Cultural Evolution from Minimal Principles

Johan Lind is Senior Curator at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, and Deputy Director at the Centre for Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University, Sweden. His research field includes mechanisms and evolution of behavior and culture. Anna Jon-And is Director of the Centre for Cultural Evolution and Senior Lecturer of Portuguese Linguistics at Stockholm University, Sweden. She combines modeling and empirical data to explore cognitive prerequisites for language and the dynamics of variation and change.

• Part I. Introduction: 1. A unifying view on cultural evolution? Johan Lind and Anna Jon-And; 2. Cultural evolutionary thinking: from past to present Fredrik Jansson, Sara Ekström and Johan Lind; Part II. Origins and Biological Foundations of Culture: 3. Similarities and differences between humans and other animals Vera Vinken, Tina Sundelin and Johan Lind; 4. The age of culture Johan Lind; 5. Evolution of stone-tool making Jan Apel; 6. The evolution of language Anna Jon-And; Part III. Mechanisms and Drivers of Cultural Change: 7. Modelling cultural evolution Fredrik Jansson; 8. Population change and cultural evolution Martin Kolk; 9. Emergence and change of norms Fredrik Jansson and Tina Sundelin; Part IV. Emergence and Large-scale Phenomena: 10. A complex systems perspective on cultural evolution Jérôme Michaud and Magnus Enquist; 11. The dynamics of cultural systems Fredrik Jansson; Index.