Derex, MaximeORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1512-6496 and Brand, Charlotte (2025) Studying long-term evolutionary processes over short timescales: Methods in cumulative cultural evolution. In: The Oxford Handbook of Approaches to Language Evolution Raviv, Limor and Boeckx, CedricORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8882-9718 (eds.) Oxford University Press. Chapter 14. pp. 241-258. ISBN 9780192886491

Abstract

Most cultural traits, including language itself, do not emerge in one shot but are improved and refined over time through individual and social learning, over multiple generations. In this chapter, we explore methods used in the field of cultural evolution to investigate how behaviours and technologies evolve over time. Cumulative cultural evolution experiments allow drastic compression of the ‘evolutionary’ timescale, allowing researchers to observe the process of cultural change under controlled conditions. We cover the general principles underlying these experiments, discuss their strengths and weaknesses, and discuss how human language has thus far been addressed within cultural evolution methods. We conclude the chapter by suggesting fruitful avenues to test so far untested hypotheses about the relationship between communication and cultural evolution.