[From The Timetables of Technology, Brian Bunch & Alexander Hellemans]
One could also look at this through the lens of network theory, looking at how nodes isolated from the rest of the network have the opportunity to develop independently. This isn't always a good thing, sometimes it is.In fact the authors go on to say that this model breaks down as more complex methods of communication develop in the world; it seems that this kind of isolation is a rare artifact of the era anthropologists are calling the metal age.
