The paradox of the long term: human evolution and entanglement★

In: The journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Band 26, Heft 2, S. 389-411

Abstract

AbstractOver recent decades, many archaeologists have eschewed evolutionary theories, and in doing so they have turned away from the identification of long‐term trends that are of great relevance to present‐day matters of concern. In particular, there is clear evidence for an overall long‐term increase in the amount of human‐made material and associated human‐thing entanglements, an increase tied up with environmental impact and global inequalities. The directionality of these long‐term changes is clear and yet evolutionary theory largely shuns notions of overall directional change. This paradox and its implications are the subject of this article, with the suggestion made that, for human evolution at least, notions of directionality and path dependence need to be embraced, with concomitant changes in human evolutionary theory, and with implications for responses to environmental change. Adding to earlier accounts of entanglement, emphases are placed on the self‐amplifying processes that lead to change and on irreversibility in the place of teleology.