrative applications of Neolithic front propagation are presented. In one of them, the front was so fast that neither horizontal nor vertical transmission can explain it (but oblique transmission can). In the cases for which cultural transmission is a viable explanation, the observed front speed yields bounds on the intensity of cultural transmission. Our models are also of interest in many other Neolithic and non-Neolithic human range expansions, including major human migrations. Additionally, in future work the new age-structured models reported in this paper could be applied to model genetic gradients and, possibly, to similar phenomena in other species in which cultural transmission is well-known to occur.

Suggested Citation

  • Fort, Joaquim, 2021. "Front propagation and cultural transmission. Theory and application to Neolithic transitions," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chsofr:v:148:y:2021:i:c:s0960077921004148
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chaos.2021.111060
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960077921004148
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.chaos.2021.111060?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:chsofr:v:148:y:2021:i:c:s0960077921004148. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Thayer, Thomas R. (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/chaos-solitons-and-fractals .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.