Além da Biologia: Teoria Evolutiva aplicada à Arqueologia e estudos de Cultura Material

  • Mercedes Okumura Laboratório de Estudos Evolutivos Humanos (LEEH), Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo
  • Astolfo G. M. Araujo Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Pesquisas em Evolução, Cultura e Meio Ambiente (LEVOC), Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, Universidade de São Paulo
Palavras-chave: Teoria Evolutiva, Darwin, Arqueologia, Estudos de Cultura Material

Resumo

Desde sua proposição por Darwin e Wallace, a teoria da evolução biológica através da seleção natural e seus desdobramentos (incluindo o neo-Darwinismo e a teoria sintética da evolução) têm sido aplicados em muitas áreas além das ciências biológicas, incluindo os estudos culturais. Dentro dessa área, a Arqueologia se destaca como a disciplina que estuda o registro de longo prazo da cultura material humana e, portanto, apresenta oportunidade ideal para entender mudanças culturais ao longo do tempo. Nesse contexto, a abordagem teórica criada pelo arqueólogo estadunidense Robert Dunnell nos anos 1970, chamada de Arqueologia Evolutiva, é uma das mais bem-sucedidas aplicações da Teoria da Evolução fora da Biologia. A essa abordagem, frequentemente junta-se a Teoria de Transmissão Cultural, que transcende o campo da Arqueologia e que tem tido contribuições importantes também da Etologia, Psicologia, entre outras disciplinas. A aplicação conjunta dos pressupostos teóricos da Arqueologia Evolutiva e da Teoria de Transmissão Cultural, aliados a métodos muitas vezes oriundos das Ciências Biológicas, como análises filogenéticas e morfometria geométrica, têm tido êxito em registrar de forma sistemática mudanças (ou a ausência dessas) ao longo do tempo na cultura material de grupos humanos, assim como fornecer explanações acerca desses fenômenos, envolvendo os conceitos de seleção e deriva, bem como retomando ideias que sempre foram caras à Arqueologia, como tradição, inovação e persistência. Além de uma discussão sobre o estado da arte e das potenciais aplicações da Teoria Evolutiva aos estudos de cultura material, apresentaremos um estudo de caso da aplicação conjunta da Arqueologia Evolutiva e da Teoria de Transmissão Cultural a fim de compreender a evolução cultural no leste da América do Sul (Brasil) durante o Holoceno inicial.

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Publicado
2025-11-07
Como Citar
Okumura, M., & G. M. Araujo, A. (2025). Além da Biologia: Teoria Evolutiva aplicada à Arqueologia e estudos de Cultura Material. ARARIPE — REVISTA DE FILOSOFIA - , 5(1), 29-58. https://doi.org/10.56837/Araripe.2024.v5.n1.1442