Investigating the role of food processing in human evolution: a niche construction approach

While it is generally agreed that food processing has had a role in human evolution, the specific ways that is has affected our evolution are not well understood. Using a Niche Construction Theory (NCT) perspective, coupled with methodologies borrowed from “post-harvest” research in the plant sciences, this paper investigates the means and mechanism by which food processing is of evolutionary consequence. The central tenet of NCT is that organisms have an active role in their own evolution through reciprocal interactions with their environments; niche construction is understood to occur when organisms initiate long-term changes to their environments that modify the selection pressures on themselves and their descendants (and on other organisms in the environment). Humans and our hominin ancestors are considered to be the ultimate niche constructors due to our ability to modify selection pressures through diverse culturally generated and transmitted cultural means, i.e. cultural niche construction. In this paper, post-harvest methods are used to identify how food processing could feasibly have permitted hominins to modify their evolutionary selection pressures. Food processing is shown to facilitate access to increasing amounts of digestible nutrients and energy (kilocalories/kilojoules) as well as promoting increased dietary breadth and making possible the production of safer and more stable foods. It is argued that these advancements catalysed related technological and ecological skills and knowledge, which together with the nutritional benefits, further triggered changes in hominin brain and body and locomotory adaptations and increased longevity, disease prevention and juvenile survival rates.     

Evolutionary Ecology,Resource Depression,and Niche Construction Theory: Applications to Central California Hunter-Gatherers and Mimbres-Mogollon Agriculturalists

Evolutionary ecology is a theoretical framework that has been widely applied to problems in human evolution and prehistory. Because the approach often focuses on how behavioral adjustments to changing socio-ecological conditions create novel selective pressures that in turn drive other changes in morphology and behavior, it draws on the same evolutionary logic that underlies niche construction theory. We illustrate here the important role that niche construction has played in archaeological applications of evolutionary ecology with two detailed case studies: one from Late Holocene hunter-gatherer populations in Central California and one from Mimbres-Mogollon agriculturalists in New Mexico. These examples illustrate that evolutionary ecology-based approaches, with an emphasis on formal predictive modeling, allow for the incorporation of niche construction as it affects model parameters with reference to specific problems involving past behavior. Further modeling and empirical applications will expand the synergies between these complementary approaches and advance our understanding of the human past.     

Towards a Theory of Cultural Evolution

Abstract

Previous experience in the development of the mathematical theory of biological evolution, has helped the authors toward their theory of cultural evolution. In this review a constant comparison between the two evolutions, in both directions, has led to an interdisciplinary understanding. Cultural transmission is discussed in detail and the ten major modes of transmission are enunciated; cultural traits are defined and the variance within, as well as between, groups considered. Cultural and environmental selection as well as complex transmission are further aspects leading the authors to the conclusion, that in spite of gross oversimplification, their theory is essential for a rigorous qualitative investigation of cultural evolution.     

Shifts Along a Spectrum: A Longitudinal Study of the Western Eurasian Realized Climate Niche

ABSTRACT

Climate niches that modern humans and earlier hominin ancestors occupied have changed dramatically over time, but the extent of those changes has gone largely undocumented. This study investigates the manner in which the realised hominin climate niche has expanded, contracted, or stayed stationary across four time periods (Last Interglacial, Last Glacial Maximum, Mid-Holocene, and 1950–2000) in Western Eurasia. Using spatially gridded general circulation model data and site locations this study examines climate variables from archaeological sites and current Western Eurasian cities to describe both the regional Western Eurasian fundamental and realised climate niches. Changes between the three prehistoric periods and modern-day time period are analysed by calculating each realised niche breadth, overlap, position, and variance. Results indicate that as global temperatures cooled from the Last Interglacial to Last Glacial Maximum, populations expanded their climate niche breadth beyond that of earlier Neanderthal groups, shifting toward regions with less seasonal variation. Conversely, Mid-Holocene humans, who saw the proliferation of both agriculture and population, contracted their realised climate niche space. The contraction and expansion of realised climate niche space illustrates how hominins have evolved the capacity to shift their niche through changes to their subsistence strategy and adaptations to overall climatic conditions.     

Insect invaders,seasonality and transhumant pastoralism in the Icelandic shieling economy

Abstract

The seasonal movement of people and animals to summer farms, or shielings in outfield pastures was a key element of Iceland's farming practice for over a millennium. At these sites, cattle and sheep husbandry, dairying and the harvesting of outfield resources took place. Despite their central role in the Icelandic economy, evidence for shielings in the landscape is ambiguous and the identification of a site as a shieling, as opposed to a farm, has relied upon written and place name evidence. The Norse colonists introduced a range of insects in their fodder, stored food, dunnage and ballast. Many of these are unable to live under natural conditions in Iceland and are dependent on people for survival. In 1991 Buckland and Sadler suggested that these species might be expected to be absent at shielings, as the sweepstake of their introduction and the seasonal hiatus in occupation would preclude their successful colonisation. This paper presents new evidence from a sub-fossil insect assemblage, which indicates that some of these insects are present at an Icelandic shieling. The implications of this for discerning the materials imported to shielings and the usefulness of Coleoptera for the identification of seasonality in the North Atlantic is discussed.     

News and Short Contributions

Abstract

Muralla de Leon is a dry stone wall construction on an elevated plateau NE of Lake Macanche, in the central portion of the Department of Peten, Guatemala. Surrounded by water on three sides, the wall attains a maximum height of 4 m. and has a perimeter of 1.4 km. Twenty-one structures are located inside the wall, their construction spanning the Terminal Preclassic through the Postclassic periods. Most interesting are quantities of Floral Park Protoclassic materials as well as a Postclassic “temple assemblage” inside the wall. Problems associated with dating the fortification are discussed, and processes that may have contributed to the construction and occupation of the Muralla de Leon site are reviewed. The times of apparent construction and occupation of the Muralla de Leon area suggest the possibility of a broader role of conflict in the evolution of Maya civilization during the Protoclassic period than previously recognized, and illuminate the role of warfare in the interrelationships of Postclassic communities in the Central Peten.     

“To see things in an objective light”: the Dakota Access Pipeline and the ongoing construction of settler colonial landscapes

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the discourses used by proponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) as claims of universality to which the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and allied activists mounted a movement of opposition in 2014–2017. We position our analysis within the historical context of Lakota and Dakota resistance to settler colonialism, which has endured since the nineteenth century. From publicly available texts circulated by key actors in the conflict over the construction of this pipeline project, we identify themes that proponents of this project drew upon to articulate their representations of the land as universal. We suggest that claims like these, when naturalized in practice, have historically materialized in settler colonial landscapes. With the concept of settler colonial landscapes, we focus on ways of seeing and representing places that have facilitated the dispossession of Indigenous people from their territory as well as the construction of a settler-dominated community. In this way, we develop a cultural geographical understanding of the ongoing construction of settler colonial landscapes as a process dependent on claims to neutrality and objectivity.     

Migrant masculinities in-between private and public spaces of reproductive labour: Asian porters in Rome

Abstract

This article explores the construction of migrant masculinities in the context of reproductive labour. It focuses on Asian Christian men working as porters in upper middle-class residential buildings in Rome (Italy). This masculinised niche of reproductive labour combines differently gendered chores: feminised tasks (cleaning and caring) - mainly performed in the most private spaces of the home - and masculinised tasks (maintenance and security), carried out in the public or semi-public spaces of the buildings. The analysis addresses the dearth of studies on the sex-typing of jobs in the context of migrant men’s work experiences. It also contributes to ongoing debates on the geography of reproductive labour, by exploring how gendered practices of migrant reproductive labour construct private and public places. The construction of masculinities and place is shaped by the gendered racialisation of migrant men at the wider societal level, which materialises in the construction of ‘dangerous’ and ‘respectable’ urban areas. The article suggests that widespread concerns over religious difference and public security play a key role in defining migrant men’s access to the workplace and in shaping work relations.     

CULTURAL EVOLUTION AND SOCIAL METABOLISM

The emergence of culture and cultural evolution is the result of an evolutionary process, evident also in non‐human species. What is specifically human is the dominance of cultural evolution. This does not mean that cultural evolution has replaced organic evolution, but rather that both have merged into one coevolutionary complex. Through niche construction, organic modern humans are the product of cultural evolution. This cannot be explained by adaptation to natural environment or by sexual selection. Cultural evolution with its coevolved organic traits did not so much enhance competence towards the natural environment as it did competence to develop and maintain cooperation. In the process, culture became a “system” with its own imperatives and integrating forces, differentiating into several autopoietic subsystems: the symbolic‐cognitive subsystem, the economic subsystem and the political subsystem. There are however social‐metabolic constraints that put limits on their evolutionary degrees of freedom. Culture's autopoietic reach has adaptive boundaries. The concept of social metabolism attempts to capture the unity of “persons” in a physical‐biological sense and “culture” in a symbolic sense, the decisive point being that culture must be understood as an autopoietic system sui generis. The social‐metabolic system of relations and interactions between nature, human population and culture is inherently coevolutionary. The history of social metabolism is the history of the coevolution of two autopoietic systems – an open and blind non‐orthogenetic evolutionary process.     

Evolution of the Territorial Coverage of the Railway Network and its Influence on Population Growth: The Case of England and Wales, 1871–1931

Abstract

The introduction of the railway network brought with it an unprecedented improvement in accessibility. In this work, the authors analyze the evolution of the territorial coverage of the railway network and its influence on the uneven distribution of population. To carry out this research, they used comparable data on total population obtained from census records relating to civil parishes of England and Wales, taken at 10-year intervals from 1871. The hypothesis that they wished to test was that good access to a railway station was related to significant increases in population. This exercise provides a better understanding of regional variations in population growth and allows the authors to identify current differences between urban and rural areas that have resulted from their historical evolution.     

The Development of Fireproof Construction in Brussels Between 1840–1870

Abstract

Fireproof mill construction had been developed in England at the end of the 18th century. In Brussels, the first large fireproof building was constructed in 1844–1847. All at once, the backlog of 50 years was eliminated. Moreover, for Brussels, the experimental period just started. Not bound by traditions, new techniques and materials were soon adopted. The evolution of the construction history of fireproof building in Brussels is discussed by going more deeply into the construction of six buildings, erected between 1844 and 1870.     

Niche Construction Theory and Archaeology

Niche construction theory (NCT) is a relatively new development within evolutionary biology, but one that has important implications for many adjacent fields of research, including the human sciences. Here, we present a broad overview of NCT and discuss its application to archaeology. We begin by laying out the basic arguments of NCT, including a historical overview, focusing on how it affects understanding of human behavior and evolution. We then consider how NCT can be used to inform empirical research and how it might profitably be applied in archaeology, using as a case study the origins of agriculture. We suggest that the unrivaled potency of human niche construction, compared with that of other species, means that archaeologists need not be mere consumers of biological insights but can become important contributors to evolutionary theory.     

Combined Arms Warfare in the Spanish Civil War: The Assault on the Republican Defence Line at Fatarella Ridge

Abstract

In terms of approaches to warfare, the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) has traditionally been seen as a transition between the First and Second World Wars. The idea is based on several reports written by designated observers from Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union. Certainly, some of the tactics and equipment of these armies made their first appearance during this conflict.

However, this view raises several questions, as the experience and tactics observed in the Spanish battlefields often do not match those seen during the first phases of the Second World War. Were the innovations adopted by all sides and units? How did the new tactics influence the outcome of the conflict? Which tactics were tested and discarded for better ones?

It is difficult to address these questions using only textual sources, given the particularities of this war. To improve our understanding of the evolution of warfare, we need to combine textual sources with archaeological data and spatial analysis, and integrate the knowledge.

This study examines the assault on Republican positions at Fatarella Ridge during the last phase of the Battle of the Ebro (1938). In particular, the work explores, using spatial analysis of archaeological and textual sources, the level at which combined arms warfare was applied during the final months of the war. The use of an integrated methodology has allowed us to reconstruct the engagement and provides interesting insights into the evolution of tactics and fortification during this conflict.     

Measurement and Proportion in Hindu Temple Architecture

Abstract

Proportion and measure interacted in the evolution and construction of the Hindu temple from the 5th through the 15th century AD, but, throughout this history, proportion dominated as the tool to give the monument both validity and form. This review analyzes the ritual force of proportion and its function in the planning of temples by architects. The diagrams that accompany the article are the result of field research and the analysis of built structures.     

Left-behind and Vulnerable? Conceptualising Development and Older Women’s Agency in Rural China

Abstract:

Concern has been growing recently in China about the well-being of children, women and the elderly “left behind” on the farm when family members leave the village in search of waged work. Increasingly, the left-behind are portrayed in academic and policy discourse as a “vulnerable group” of passive dependants, sidelined by modernisation and abandoned by their families. This paper challenges this discourse, arguing that while attention to the well-being of the left-behind is vital, there is an urgent need for a shift in focus from their vulnerability to their agency. The paper focuses on the agency of left-behind women between the ages of 50 and 80. It aims, first of all, to point the way toward an empirically richer understanding of the social construction of older women’s agency and well-being. The second aim of the paper is to suggest how different conceptualisations of “agency” and “older women” might contribute to more ethical and politically effective strategies for development and the improvement of women’s well-being. To further these two aims, the paper draws on fieldwork conducted in rural Ningxia, north-western China, and on critiques of the “capability approach” to development expounded by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum.     

Dairying in antiquity. I. Evidence from absorbed lipid residues dating to the British Iron Age

The evidence for dairying in antiquity has, until recently, primarily been restricted to the reconstruction of herd structures through the analysis of faunal remains. Using this method alone cannot provide definitive evidence for the presence of dairy herds, due to differences in the recovery of animal bones at sites and the many different farming strategies that can affect herd structures (e.g. dairying, meat production, traction etc.). Absorbed lipid residues have been extracted from 237 pottery vessels from the British Iron Age sites of Maiden Castle, Danebury Hillfort, Yarnton Cresswell Field and Stanwick. The compound-specific stable carbon isotope (δ¹³C values) of the principal fatty acids found in animal fats (C_16:0 and C_18:0) have allowed the direct detection of dairy fats, thus providing evidence that dairying was an important component of farming practices in the British Iron Age. The results are compared to assessments of the faunal remains at each of the sites, and correlations between morphological characteristics of the vessels (e.g. type, form, use wear and rim diameter) and lipid residue discussed.     

Multi-Ethnic Settlement and Interregional Exchange in Pimampiro,Ecuador

Abstract

This paper reports on recent archaeological investigations at the sites of Shanshipampa and La Mesa in the Pimampiro district of northern Ecuador, a zone rich in archaeological resources about which relatively little is known. Within the context of Andean archaeology, this region is particularly significant insofar as it is described in early historic accounts as an important center of interregional trade. The role of trade in the shaping of ethnic identity and the evolution of complex societies has received relatively little attention in Andean scholarship. The present study expands our understanding of the modes, content, and significance of interregional interaction in the Andes by directing attention to the evidence for long-distance trade, trans-zonal connections, and multi-ethnic settlement in the northern highlands.     

Dairying in antiquity. III. Evidence from absorbed lipid residues dating to the British Neolithic

Absorbed lipid residue analysis has previously demonstrated that dairying was a major component of animal husbandry in Britain during both the Iron Age and Bronze Age. As a continuation of this research into the antiquity of dairying, the incidence of dairy fats associated with pottery vessels from six Neolithic sites from Southern Britain is presented herein. A total of 438 potsherds from Windmill Hill, Abingdon Causewayed Enclosure, Hambledon Hill, Eton Rowing Lake, Runnymede Bridge and Yarnton Floodplain were submitted for organic residue analysis. To date, this constitutes the largest number of sherds investigated from one particular archaeological period. The compound-specific stable isotope values of the major fatty acid components in animal fats, namely C_16:0 and C_18:0, enable absorbed lipids in pottery vessels to be classified to commodity group, i.e. ruminant adipose, dairy and non-ruminant adipose fats can be distinguished. The lipid extracts were relatively well preserved, and dairy fats were observed in approximately 25% of all of the sherds, demonstrating that milk was a valued commodity in the British Neolithic. These results confirm that dairying was an established component of the agricultural practices that reached Britain in the 5^th Millennium BC.     

Towards an Archaeology of Recent Conflict in Western Great Lakes Africa

Abstract

This paper proposes an archaeology of recent conflict in western Great Lakes Africa as a means to give volume to subaltern voices marginalized within and since the conflicts, to produce alternative historical narratives and thus create a more nuanced understanding of war and its aftermath in this region. In addition, by drawing upon emerging theoretical and methodological frameworks in contemporary archaeology, this paper proposes that a politically and socially engaged participatory approach to the material remains of the past may also contribute toward cathartic post-conflict local resident healing and academic understandings regarding the contemporary construction of post-conflict identities. In so doing, the paper presents a survey of prominent conflict remains and discusses their suitability for archaeological approaches, focusing upon one site, Pabbo, an Internally Displaced Person camp in Northern Uganda.     

Sustainability transformations in the balance: exploring Swedish initiatives challenging the corporate food regime

ABSTRACT

This paper explores to what extent organic initiatives that go beyond mainstream organic (so-called Organic 3.0) can challenge the corporate food regime and how they can push the food system towards sustainability transformations. We depart from the assumption that individual initiatives may differ in their potential to influence the corporate food regime and that this potential can be assessed by examining traits linked to reformist, progressive or radical food regime/food movement trends that they may possess. Rather than establishing a dichotomy between niche and food regime or categorizing Organic 3.0 initiatives within one of these trends, we explore the nuances in niche–regime relationships within the food system from a multi-level perspective, using the cases of two Organic 3.0 initiatives in Sweden. The results show that relations between these initiatives and the food regime share key characteristics, but also differ in important respects. While a reformist strategy facilitates niche growth, progressive and radical approaches are more likely to challenge the regime. The choice of approach in both cases involves trade-offs between growth and organic values. We conclude that one of the primary roles of Organic 3.0 initiatives may be to illustrate the viability of alternative models.