Abstract:

Ontogenetic niche construction has been suggested as a powerful driver influencing learning capabilities and survival across a wide range of species, including humans. A key component of the human ontogenetic niche is play objects. They are ubiquitous ethnographically and display remarkable similarities cross-culturally; they also appear archaeologically in periods often characterized by increased overall rates of innovation. This study explores the role of object play as a cultural variation-generating mechanism that fuels adaption during periods of climatic stress. In a natural experimental paradigm, children’s material culture in the Inuit and Norse societies that inhabited Greenland during the so-called Little Ice Age (~1350-1800 CE) have been compared, demonstrating marked differences in corpus volume, diversity, and change across time. Notably, the Norse settlers disappeared at this time, while Inuit communities thrived. Previous hypotheses for the demise of the Norse in Greenland have been proposed, often deterministically stressing climate or land degradation. As both societies experienced largely identical climatic stress, this case study affords the opportunity to explore what cultural factors – including ontogenetic niche construction and object play – may additionally have promoted survival or collapse.

Speaker's social media:

@MathildeVester5