The Transfer and Transformation of Ideas and Material Culture

In a process called diffusion people of any one culture may copy from those of another rather than constantly reinventing ideas and technologies. They copy things as diverse as pots plants plans books and automobiles; the techniques for constructing or replicating such artifacts; institutions whether ecclesiastical managerial ceremonial military or economic; and ideas or complexes of ideas including religious beliefs and political ideologies. In the process they transform these things sometimes beyond recognition. How important then are these diffusion processes in determining the overall shape of cultures? Under what conditions do they operate? When will they be resisted?This volume offers exciting multidisciplinary perspectives on the questions of diffusionism and its critiques. Well-known scholars from the fields of geography anthropology and sociology consider the spread and modification of ideas and material culture over space and time.