ABSTRACT
D.L.Clarke (1968) presents one of the few detailed archaeological discussions of acculturation. His systems and cybernetic approach views culture as always open to the reception of new information. A given culture may come under the influence of saturated diffusion, a ‘cumulative integration of new elements with a resulting inevitable system transmutation’ (Clarke 1968, p. 106). The degree and rate of loss of cultural identity is judged relative to the critical mass of the group, or to the variables of population size, density, and settlement dispersion pattern.
