Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Revealing Evolutionary Patterns Behind Homogeneity: the Case of the Palaeolithic Assemblages from Notarchirico (Southern Italy)

  • Published:
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Notarchirico is at a nodal point in time and space for understanding the settlement of Europe in terms of migration or in situ evolution. Former technological analyses have not shown significant differences between the different lithic assemblages at Notarchirico. Our approach here is to produce a phylogenetic analysis of the lithic assemblages taken as the terminal of the analysis and interpreted as cultural units. In the cladistic framework, characters are hypotheses of relationships between lithic assemblages, and homologies are hypotheses of relationships between lithic objects: cores, flakes, nodules. To effectively grasp informative lithic innovations in the assemblages, we formalise cladistic hypotheses as hierarchical characters in the framework of three-item analysis and propose a new algorithm to remove the high number of repeated terminals among trees inherent to a cladistic analysis of assemblages. Beyond the classic distinction of the presence or absence of bifaces, our analysis of the five Notarchirico layers, dated between 670 and 700 ka, highlights a well-supported cladogram grounded on complex hierarchical characters on lithic artefacts. This cladogram shows a paralogy event between the flake-free layer H, representing short-term occupancy, and the other layers representing long-term settlements. The resulting cladogram shows that relationships between lithic assemblages at Notarchirico do not follow the stratigraphy. Moreover, the Notarchirico lithic assemblages cannot be explained in an entirely local way, but seem to be part of a more complex European history.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andrefsky W., & Goodale, N. (2015). Lithic technological systems and evolutionary theory. In W. Andrefsky & N. Goodale (Eds.), Lithic technological systems and evolutionary theory. Interpreting Lithic Technology under the Evolutionary Tent (pp. 1–26). Cambridge University Press.

  • Antoine, P., Moncel, M.-H., Voinchet, P., Locht, J.-L., Amselem, D., Hérisson, D., et al. (2019). The earliest evidence of Acheulian occupation in Northwest Europe and the rediscovery of the Moulin Quignon site, Somme valley France. Scientific Reports, 9(13091), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49400-w

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arzarello, M., Marcolini, F., Pavia, G., Pavia, M., Petronio, C., Petrucci, M., et al. (2007). Evidence of earliest human occurrence in Europe: The site of Pirro Nord (Southern Italy). Naturwissenschaften, 94(2), 107–112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-006-0173-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ascher, R. (1961). Analogy in archaological interpretation. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, 17(4), 317–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ben Hamed, M., Darlu, P., & Vallée, N. (2005). On cladistic reconstruction of linguistic trees through vowel data. Journal of Quantitative Linguistics, 12(1), 79–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/09296170500055467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, R. (2005). Academic copying, archaeology and the English language. Antiquity, 80(307), 196–201. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00093364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, R., & Shennan, S. (2003). Cultural transmission and stochastic network growth. American Antiquity, 68(3), 459–485. https://doi.org/10.2307/3557104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bettinger, R., & Eerkens, J. (1999). Point typologies, social transmission and the introduction of bow and arrow technology in the Great Basin. American Antiquity, 64(2), 231–242. https://doi.org/10.2307/2694276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Binford, L. (1973). Interassemblage variability: The Mousterian and the functional argument. In C. Renfrew (Ed.), The Exploration of Culture Change (pp. 227–254). University of Pittsburgh Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Binford, L., & Binford, S. (1966). A preliminary analysis of functional variability in the Mousterian of Levallois facies. American Anthropologist, 68(2), 238–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Binford, L. (1967). Smudge pits and hide smoking: the use of analogy in archaeological reasoning. American Antiquity, 32(1), 1–12.

  • Biro, D., Inoue-Nakamura, N., Tonooka, R., Yamakoshi, G., Sousa, C., & Matsuzawa, T. (2003). Cultural innovation and transmission of tool use in wild chimpanzees: Evidence from field experiments. Animal Cognition, 6(4), 213–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boëda, E. (1997). Technogenèse de systèmes de production lithique au Paléolithique inférieur et moyen en Europe occidentale et au Proche-Orient (Habilitation à diriger des Recherches). Université Paris-Nanterre.

  • Bordes, F. (1961). Mousterian cultures in France. Science, 134(3482), 803–810.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan, B., & Collard, M. (2007). Investigating the peopling of North America through cladistic analyses of Early Paleoindian projectile points. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 26(3), 366–393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2007.02.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan, B., & Collard, M. (2008). Phenetics, cladistics, and the search for the Alaskan ancestors of the Paleoindians: a reassessment of relationships among the Clovis, Nenana, and Denali archaeological complexes. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35(6), 1683–1694. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2007.11.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, C., & Laland, K. (2003). Social learning in fishes: a review. Fish and Fisheries, 4(3), 280–288. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1467-2979.2003.00122.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryden, J., Wright, S. P., & Jansen, V. A. A. (2018). How humans transmit language: horizontal transmission matches word frequencies among peers on Twitter. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 15(39), 20170738. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2017.0738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cao, N. (2008). Analyse à trois éléments et anatomie du bois des Fagales Engl. (PhD thesis). Muséum national d’histoire naturelle.

  • Cao, N., Zaragüeta i Bagils, R., & Vignes-Lebbe, R. (2007). Hierarchical representation of hypotheses of homology. Geodiversitas, 29(1), 5–15

  • Cavalli-Sforza, L., Feldman, M., Chen, K., & Dornbush, S. (1982). Theory and Observation in Cultural Transmission. Science, 218(4567), 19–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cochrane, E. E., & Lipo, C. P. (2010). Phylogenetic analyses of Lapita decoration do not support branching evolution or regional population structure during colonization of Remote Oceania. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 365(1559), 3889–3902. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0091

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cochrane, E. E., Rieth, T. M., & Dickinson, W. R. (2013). Plainware ceramics from Sāmoa: Insights into ceramic chronology, cultural transmission, and selection among colonizing populations. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 32(4), 499–510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2013.08.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collard, M., Shennan, S. J., & Tehrani, J. J. (2006). Branching, blending, and the evolution of cultural similarities and differences among human populations. Evolution and Human Behavior, 27(3), 169–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2005.07.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colless, D. H. (1985). On “Character” and related terms. Systematic Zoology, 34, 229–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crassard, R., Charpentier, V., McCorriston, J., Vosges, J., Bouzid, S., & Petraglia, M. (2020). Fluted-point technology in Neolithic Arabia: An independent invention far from the Americas. PLoS one, 15(8), e0236314. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Laet, J., & Smets, E. (1998). On the three-taxon approach to parsimony analysis. Cladistics, 14(4), 363–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Pinna, M. C. (1991). Concepts and tests of homology in the cladistic paradigm. Cladistics, 7(4), 367–394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Voogt, A., Dunn-Vaturi, A.-E., & Eerkens, J. W. (2013). Cultural transmission in the ancient Near East: Twenty squares and fifty-eight holes. Journal of Archaeological Science, 40(4), 1715–1730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.11.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delagnes, A., & Roche, H. (2005). Late Pliocene hominid knapping skills: The case of Lokalalei 2C, West Turkana, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution, 48(5), 435–472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.12.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Despriée, J., Courcimault, G., Moncel, M.-H., Voinchet, P., Tissoux, H., Puaud, S., et al. (2016). The Acheulean site of la Noira (Centre region, France): Characterization of materials and alterations, choice of lacustrine millstone and evidence of anthropogenic behaviour. Quaternary International, 411, 144–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.12.101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunnell, R. (1971). Systematics in Prehistory. Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunnell, R. C. (1978). Style and function: A fundamental dichotomy. American Antiquity, 43(2), 192–202. https://doi.org/10.2307/279244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunnell, R. (1980). Evolutionary theory and archaeology. In M.B. Schiffer (Ed.), Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory (vol. 3, pp. 35–99). Academic Press.

  • Farris, J. S. (1970). Methods for Computing Wagner Trees. Systematic Zoology, 19(1), 83–92. https://doi.org/10.2307/2412028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farris, J. S. (1977). Phylogenetic analysis under Dollo’s law. Systematic Zoology, 26(1), 77. https://doi.org/10.2307/2412867

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farris, J. S. (1983). The logical basis of phylogenetic analysis. Advances in Cladistics, 2, 7–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faure-Brac, M. G., Rineau, V., & Bagils, R. Z. (2020). Rethinking Pleijel’s (1995) characters under a hierarchical point of view. BioRxiv. Preprint. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.19.345330

  • Fitch, W. M. (1970). Distinguishing homologous from analogous proteins. Systematic Zoology, 19(2), 99–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fitch, W. M. (1971). Toward defining the course of evolution: Minimum change for a specific tree topology. Systematic Biology, 20(4), 406–416. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/20.4.406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foley, R. (1987). Hominid species and stone-tool assemblages: How are they related? Antiquity, 61(233), 380–392. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00072938

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foley, R., & Lahr, M. M. (2003). On stony ground: Lithic technology, human evolution, and the emergence of culture. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 12(3), 109–122. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.10108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zaragüeta i Bagils, R., Lelièvre, H., & Tassy, P. (2004). Temporal paralogy, cladograms, and the quality of the fossil record. Geodiversitas, 26(3), 381–389.

  • Gallay, A. (2012). Approche cladistique et classification des sociétés ouest-africaines : un essai épistémologique. Journal des Africanistes. 82(1), 209–245.

  • Galef, B., (2003). Social learning: promoter or inhibitor of innovation. In S. M. Reader, K. N. Laland (Eds.), Animal Innovation (pp. 137–152). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198526223.003.0006

  • Gallotti, R., & Peretto, C. (2015). The Lower/early Middle Pleistocene small débitage productions in Western Europe: New data from Isernia La Pineta t.3c (Upper Volturno Basin, Italy). Quaternary International, 357, 264–281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.06.055

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gould, R., & Watson, P. (1982). A dialogue on the meaning and use of analogy in ethnoarchaeological reasoning. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 1(4), 355–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, R. D., & Atkinson, Q. D. (2003). Language-tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European origin. Nature, 426(6965), 435–439. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02029

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, R. D., & Jordan, F. M. (2000). Language trees support the express-train sequence of Austronesian expansion. Nature, 405(6790), 1052–1055. https://doi.org/10.1038/35016575

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardus, M., Lameira, A., van Schaik, C., & Wich, S. (2009). Tool use in wild orang-utans modifies sound production: A functionally deceptive innovation? Proceeding of the Royal Society B, 276(1673), 3689–3694. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.1027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hennig, W. (1965). Phylogenetic systematics. Annual Review of Entomology, 10(1), 97–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hennig, W. (1966). Phylogenetic Systematics. University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heyes, C. (1994). Social learning in animals: Categories and mechanisms. Biological Review, 69(2), 207–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holden, C. J. (2002). Bantu language trees reflect the spread of farming across sub-Saharan Africa: A maximum-parsimony analysis. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 269(1493), 793–799. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2002.1955

  • Jenks, G. F. (1967). The Data Model Concept in Statistical Mapping. International Yearbook of Cartography, 7, 186–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jennings, T. A., & Waters, M. R. (2014). Pre-clovis lithic technology at the Debra L. Friedkin site, Texas: Comparisons to clovis through site-level behavior, technological trait-list, and cladistic analyses. American Antiquity, 79(1), 25–44. https://doi.org/10.7183/0002-7316.79.1.25

  • Jordan, P., & O’Neill, S. (2010). Untangling cultural inheritance: Language diversity and long-house architecture on the Pacific northwest coast. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 365(1559), 3875–3888. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0092

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jordan, P., & Shennan, S. (2003). Cultural transmission, language, and basketry traditions amongst the California Indians. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 22(1), 42–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0278-4165(03)00004-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitching, I. J., Forey, P. L., Humphries, C. J., & Williams, D. (1998). Cladistics: the theory and practice of parsimony analysis (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

  • Kluge, A. G., & Farris, J. S. (1969). Quantitative phyletics and the evolution of anurans. Systematic Zoology, 18(1), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.2307/2412407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krützen, M., Mann, J., Heithaus, M., Connor, R., Bejder, L., & Sherwin, W. (2005). Cultural transmission of tool use in the bottlenose dolphins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 102(), 8939–8943.

  • Laland, K. (2004). Social learning strategies. Learning and Behavior, 32(1), 4–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Bomin, S., Lecointre, G., & Heyer, E. (2016). The evolution of musical diversity: The key role of vertical transmission. PLOS ONE, 11(3), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0151570

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leroi-Gourhan, A. (1964). Le geste et la parole. Technique et langage. Albin Michel.

  • Longacre, W. (1970). Current thinking in American archaeology. American Anthropological Association Bulletin, 3(3), 126–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lycett, S. J. (2007). Why is there a lack of Mode 3 Levallois technologies in East Asia? A phylogenetic test of the Movius-Schick hypothesis. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 26(4), 541–575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2007.07.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lycett, S. J. (2009). Are Victoria West cores “proto-Levallois”? A phylogenetic assessment. Journal of Human Evolution, 56(2), 175–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.10.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lycett, S. J. (2015). Cultural evolutionary approaches to artifact variation over time and space: Basis, progress, and prospects. Journal of Archaeological Science, 56, 21–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2015.01.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lycett, S. J., Collard, M., & McGrew, W. C. (2009). Cladistic analyses of behavioural variation in wild Pan troglodytes: Exploring the chimpanzee culture hypothesis. Journal of Human Evolution, 57(4), 337–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.05.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyman, R. L., & O’Brien, M. J. (1997). The concept of evolution in early twentieth-century americanist archaeology. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, 7(1), 21–48. https://doi.org/10.1525/ap3a.1997.7.1.21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyman, R. L., & O’Brien, M. J. (1998). The goals of evolutionary archaeology: History and explanation. Current Anthropology, 39(5), 615–652. https://doi.org/10.1086/204786

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McBrearty, S. (2003). Patterns of technological change at the origin of Homo sapiens. Before Farming, 3(9), 1–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacQueen, J. B. (1967). Some methods for classification and analysis of multivariate observations. Proceedings of 5th Berkeley Symposium on Mathematical Statistics and Probability, 1, 281–297.

  • MacWhite, E. (1956). On the interpretation of archeological evidence in historical and sociological terms 1. American Anthropologist, 58(1), 3–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manem, S. (2020). Modeling the evolution of ceramic traditions through a phylogenetic analysis of the Chaînes Opératoires: The European Bronze Age as a case study. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 27(4), 1–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall-Pescini, S., & Whiten, A. (2008). Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and the question of cumulative culture: An experimental approach. Animal cognition, 11(3), 449–456. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-007-0135-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marwick, B. (2012). A cladistic evaluation of ancient Thai bronze Buddha images: Six tests for a phylogenetic signal in the Griswold collection. In M. L. Tjoa-Bonatz, A. Reinecke, & D. Bonatz (Eds.), Connecting Empires and States: Selected Papers from the 13th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists (pp. 159–176). NUS Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1ntg9b

  • Mauss, M. (1947). Manuel d'ethnographie. Payot.

  • Mecozzi, B., Iannucci, A., Sardella, R., Curci, A., Daujeard, C., & Moncel, M.-H. (2021). Not only cranial remains: The ulna of Barbary macaque from the Middle Pleistocene site of Notarchirico (Venosa, southern Italy). Journal of Human Evolution, 153, 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meltzer, D. J. (1981). A study of style and function in a class of tools. Journal of Field Archaeology, 8(3), 313–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mesoudi, A., Whiten, A., Laland, K. (2004). Perspective: is human cultural evolution darwinian ? Evidence reviewed from the perspective of the Origin of Species. Evolution, 58(1), 1-11.

  • Mesoudi, A. (2016). Cultural evolution: A review of theory, findings and controversies. Evolutionary Biology, 43(4), 481–497. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-015-9320-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mesoudi, A., & Lycett, S. J. (2009). Random copying, frequency-dependent copying and culture change. Evolution and Human Behavior, 30(1), 41–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2008.07.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moncel, M-H., Ashton, N., Lamotte, A., Tuffreau, A., Cliquet, D., & Despriée, J. (2015). The North-west Europe early Acheulian. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 40, 302–331.

  • Moncel, M.-H., Arzarello, M., Boëda, E., Bonilauri, S., Chevrier, B., Gaillard, C., Forestier, H., Yinghua, L., Sémah, F., & Zeitoun, V. (2018). The assemblages with bifacial tools in Eurasia. What is going one at the East? Data on India, Eastern Asia and South-East Asia. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 17, 61–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moncel, M.-H., Chacón, M. G., Vettese, D., Courty, M.-A., Daujeard, C., Eixea, A., et al., (2021). Late Neanderthal short-term and specialized occupations at the Abri du Maras (South-East France, level 4.1, MIS 3). Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 13(3), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01285-5

  • Moncel, M.-H., Despriée, J., Courcimaut, G., Voinchet, P., & Bahain, J.-J. (2020). La Noira site (Centre, France) and the technological behaviours and skills of the earliest Acheulean in Western Europe between 700 and 600 kyrs. Journal of Paleolithic Archeology, 3(3), 255–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moncel, M.-H., Santagata, C., Pereira, A., Nomade, S., Bahain, J.-J., Voinchet, P., & Piperno, M. (2019). Biface production at Notarchirico (Southern Italy) before 600 ka? Contribution to the earliest evidence of the European Acheuleans. PLOS ONE, 14(9), 1–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moncel, M.-H., Santagata, C., Pereira, A., Nomade, S., Voinchet, P., Bahain, J.-J., et al. (2020). The origin of early Acheulean expansion in Europe 700 ka ago: New findings at Notarchirico (Italy). Scientific Reports, 10(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68617-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moya, C., Boyd, R., & Henrich, J. (2015). Reasoning about cultural and genetic transmission: Developmental and cross-cultural evidence From Peru, Fiji, and the United States on how people make inferences about trait transmission. Topics in Cognitive Science, 7(4), 595–610. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neiman, F. D. (1995). Stylistic variation in evolutionary perspective: Inferences from decorative diversity and interassemblage distance in Illinois Woodland Ceramic Assemblages. American Antiquity, 60(1), 7–36. https://doi.org/10.2307/282074

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, G. (1994). Homology and systematics. In B. K. Hall (Ed.), Homology: The Hierarchical Basis of Comparative Biology (pp. 101–149). Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, G. (1996). Nullius in Verba. Self-published.

  • Nelson, G. J., & Ladiges, P. Y. (1996). Paralogy in cladistic biogeography and analysis of paralogy-free subtrees. American Museum novitates, 3167, 1–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, G., & Platnick, N. (1981). Systematics and biogeography: Cladistics and vicariance. Columbia University Press.

  • Nelson, G., & Platnick, N. (1991). Three-taxon statements: A more precise use of parsimony? Cladistics, 7(4), 351–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, G., Williams, D. M., & Ebach, M. C. (2003). A question of conflict: Three-item and standard parsimony compared. Systematics and Biodiversity, 1(2), 145–149. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1477200003001130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, M., Subiaul, F., Galef, B., Zentall, T., & Whiten, A. (2012). Social learning in humans and nonhuman animals: theoretical and empirical dissections. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 126(2), 109. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027758

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Noordwijk, M. A., van Schaik, C. P., & Wich, S. A. (2006). Innovation in wild Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii). Behaviour, 143(7), 839–876.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’BrienM., Buchanan, B., Eren, M. (2018). Issues in Archaeology studies of convergence. In M. O’Brien, B. Buchanan, &M. Eren (Eds.), Convergent evolution in stone-tools technology (The Vienna series in Theoritical Biology, pp. 3-21). The MIT Press Cambridge.

  • O’Brien, M. J., & Bentley, R. A. (2020). Learning strategies and population dynamics during the Pleistocene colonization of North America. In Culture History and Convergent Evolution (pp. 261–281). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46126-3_13

  • O’Brien, M. J., Boulanger, M. T., Buchanan, B., Collard, M., Lee Lyman, R., & Darwent, J. (2014). Innovation and cultural transmission in the American Paleolithic: Phylogenetic analysis of eastern Paleoindian projectile-point classes. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 34, 100–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2014.03.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien, M. J., Buchanan, B., Collard, M., & Boulanger, M. T. (2012). Cultural cladistics and the early prehistory of North America. In P. Pontarotti (Ed.), Evolutionary biology: mechanisms and trends (pp. 23–42). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30425-5_2

  • O’Brien, M. J., Buchanan, B., & Eren, M. (2018). Issues in Archaeology studies of convergence. In M. O’Brien, B. Buchanan, & M. Eren (Eds.), Convergent evolution in stone-tools technology (pp. 3–21). The MIT Press Cambridge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien, M. J., & Lyman, R. L. (2000). Applying evolutionary archaeology: a systematic approach. Kluwer Academic.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • O'Brien, M., Lyman, R. (2002). The epistemological nature of archaeology units. Anthropological Theory, 2(1), 35–56.

  • O’Brien, M. J., & Lyman, R. L. (2003). Cladistics and archaeology. University of Utah Press.

  • O’Brien, M. J., Darwent, J., & Lyman, R. L. (2001). Cladistics Is Useful for Reconstructing Archaeological Phylogenies: Palaeoindian Points from the Southeastern United States. Journal of Archaeological Science, 28(10), 1115–1136. https://doi.org/10.1006/jasc.2001.0681

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Otte, M. (2003). The pitfalls of using bifaces as cultural markers. In M. Soressi & H. L. Dibble (Eds.), Multiple approaches to the study of bifacial technologies (pp. 183–192). University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pagel, M., Atkinson, Q. D., & Meade, A. (2007). Frequency of word-use predicts rates of lexical evolution throughout Indo-European history. Nature, 449(7163), 717–720. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, C. (1982). Morphological characters and homology. In K. A. Joysey & E. Friday (Eds.), Problems of phylogenetic reconstruction (Vol. 21, pp. 21–74). Academic Press.

  • Pereira, A., Nomade, S., Voinchet, P., Bahain, J. J., Falguères, C., Garon, H., et al. (2015). The earliest securely dated hominin fossil in Italy and evidence of Acheulian occupation during glacial MIS 16 at Notarchirico (Venosa, Basilicata, Italy): Earliest Acheulian Occupation of Italy. Journal of Quaternary Science, 30(7), 639–650. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2809

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perlès, C. (2016). La technologie lithique, de part et d’autre de l’Atlantique. Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, 113(2), 221–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel, R. A., & Riggins, R. (1987). The Nature of Cladistic Data. Cladistics, 3(3), 201–209. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-0031.1987.tb00508.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, M. (1999). Notarchirico. Un sito del Pleistocene medio iniziale nel bacino di Venosa. Edizioni Osanna.

  • Platnick, N., & Nelson, G. (1978). A method of analysis for historical biogeography. Systematic Zoology, 27(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.2307/2412808

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pogue, M. G., & Mickevich, M. F. (1990). Character definitions and character state delineation: the bête noire of phylogenetic inference. Cladistics, 6(4), 319–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poole, J. H., Tyack, P. L., Stoeger-Horwath, A. S., & Watwood, S. (2005). Elephants are capable of vocal learning. Nature, 434(7032), 455–456. https://doi.org/10.1038/434455a

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prin, S. (2012). Structure mathématique des hypothèses cladistiques et conséquences pour la phylogénie et l’évolution. Avec une perspective sur l’analyse cladistique (PhD thesis). Muséum national d’histoire naturelle.

  • Ram, Y., Liberman, U., & Feldman, M. W. (2018). Evolution of vertical and oblique transmission under fluctuating selection. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(6), E1174–E1183. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1719171115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rexová, K., Frynta, D., & Zrzavý, J. (2003). Cladistic analysis of languages: Indo-European classification based on lexicostatistical data. Cladistics, 19(2), 120–127. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-0031.2003.tb00299.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rineau, V. (2017). Un nouveau regard cladistique sur l’anatomie comparée, la phylogénie, la systématique et la paléoécologie des rudistes (Bivalvia, Hippuritida) (PhD thesis). Université Pierre et Marie Curie.

  • Rineau, V., Grand, A., Zaragüeta i Bagils, R., & Laurin, M. (2015). Experimental systematics: sensitivity of cladistic methods to polarization and character ordering schemes. Contributions to Zoology, 84(2), 129–148.

  • Rineau, V., Zaragüeta i Bagils, R., & Bardin, J. (2021). Information content of trees: Three-taxon statements, inference rules and dependency. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 133(4), 1152–1170.

  • Rineau, V., Zaragüeta i Bagils, R. Z. I., & Laurin, M. (2018). Impact of errors on cladistic inference: Simulation-based comparison between parsimony and three-taxon analysis. Contributions to Zoology, 87(1), 25–40.

  • Rousseeuw, P. J. (1987). Silhouettes: A graphical aid to the interpretation and validation of cluster analysis. Computational and Applied Mathematics., 20, 53–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabloff, J. A., Beale, T. W., & Kurland, A. M., Jr. (1973). Recent developments in archaeology. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 408(1), 103–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santagata, C., Moncel, M.-H., & Piperno, M. (2020). Bifaces or not bifaces? Role of raw materials in the Middle Pleistocene. The example of levels E-E1, B and F (610–670 ka) at Notarchirico (Italy). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 33(102544), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102544

  • Santoro, F. R., Chaves, L. S., & Albuquerque, U. P. (2020). Evolutionary aspects that guide the cultural transmission pathways in a local medical system in Northeast Brazil. Heliyon, 6(6), e04109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schillinger, K., Mesoudi, A., & Lycett, S. J. (2017). Differences in manufacturing traditions and assemblage-level patterns: The origins of cultural differences in archaeological data. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 24(2), 640–658. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-016-9280-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, P. (2020). Culture, environmental adaptation or specific problem solving? On convergence and innovation dynamics related to techniques used for stone heat treatment. In H. Groucutt (Ed.), Culture History and Convergent Evolution (pp. 283–290). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Shennan, S. (2002). Genes, memes and human history. Thames & Hudson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shennan, S. (2008). Evolution in Archaeology. Annual Review of Anthropology, 37(1), 75–91. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.37.081407.085153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shennan, S. (2011). Descent with modification and the archaeological record. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 366(1567), 1070–1079. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shennan, S. (2020). Style, function and cultural transmission. In H. Groucutt (Ed.), Culture history and convergent evolution (pp. 291–298). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Siebert, D. J., & Williams, D. M. (1998). Recycled. Cladistics, 14(4), 339–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slotkin, J. S. (1952). Some basic methodological problems in prehistory. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, 8(4), 442–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Straffon, L. M. (2016). The Applications and Challenges of Cultural Phylogenetics in Archaeology: An Introduction. In L. Mendoza Straffon (Ed.), Cultural Phylogenetics (Vol. 4, pp. 1–15). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25928-4_1

  • Tehrani, J. (2013). The Phylogeny of Little Red Riding Hood. PLoS One, 8(11), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0078871

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tehrani, J., & Collard, M. (2002). Investigating cultural evolution through biological phylogenetic analyses of Turkmen textiles. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 21(4), 443–463. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0278-4165(02)00002-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ung, V., Zaragueta i Bagils, R., & Williams, D. M. (2016). Comparative biogeography of Southeast Asia and the West Pacific region. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 117(2), 372–385https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12670

  • Vallverdú, J., Saladié, P., Rosas, A., Huguet, R., Cáceres, I., Mosquera, M., et al. (2014). Age and date for early arrival of the Acheulian in Europe (Barranc de la Boella, la Canonja, Spain). PLoS ONE, 9(7), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103634

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Schaik, C. P., Ancrenaz, M., Borgen, G., Galdikas, B., Knott, C. D., Singleton, I., & Merrill, M. (2003). Orangutan cultures and the evolution of material culture. Science, 299(5603), 102–105. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1078004

  • van Schaik, C. P. (2010). Social learning and culture in animals. In P. Kappeler (Ed.), Animal behaviour: Evolution and mechanisms (pp. 623–653). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Whiten, A., Horner, V., de Waal, F. (2005). Conformity to cultural norms of tool use in chimpanzees. Nature, 437(7059), 737–740.

  • Willey, G. R. (1953). Archaeological theories and interpretation: New World (pp. 361–385). University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, D., & Ebach, M. C. (2006). The data matrix. Geodiversitas, 28(3), 409–420. Whiten, A., Horner, V., & de Waal, F. (2005). Conformity to cultural norms of tool use in chimpanzees. Nature, 437(7059), 737–740. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04047

  • Wylie, A. (1985). The reaction against analogy. In Advances in archaeological method and theory (pp. 63–111). Academic Press.

  • Zaragüeta i Bagils, R. (2011). Ancêtres. In V. Malécot, N. Léger, & P. Tassy (Eds.), Biosystema 28, L’arbre du vivant existe-il? (pp. 41–62). Editions Matériologiques.

  • Zaragüeta i Bagils, R., & Bourdon, E. (2007). Three-item analysis: Hierarchical representation and treatment of missing and inapplicable data. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 6(6–7), 527–534. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2007.09.013

  • Zaragüeta i Bagils, R., Ung, V., Grand, A., Vignes-Lebbe, R., Cao, N., & Ducasse, J. (2012). LisBeth: New cladistics for phylogenetics and biogeography. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 11(8), 563–566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2012.07.002

  • Zaragüeta i Bagils, R., & Pécaud, S. (2016). Why should cladograms be dichotomous? In D. Williams, M. Schmitt, & Q. Wheeler (Eds.), The Future of Phylogenetic Systematics: The Legacy of Willi Hennig (pp. 230–257). Cambridge.

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank M. O’Brien and two anonymous reviewers for their comments. The analyses were supported by the ANR Neandroots (ANR-19-CE27-0011-01, 2020-2024), coordinated by M-H. Moncel. Fieldwork at Notarchirico was carried out with the financial and scientific support of the Leakey Foundation (“Early Evidence of Acheulean bifacial technology in Europe” grant, 2015-2016 and 2019-2021) and the National Museum of Natural History, Paris, France (ATM Action Transversale du Muséum, 2016-2018). We thank the Soprintendenza of Basilicata (Italy) for their scientific support, especially Dr. T.E. Cinquantaquattro, Dr. F. Canestrini, Dr. R. Pirraglia, and Dr. S. Mutino. We also thank the Venosa Museum, the city of Venosa and the mayor, and Dr. A. Mantrisi for their assistance for the fieldwork. Finally, we thank Louise Byrne for correcting the English of the manuscript.

Funding

The analyses were supported by the ANR Neandroots (ANR-19-CE27-0011-01, 2020-2024) coordinated by M-H. Moncel. Fieldwork at Notarchirico was carried out with the financial and scientific support of the Leakey Foundation (“Early Evidence of Acheulean bifacial technology in Europe” grant, 2015-2016 and 2019-2021) and the National Museum of Natural History, Paris, France (ATM Action Transversale du Muséum, 2016-2018).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Theoretical Study, Charles University & Czech Academy of Sciences, Jilská 1, 110 00, Praha 1, Czech Republic

    Valentin Rineau

  2. CNRS, Histoire naturelle de l‘Homme préhistorique (UMR 7194 HNHP), 1 rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France

    Marie-Hélène Moncel

  3. CNRS, Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie - Paris (UMR 7207 CR2P), 4 place Jussieu, barre 46-56 5ème étage, case 104, 75005, Paris, France

    Valéry Zeitoun

Authors
  1. Valentin Rineau
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marie-Hélène Moncel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Valéry Zeitoun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Valentin Rineau.

Ethics declarations

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Online Resource 1

List, codes and coding of hierarchical homology hypotheses on lithic objects. (PDF 121 KB)

Online Resource 2

Hierarchical matrix on flakes. (XLSX 39 KB)

Online Resource 3

Hierarchical matrix on cores. (XLSX 14 KB)

Online Resource 4

Hierarchical matrix on nodules. (XLSX 13 KB)

Online Resource 5

Table showing homologies with and without repetition removal, deduced characters, retention index and codes. (XLSX 47 KB)

Online Resource 6

Correspondence table between lithic objects and layers. (XLSX 22 KB)

Online Resource 7

3ia file for computing the cladistic analysis of layers on Lisbeth 1.0. 62 (31A 2 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rineau, V., Moncel, MH. & Zeitoun, V. Revealing Evolutionary Patterns Behind Homogeneity: the Case of the Palaeolithic Assemblages from Notarchirico (Southern Italy). J Archaeol Method Theory 30, 203–238 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-022-09558-6

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-022-09558-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation