| Abstract: |
The paper compares the evolutionary histories of the weaving looms and languages of the Kra-Dai (Tai-Kadai) peoples, who live in southern China and Southeast Asia. Using datasets of the features of looms and languages, the authors constructed phylogenies of both and compared them. The phylogenies are broadly comparable, reflecting the migrations and divergences of the Kra-Dai since the Neolithic period. There are differences, however: archaic looms found near the borders between China, Myanmar, and Assam hint at early migration events or shifts in looms or languages. The results also show that languages and technologies evolve in fundamentally different ways: Languages undergo smooth change and technologies evolve in bursts interspersed with periods of stasis.
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