Objective CulTech proposes a probabilistic and spatially explicit simulation-based study to test the roles of population fragmentation and coalescence to explain variability in the southern African late Pleistocene lithic record. It focuses on the interval c. 44 – 12 kcal. BP relevant to onset and maturation of the Later Stone Age (LSA). The project asks three key questions: Q1) To what extent is the degree to which southern African late Pleistocene LSA lithic assemblages differ as a function of space and time? Q2) Are these patterns of similarity/dissimilarity consistent with expectations derived from simulated population coalescence and fragmentation scenarios? Q3) How do these patterns change through time across the period c. 44 – 12 kcal. BP? It draws on a multi-variate dataset including radiocarbon dates and lithic technological data to develop a series of simulation and model-based approaches to examine the possible demographic dimensions of late Pleistocene technological variability in southern Africa.CulTech builds on a growing field of computational modelling and simulation-based approaches applied to studies of prehistoric cultural transmission. Simulation based approaches are efficient and can accommodate several variations in population size, density, structure, rates of interaction and mechanisms of cultural transmission. The project draws its principle datasets from southern Africa’s long history of LSA lithic research to evaluate the degree of fit between patterns in the region’s site spatial distribution, lithic data, and expectations from a series of simulations to generate expected population coalescence/fragmentation patterns and their effects on the lithic data. The outcomes of these models will contribute significantly to discussions about cultural transmission and population processes in hunter-gatherer societies. These topics are of relevance not just to southern Africa, but to human evolution and global archaeology in general. Fields of science social sciencessociologyanthropologyphysical anthropologypaleoanthropologysocial sciencessociologyanthropologysocial anthropology Keywords Lithic technology population demography cultural transmission MSA-LSA transition computer modelling Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2017 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2017 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF) Coordinator THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE Net EU contribution € 195 454,80 Address TRINITY LANE THE OLD SCHOOLS CB2 1TN Cambridge United Kingdom See on map Region East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 195 454,80
