Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Population Structure Drives Cultural Diversity In Finite Populations: A Hypothesis For Localized Community Patterns On Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile), Carl P. Lipo, Robert J. Dinapoli, Mark E. Madsen, Terry L. Hunt
Population Structure Drives Cultural Diversity In Finite Populations: A Hypothesis For Localized Community Patterns On Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile), Carl P. Lipo, Robert J. Dinapoli, Mark E. Madsen, Terry L. Hunt
Anthropology Faculty Scholarship
Understanding how and why cultural diversity changes in human populations remains a central topic of debate in cultural evolutionary studies. Due to the effects of drift, small and isolated populations face evolutionary challenges in the retention of richness and diversity of cultural information. Such variation, however, can have significant fitness consequences, particularly when environmental conditions change unpredictably, such that knowledge about past environments may be key to long-term persistence. Factors that can shape the outcomes of drift within a population include the semantics of the traits as well as spatially structured social networks. Here, we use cultural transmission simulations to …
The Role Of Culture In Sustainable Communities: The Case Of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile), Pamela A. Mischen, Carl P. Lipo
The Role Of Culture In Sustainable Communities: The Case Of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile), Pamela A. Mischen, Carl P. Lipo
Anthropology Faculty Scholarship
We explore how the combination of cultural heritage and present-day cultural affili- ations influences the construction of the concept of sustainability at the scale of the community using the case study of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile). We argue that overlapping affiliations—expressed through administrative culture, organizational culture, and professional culture—influence the views held by governance leaders. Furthermore, the role of cultural heritage must be considered in efforts to change and perpetuate sustainability-related behaviors within a community. Using archeo- logical and historical evidence from the pre-contact and historical record of Rapa Nui, we discuss how cultural heritage evolved endogenously in response …