Texas A&M University-San Antonio Digital Commons @ Texas A&M University- San Antonio History Faculty Publications College of Arts and Sciences 2012 Genes, Culture, and Agriculture: An Example of Human Niche Construction Michael J. O'Brien Texas A&M University-San Antonio,
[email protected] K. N. Laland Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.tamusa.edu/hist_faculty Part of the Anthropology Commons Repository Citation O'Brien, Michael J. and Laland, K. N., "Genes, Culture, and Agriculture: An Example of Human Niche Construction" (2012). History Faculty Publications. 12. https://digitalcommons.tamusa.edu/hist_faculty/12 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Arts and Sciences at Digital Commons @ Texas A&M University- San Antonio. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Texas A&M University- San Antonio. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. 434 Current Anthropology Volume 53, Number 4, August 2012 Genes, Culture, and Agriculture An Example of Human Niche Construction by Michael J. O’Brien and Kevin N. Laland Theory and empirical data from a variety of disciplines strongly imply that recent human history involves extensive gene-culture coevolution, much of it as a direct result of human agricultural practices. Here we draw on niche- construction theory (NCT) and gene-culture coevolutionary theory (GCT) to propose a broad theoretical framework (NCT-GCT) with which archaeologists and anthropologists can explore coevolutionary dynamics. Humans are enormously potent niche constructors, and understanding how niche construction regulates ecosystem dynamics is central to understanding the impact of human populations on their ecological and developmental environments.