THE EVOLUTION OF

CULTURE
BY: SANCHEZ, MARIA ROMELYN
 EVOLUTION

The process by which different kinds of
living organisms are thought to have
developed and diversified from earlier
forms during the history of the earth.
 The gradual development of something,
especially from a simple to a more
complex form.
 Ideas
Customs Knowledge

CULTURE
Behaviors
Values Objects
The Evolution of Culture
 Is a complex process involving the development of cultures from simpler
to more complex forms.
 Is now understood as a multilinear concept that encompasses the
change of information affecting individuals’ behavior over time.
 This evolution is influenced by various factors such as social,
environmental, and biological influences, leading to the growth and
development of civilizations.
 Cultural evolution theory explores how human culture extends biology
through social learning and cultural inheritance, emphasizing the
importance of habits, know-how, and technologies passed down through
generations.
 BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION
AND CULTURE
 Biological Evolution
- It refers to the changes, modifications
and variations in the genetics, and inherited traits
of biological populations from one generation to
another.
- Scientists study the changes in the
physical body of humans, the changes in the
shape and size of their bones.
 Cultural Evolution
- It refers to the changes or development in
cultures from a simple form to a more complex form of
human culture.
- Scientist study the cultural evolution of
humans by analyzing the changes in the latter’s way of
life.
 Cultural Evolution trends
- Lived in wooded areas
Sahelanthropus - Most of cultural evolution is pure speculation
tchadensis

- Only debatable evidence that they made tools, and no

Australopithecus evidence that they had home bases or shared food.
group - Probably opportunist feeders.

- Some evidence they used bones or perhaps sticks to

Paranthropus genus dig up roots (this would leave no fossil evidence though)
- Evidence suggests robustus ate course, tough food
supplementary by small insects.
 Development of speech
Homo genus Enabled by Broca’s area of the brain. First seen in
Homo habilis.

Development of tool – making

Homo habilis was known as the Handy man and made
Oldowan tools.
Homo erectus used Acheulian tools and was known as
the Fire maker.
Homo Neanderthalis used Mousterian tools and began
to attach stone tools to handles.
Homo sapiens used advanced tools of flint and bone.
Used blades and points called Upper Paleolithic tools.
Homo genus Development of group living and culture
Homo habilis – successful hunters, made shelters
and lived in bands of about 12 people.
Homo erectus – built shelters (huts) supported by
wooden poles, serious co-operative hunters.
Homo heidelbergensis – able to hunt large prey
(rich diet led to increased size), were cannibals built
shelters and used fire.
Homo neanderthalis – intelligent, lived in caves,
built stone walls, dressed in hides, buried their
dead, had strong social bonds.
Homo Sapiens – skilled hunters, lived in large
groups, engraved and painted on walls, carved
statues, etc.
 SOCIETIES
 A society is a group of individuals
involved in persistent social interaction,
or a large social group sharing the
same spatial or social territory, typically
subject to the same political authority
and dominant cultural expectations.
 Societas or Socius
 which means comrade, friend,
ally
 GROUP SELECTION
 Is a process of natural selection that operates at
the group level, where social groups act as
“vehicle” of selection.
 It involves the differential extinction and
proliferation of populations, leading to the evolution
of traits based on the fitness of groups rather than
individual organisms.
 Group selection has been a topic of debate in
evolutionary biology, with proponents arguing that
it plays a significant role in evolution by favoring
traits that benefit the entire group, such as altruistic
behaviors.