[Cross-posted to Revise & Dissent]

I think one of the most depressing seminars I ever had on my Master’s course was one on Evolutionary Archaeology. My introduction to evolution was generally through books like those of Richard Dawkins. So what I was expecting was a discussion of how simple rules could produce the emergence of complex and diverse societies. In contrast what evolutionary archaeology was often discredited ideas dressed up in pseudo-scientific language. Had I been able to read Mark Pluciennik’s book Social Evolution beforehand then I would have been prepared for what was largely a crushing disappointment.

Pluciennik starts by looking at the sources for the concept of evolution. While there isn’t a clear start event as there is for Natural Selection he does find that social evolution is expounded in the eighteenth century in the works of Smith and Turgot. This is in part due to the early anthropology of the Americas where natives were seen as man in his primitive state. This laid the foundations for the more racist expositions of evolution in later years where the purpose of evolution is to develop into European society. This may come as a surprise to some readers who may think of evolution More >