Quantifying the role of cultural forces in shaping human genetics

As human genomes are sequenced at an increasing rate, the histories of populations have become progressively clearer, informing our understanding of evolution. However, alongside genes, people inherit knowledge and practices from their communities, and the interactions between genetic and cultural evolution remain an understudied aspect of human evolution. Genes and culture are inherited by separate means, but they become intertwined in the course of our lives, so our understanding of human history will be incomplete unless it incorporates cultural context. To connect human cultural and biological histories, we will explore the two-way interaction between culture and populations, using both computational models and empirical data analysis at multiple spatial scales. We propose to examine how culture affects interactions within and between populations, and how relationships between populations affect cultural history.