Characterization of hunter-gatherer networks and implications for cumulative culture

Migliano, Andrea Bamberg; Page, Abigail E.; Gómez‐Gardeñes, Jesús; Salalι, Gül Deniz; Viguier, Sylvain; Dyble, Mark; Thompson, James; Chaudhary, Nikhil; Smith, Daniel; Strods, Janis; Mace, Ruth; Thomas, Mark G.; Latora, Vito; Vinicius, Lucio

doi:10.1038/s41562-016-0043

Cited by 121 publications

(155 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

141

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…As we have shown, it is important to model individual-level interactions to understand this feedback. Recent technological advances allow us to gather detailed individual data 61 . Further empirical research, especially long-term studies, will help to clarify the extent of cultural selection on human social networks, and thus shed light on the origins of cumulative culture in our ancestors.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural Selection Shapes Network Structure

Smolla

Akçay

2018

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cultural evolution relies on the social transmission of cultural traits across a population, along the ties of an underlying social network that emerges from non-random interactions among individuals. Research indicates that the structure of those interaction networks a ects information spread, and thus a population's ability for cumulative culture. However, how network structure itself is driven by population-culture co-evolution remains largely unclear. We use a simple but realistic model of complex dynamic social networks to investigate how populations negotiate the trade-o between acquiring new skills and getting better at existing skills, and how this trade-o , in turn, shapes the social structure of the population. Our results reveal unexpected eco-evolutionary feedback from culture onto social network structure and vice versa. We show that selecting for generalists (favouring a broad repertoire of skills) results in sparsely connected networks with highly diverse skill sets, whereas selecting for specialists (favouring skill proficiency) results in densely connected networks and a population that specializes on the same few skills on which everyone is an expert. Surprisingly, cultural selection for specialisation can act as an "ecological trap" where it can take a long time for a specialist population to adapt to a generalist world. Our model advances our understanding of the complex feedbacks in cultural evolution and demonstrates how individual-level behaviour can lead to the emergence of population-level structure.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural Selection Shapes Network Structure

Smolla

Akçay

2018

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…1). We used wireless sensing technology (3) to record all dyadic interactions within 3 m, every hour, over a month. The weight of a dyadic link was defined as the number of times the dyad was recorded during the month.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hunter-gatherer multilevel sociality accelerates cumulative cultural evolution

Battiston²,

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although multilevel sociality is a universal feature of human social organization, its functional relevance remains unclear. Here, we investigated the effect of multilevel sociality on cumulative cultural evolution by using wireless sensing technology to map inter- and intraband social networks among Agta hunter-gatherers. By simulating the accumulation of cultural innovations over the real Agta multicamp networks, we demonstrate that multilevel sociality accelerates cultural differentiation and cumulative cultural evolution. Our results suggest that hunter-gatherer social structures [based on (i) clustering of families within camps and camps within regions, (ii) cultural transmission within kinship networks, and (iii) high intercamp mobility] may have allowed past and present hunter-gatherers to maintain cumulative cultural adaptation despite low population density, a feature that may have been critical in facilitating the global expansion of Homo sapiens.

show abstract

“…The answer may lie in distinctive aspects of hunter-gatherer social organization. The multi-family social structure within bands and the high mobility of households between bands may both facilitate local cultural exchange [11,12]. Some hunter-gatherer populations also have cultural institutions that facilitate long-distance social relationships, such as the hxaro exchange system of the !Kung San [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of dispersal on rates of cumulative cultural evolution

Dyble

2018

Biol. Lett.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ability to develop cultural adaptations to local environments is critical to the biological success of humans. Although overall population size and connectedness are thought to play an important role in increasing the rate of cumulative cultural evolution, the independent effect of dispersal rules on rates of cultural evolution has not been examined. Here, a computational model is used to explore the effect of dispersal on the rate of cultural evolution in traits transmitted patrilineally (from father to son), matrilineally (mother to daughter) and bilineally (through both sexes). Two dispersal conditions are modelled: patrilocality (where females disperse and males stay) and bilocality (where either sex may disperse). The results suggest that when only females disperse, the capacity for cumulative cultural evolution in traits shared only among males is severely constrained. This occurs even though overall rates of dispersal and the number of cultural models available to males and females are identical in both dispersal conditions. The constraints on the evolution of patrilineally inherited traits could be considered to represent a process of 'cultural inbreeding', analogous to genetic inbreeding.

show abstract

Characterization of hunter-gatherer networks and implications for cumulative culture

Cited by 121 publications

References 34 publications

Cultural Selection Shapes Network Structure

Cultural Selection Shapes Network Structure

Hunter-gatherer multilevel sociality accelerates cumulative cultural evolution

The effect of dispersal on rates of cumulative cultural evolution

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About