Exploring the Effects of Assemblage Accumulation on Diversity and Innovation Rate Estimates in Neutral, Conformist, and Anti-Conformist Models of Cultural Transmission

Abstract

Recent research has shown that accumulation and time averaging can affect the neutrality tests used in evolutionary archaeology. This study builds upon this line of research and explores the effects of assemblage accumulation and time averaging on diversity estimates and innovation rate estimates commonly used in evolutionary archaeology by simulating three kinds of transmission processes (neutral, conformist, and anti-conformist). Accumulation often results in equifinality, but in some cases, it is possible to identify the specific transmission process by looking at the patterns of covariation of diversity measures and the duration of an assemblage accumulation. The relevance of simulation results is illustrated by an archaeological example.