Selective pressures for cultural changes

Biology Level 3 3.6 Human Evolution
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Hi there :slight_smile: This is a question from the 2017 paper. I’m confused about how to answer the second part of the question. What sort of selective pressures do we talk about for cultural changes? I’ve looked at the marking schedule already. Could you please explain how you would answer it. Thanks :slight_smile:

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Mainly just confused on the explain part. Selective pressures in cultural changes is confusing for me. I know selective pressures are things that cause something to be selected for, so what things caused cultural changes to be selected for? Thank you!!!

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Hi ewon77
If you look at the answer schedule you will see that the statement at the top says “Explain the selective pressures that could lead to cultural or biological changes.” This clarifies the original question and you will see that none of the example answers use the term selection pressures.

To answer this question you have to explain how/why cultural changes lead to biological changes in the skull and pelvis OR how/why biological changes in the skull and pelvis lead to cultural changes.

For example use of fire (cultural) allowed H . erectus to eat cooked food which is softer than uncooked food. Individuals that had larger, heavier jaw muscles could more easily chew the harder food BUT cooking meant that this is no longer a major advantage. So individuals with the smaller, lighter jaw muscles had an advantage because they had less weight around the jaw area. The advantage of the lower weight caused a cultural change towards more cooking of food.
Hope this helps you see how to answer the question.
Cheers
ST2

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Thanks ST2!! Could you pls give an example of how a biological changes in skull/pelvis led to a cultural change?
I understand we could link larger brain size to tool making etc… could U pls give an example related to the pelvis? Thanks :slight_smile:

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Hi ewon77
See if you can write a suitable answer using the idea that changes to the pelvis allowed babies to be born with larger brains and larger brains allowed communication to plan activities such as hunting.
Cheers
ST2

1 Like
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Okay thank you so much! I’ve got a question about mtDNA and y chromosome analysis, how does the fact that H. Sapiens are linked to one common ancestor support Out of Africa Theory? Thank you.