Convergent evolution of prehistoric technologies: the entropy and diversity of limited solutions
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Author(s)
Diachenko, Aleksandr
Rivers, Ray John
Sobkowiak-Tabaka, Iwona
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Linking the likelihood of convergent evolution to the technologies’ complexity, this paper identifies the scales of technological diffusion and convergence, i.e., the evolving of structures that are similar, but not related to a common “ancestor.” Our study provides quantitative measures for understanding complexity and connectivity in technologies. The utility of our approach is exemplified through the case study of Cucuteni-Tripolye pottery kilns in Chalcolithic Southeastern Europe. The analysis shows that technological evolution has to be scaled to the “technologically important” (in quantitative terms) component parts, whose introduction shapes a ground for extinction and self-evolvement caused by the cascade effects along technological design structure. Similar technological solutions to the technological design structure engender the spread of similar devices in various locations. Surprisingly, such a broad distribution may be the result of relatively low internal diversity, rather than arising from higher efficiency. This gives some reasons for the underestimation of convergence as a mechanism for evolution of technology in current prehistoric archaeology.
Date Issued
2023-12
Date Acceptance
2023-09-27
Citation
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2023, 30 (4), pp.1168-1199
ISSN
1072-5369
Publisher
Springer
Start Page
1168
End Page
1199
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory
Volume
30
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10816-023-09623-8
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2023-10-17