Maier, Andreas ORCID: 0000-0002-5021-3341, Stojakowits, P., Mayr, C., Pfeifer, S., Preusser, F., Zolitschka, B., Anghelinu, M., Bobak, D., Duprat-Oualid, F., Einwögerer, T., Hambach, U., Händel, M., Kaminská, L., Kämpf, L., Łanczont, M., Lehmkuhl, F., Ludwig, P., Magyari, E., Mroczek, P., Nemergut, A., Nerudová, Z., Niţă, L., Polanská, M., Połtowicz-Bobak, M., Rius, D., Römer, W., Simon, U., Škrdla, P., Újvári, G. and Veres, D. (2020). Cultural evolution and environmental change in Central Europe between 40 and 15 ka. Quaternary International. ISSN 10406182

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Abstract

The role of environmental change in the evolution of cultural traits is a topic of long-standing scientific debate with strongly contrasting views. Major obstacles for assessing environmental impacts on the evolution of material culture are the fragmentary nature of archaeological and – to a somewhat lesser extent – geoscientific archives and the insufficient chronological resolution of these archives and related proxy data. Together these aspects are causing difficulties in data synchronization. By no means does this paper attempt to solve these issues, but rather aims at shifting the focus from demonstrating strict chains of causes and events to describing roughly contemporaneous developments by compiling and comparing existing evidence from archaeology and geosciences for the period between 40 and 15 ka in Central Europe. Analysis of the archaeological record identifies five instances at around 33, 29, 23.5, 19, and 16 ka, for which evidence suggests an increased speed of cultural evolution. By comparing data from different geoscientific archives, we discuss whether or not these instances have common characteristics. We stress that common characteristics per se are no proof of causality; repeated co-occurrences of certain features over long periods of time, however, suggest that certain explanations may be more plausible than others. While all five cases roughly coincide with pronounced and rapid environmental changes, it is also observed that such conditions do not necessarily trigger major changes in the material culture. Increases and decreases in the diversity of cultural traits seem to be rather correlated with the overall demographic development. In compiling and comparing our data, we also identify periods with high need and potential for future research regarding the relation between environmental change and cultural evolution.

Item Type: Journal Article
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCIDORCID Put Code
Maier, AndreasUNSPECIFIEDorcid.org/0000-0002-5021-3341UNSPECIFIED
Stojakowits, P.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Mayr, C.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Pfeifer, S.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Preusser, F.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Zolitschka, B.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Anghelinu, M.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Bobak, D.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Duprat-Oualid, F.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Einwögerer, T.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Hambach, U.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Händel, M.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Kaminská, L.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Kämpf, L.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Łanczont, M.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Lehmkuhl, F.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Ludwig, P.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Magyari, E.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Mroczek, P.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Nemergut, A.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Nerudová, Z.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Niţă, L.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Polanská, M.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Połtowicz-Bobak, M.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Rius, D.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Römer, W.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Simon, U.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Škrdla, P.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Újvári, G.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Veres, D.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
URN: urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-372668
DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2020.09.049
Journal or Publication Title: Quaternary International
Date: 2020
ISSN: 10406182
Language: English
Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Divisions: Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Fächergruppe 2: Archäologie, Altertumskunde und Kulturen des Mittelmeerraums > Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte > Abteilung B - Jüngere Steinzeit
Subjects: History of ancient world
Refereed: Yes
URI: http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/37266

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