Information management and cultural evolution in Aboriginal Australia (In light of the cultural heterochrony hypothesis)

Abstract

Following a recent re-evaluation of evidence from an archaeological site in SE Australia, the possibility of a 120 thousand years (ka) old human presence in the Fifth Continent has been suggested. However, the commonly accepted date for the peopling of Australia remains within the range of 50 - 65 ka. Even if the newly proposed date were halved, an uninterrupted 60 ka continuity in the same territory would raise a few questions regarding the transmission mechanisms that have enabled the retention of the massive amount of knowledge acquired during such an extended period, especially when considering the lack of demographic strength, which is believed to be a prerequisite for effective social learning. I argue that the emergence, developmental rate, and extent of Australian culture reflect an ‘additive’ evolutionary strategy centred on a ritually regulated feedback loop between the volume of information flow and the level of social elaboration. The model forwarded in this paper is at odds with current theoretical approaches to cultural evolution in which Aboriginal traditions are often portrayed as living examples of Pleistocene cross-cultural universals.