Cultural diffusion dynamics depend on behavioural production rules

Culture is an outcome of the acquisition of knowledge about behaviour through social transmission, and its subsequent production. Transmission and production are often discussed interchangeably or modeled separately, yet to date, no study has accounted for both processes and explored their interaction. We present a generative model that integrates the two in order to explore how variation in either might shape cultural diffusion dynamics. Agents make behavioural choices that change as they learn from their behavioural productions. Their repertoires also change over time, and the social transmission of behaviours depends on their frequency. We diffuse a novel behaviour through social networks across a large parameter space to demonstrate how accounting for both transmission and production reveals dependencies between individual-level behavioural production rules and population-level diffusion dynamics. We then investigate how such dependencies might affect the performance of two commonly used inferential models for social learning; Network-based Diffusion Analysis (NBDA), and Experienced Weighted Attraction models (EWA). By clarifying the distinction between acquisition and usage, we illuminate often-overlooked theoretical differences between social learning and social influence. These distinctions yield consequences and new considerations for how inferential methods are applied to empirical studies of culture.

The Motif of the Angel(s) of Death in Islamic Foundational Sources as an Element of Cultural Diffusion

The article harks back to the publication entitled “The Motif of the Angel(s) of Death in Islamic Foundational Sources” (VV 38/2 [2020]), which was devoted to the analysis of the eponymous theme in the foundational sources of Islam: the Quran and the sunna of the Prophet Muhammad. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the motif of angel(s) may have been borrowed from two monotheistic traditions that came before. The verification of the thesis that the motif of the angel(s) of death underwent diffusion was carried out in several steps. First, the motif was identified in the textual traditions of Judaism and early Christianity (i.e. sets of texts that were known and, in all likelihood, widespread in the Middle East during the formative period of Islam). As a result of the analysis, most of the themes recognised in the foundational texts of Islam were found. The next step was to identify possible routes of their transmission and percolation into the Islamic tradition and to determine the “ideological demand” for the motif of the angel(s) of death in the burgeoning Islam. Although Jewish and Christian imagery and beliefs about angels are an important (if not the primary) source of influence on Muslim angelology, there was most likely a two-way interaction between the monotheistic traditions, albeit to a limited extent.

Middle Pleistocene fire use: The first signal of widespread cultural diffusion in human evolution

Control of fire is one of the most important technological innovations within the evolution of humankind. The archaeological signal of fire use becomes very visible from around 400,000 y ago onward. Interestingly, this occurs at a geologically similar time over major parts of the Old World, in Africa, as well as in western Eurasia, and in different subpopulations of the wider hominin metapopulation. We interpret this spatiotemporal pattern as the result of cultural diffusion, and as representing the earliest clear-cut case of widespread cultural change resulting from diffusion in human evolution. This fire-use pattern is followed slightly later by a similar spatiotemporal distribution of Levallois technology, at the beginning of the African Middle Stone Age and the western Eurasian Middle Paleolithic. These archaeological data, as well as studies of ancient genomes, lead us to hypothesize that at the latest by 400,000 y ago, hominin subpopulations encountered one another often enough and were sufficiently tolerant toward one another to transmit ideas and techniques over large regions within relatively short time periods. Furthermore, it is likely that the large-scale social networks necessary to transmit complicated skills were also in place. Most importantly, this suggests a form of cultural behavior significantly more similar to that of extant Homo sapiens than to our great ape relatives.

Cultural Acculturation of Yemeni Zapin Dance and Malay Dance in Malaysia As A Means of Islmic Teaching

<p>This research was conducted to explain the cultural acculturation of the Yemeni and Malay zapin dance as a means of da'wah Islamiyah in Malaysia. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative. In this research, literature study was also carried out as a data collection method. There is a theory in this research, namely the theory of cultural diffusion and from the point of view of a historical approach. The aim of this research is to reveal the acculturation elements of the Yemeni and Malay zapin dance. Then describe the Islamic da'wah function and the value between the two parties behind the zapin dance. The results that can be concluded from the acculturation of the Yemeni zapin dances and the Malay dances in Malaysia are producing all kinds of changes including the elements of dancers, musical instruments, movements, and the lyrics or songs used in these dances.</p>

Significant East Asian Affinity of the Sichuan Hui Genomic Structure Suggests the Predominance of the Cultural Diffusion Model in the Genetic Formation Process

The ancestral origin and genomic history of Chinese Hui people remain to be explored due to the paucity of genome-wide data. Some evidence argues that an eastward migration of Central Asians gave rise to modern Hui people, which is referred to as the demic diffusion hypothesis; other evidence favors the cultural diffusion hypothesis, which posits that East Asians adopted Muslim culture to form the modern culturally distinct populations. However, the extent to which the observed genetic structure of the Huis was mediated by the movement of people or the assimilation of Muslim culture also remains highly contentious. Analyses of over 700 K SNPs in 109 western Chinese individuals (49 Sichuan Huis and 60 geographically close Nanchong Hans) together with the available ancient and modern Eurasian sequences allowed us to fully explore the genomic makeup and origin of Hui and neighboring Han populations. The results from PCA, ADMIXTURE, and allele-sharing-based f-statistics revealed a strong genomic affinity between Sichuan Huis and Neolithic-to-modern Northern East Asians, which suggested a massive gene influx from East Asians into the Sichuan Hui people. Three-way admixture models in the qpWave/qpAdm analyses further revealed a small stream of gene influx from western Eurasians into the Sichuan Hui people, which was further directly confirmed via the admixture event from the temporally distinct Western sources to Sichuan Hui people in the qpGraph-based phylogenetic model, suggesting the key role of the cultural diffusion model in the genetic formation of the Sichuan Huis. ALDER-based admixture date estimation showed that this observed western Eurasian admixture signal was introduced into the Sichuan Huis during the historic periods, which was concordant with the extensive western–eastern communication along the Silk Road and historically documented Huis' migration history. In summary, although significant cultural differentiation exists between Hui people and their neighbors, our genomic analysis showed their strong genetic affinity with modern and ancient Northern East Asians. Our results support the hypothesis that the Sichuan Huis arose from a mixture of minor western Eurasian ancestry and predominant East Asian ancestry.