Towards a Wave-of-Advance Model for Predicting the Spread of Prismatic Blade Technology in Mesoamerica

Summary

The diffusion and spread of material culture is a cornerstone of archaeological research, particularly understanding the variables which dictate the structure of dispersal. Recent evolutionary approaches have sought to address technological spread through mathematical modeling. One model, the reaction-diffusion model, suggests diffusion occurs at the population scale as a wave-of-dispersal. While previous researchers demonstrated the efficacy of this approach regarding the peopling of a landscape, there remains a need to demonstrate how the model can shed light on the spread of ideas. In this study, we seek to test if the dispersal of prismatic blade technology throughout Mesoamerica occurred as a wave-of-dispersal. Our first objective is to create a database containing the variables required for analyzing the wave-of-advance. Next, we developed general rates at which we predict ideas to have spread based on ethnographic data. Finally, we analyzed the database information and the predicted rates together, testing the validity of using a wave-of-advance model to predict the spread of blade technology. The results enable us to better understand technological change and exchange relations in Mesoamerica. By generalizing the results we can engage in larger theoretical debates such as the relationship between the development and transmission of ideas.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22567