What does age area principle mean?

To simply put it: if you attempt to measure how old a culture trait is, you simply look at how geographically widespread it has become.

This principle was used especially for comparing two geographically close traits. However, it has shown to be inaccurate. Try using coca cola as an example. If the principle were true, coca cola would be one of the oldest culture traits in the world. In reality, it was only invented in the late 19th century.

The principle was developed by the ethnographer Clark Wissler during his work with American First Nations.