Journal
EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY
Volume 25, Issue 1, Pages 6-19Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/evan.21467
Keywords
Acheulean handaxe; cultural transmission; social learning; genetic transmission
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Funding
- Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
- Canada Research Chairs Program
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research of Canada
- Canada Foundation for Innovation
- British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund
- Simon Fraser University
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The goal of this paper is to provoke debate about the nature of an iconic artifactthe Acheulean handaxe. Specifically, we want to initiate a conversation about whether or not they are cultural objects. The vast majority of archeologists assume that the behaviors involved in the production of handaxes were acquired by social learning and that handaxes are therefore cultural. We will argue that this assumption is not warranted on the basis of the available evidence and that an alternative hypothesis should be given serious consideration. This alternative hypothesis is that the form of Acheulean handaxes was at least partly under genetic control.
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