Long-Term Cultural Persistence in Modern Humans: Some Case Studies from Early and Mid-Holocene Archaeological Traditions in Eastern South America and Theoretical Implications

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

We will present chronological, morphometrical, technological, and subsistence data coming from eastern South America related to four Paleoindian cultural traditions occupying different areas since the beginning of the Holocene. All these four traditions present a remarkable cultural stability that shows few parallels in the archaeological record. Using these four case studies as a starting point, we can begin to question if innovativeness is inherent to individual human beings, or if it is an emergent property, linked to population size and social interconnectedness.These cases are of interest not only because they tend to challenge the notion that humans are always, necessarily extremely innovative beings, but also because they challenge the commonsensical notion that change and innovation is always "good" and "desirable". They also may serve to expand our knowledge and interpretive frameworks, going beyond current sociocultural / anthropological wisdom.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24294