#178 Stephen Shennan: Darwinian Archaeology, Culture, And The Origins of Agriculture

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Dr. Stephen Shennan is Professor of Theoretical Archaeology in the Institute of Archaeology at University College London. Dr. Shennan focuses on cultural evolution and Darwinian archaeology, applying theories from evolutionary ecology and cladistics to archaeology. In July 2006, he was elected Fellow of the British Academy. He’s the author of several books, including Genes, Memes and Human History: Darwinian Archaeology and Cultural Evolution, Mapping Our Ancestors: Phylogenetic Approaches in Anthropology and Prehistory, and The First Farmers of Europe: An Evolutionary Perspective.

In this episode, we talk about Darwinian Archaeology. We start off by addressing the differences in terms of theoretical foundations and methodology between traditional Archaeology and Darwinian Archaeology. Then, we talk about we talk about some basilar aspects of the study of cultures, like the importance of innovation, how to delimitate cultures from one another, and “folk science”. In the second part of the interview, we discuss the origins and spread of agriculture, as informed by archaeological findings. We talk about how agriculture spread through Europe, and aspects related to demography, diet, famine and disease. At the end, Dr. Shennan also explains what the Neolithic was about. 

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Referrenced books/articles:

Genes, Memes and Human History: https://amzn.to/2uwm7UE

Mapping Our Ancestors: https://amzn.to/2TXYrYl

The First Farmers of Europe: https://amzn.to/2TYGYPy

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