Co-Residence Patterns in Hunter-Gatherer Societies Show Unique Human Social Structure

Hill, Kim; Walker, Robert; Božičević, Miran; Eder, James F.; Headland, Thomas N.; Hewlett, Barry S.; Hurtado, Ana; Marlowe, Frank W.; Wiessner, Polly; Wood, Brian M.

doi:10.1126/science.1199071

Cited by 690 publications

(562 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…In a recent survey of 32 global hunter-gatherer populations, mean band size (i.e., the residential unit) averaged only 28 individuals (73). Bands are organized into larger interactive and reproductive units, sometimes referred to as tribes, among which dispersal occurs.…”

Section: Demography Of Foragersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The great human expansion

Henn

Cavalli-Sforza

Feldman

2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

373

238

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Genetic and paleoanthropological evidence is in accord that today's human population is the result of a great demic (demographic and geographic) expansion that began approximately 45,000 to 60,000 y ago in Africa and rapidly resulted in human occupation of almost all of the Earth's habitable regions. Genomic data from contemporary humans suggest that this expansion was accompanied by a continuous loss of genetic diversity, a result of what is called the "serial founder effect." In addition to genomic data, the serial founder effect model is now supported by the genetics of human parasites, morphology, and linguistics. This particular population history gave rise to the two defining features of genetic variation in humans: genomes from the substructured populations of Africa retain an exceptional number of unique variants, and there is a dramatic reduction in genetic diversity within populations living outside of Africa. These two patterns are relevant for medical genetic studies mapping genotypes to phenotypes and for inferring the power of natural selection in human history. It should be appreciated that the initial expansion and subsequent serial founder effect were determined by demographic and sociocultural factors associated with hunter-gatherer populations. How do we reconcile this major demic expansion with the population stability that followed for thousands years until the inventions of agriculture? We review advances in understanding the genetic diversity within Africa and the great human expansion out of Africa and offer hypotheses that can help to establish a more synthetic view of modern human evolution.human population growth | hunter-gatherer demography | molecular evolution

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Section: Demography Of Foragersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The great human expansion

Henn

Cavalli-Sforza

Feldman

2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

373

238

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…First, human's closest living ancestors, chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas, all practice male philopatry with moderate female dispersal (e.g., Boesch & Boesch-Achermann, 2000;Bradley, Doran-Sheehy, Lukas, Boesch, & Vigiliant, 2004;Chapais, 2008;Goodall, 1986;Nishida et al, 2003;Watts, 1996), and phylogenetic analyses suggest that primate co-residential patterns are conservative over time (Chapais, 2008;Thierry, Iwaniuk, & Pellis, 2000). Second, behavioral studies on modern forager populations suggest they disproportionately practice sex-biased affiliation among male kin, with a tendency for brothers to co-reside (Hill et al, 2011). Moreover, cross-cultural research, finds that the majority of current human societies are normatively patrilocal (Murdock & Wilson, 1980).…”

Section: Cooperation During Repeated Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex differences in cooperation: A meta-analytic review of social dilemmas.

Balliet

Macfarlan

et al. 2011

Psychological Bulletin

285

234

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Although it is commonly believed that women are kinder and more cooperative than men, there is conflicting evidence for this assertion. Current theories of sex differences in social behavior suggest that it may be useful to examine in what situations men and women are likely to differ in cooperation. Here, we derive predictions from both sociocultural and evolutionary perspectives on context-specific sex differences in cooperation, and we conduct a unique meta-analytic study of 272 effect sizes-sampled across 50 years of research-on social dilemmas to examine several potential moderators. The overall average effect size is not statistically different from zero (d ϭ -0.05), suggesting that men and women do not differ in their overall amounts of cooperation. However, the association between sex and cooperation is moderated by several key features of the social context: Male-male interactions are more cooperative than female-female interactions (d ϭ 0.16), yet women cooperate more than men in mixed-sex interactions (d ϭ -0.22). In repeated interactions, men are more cooperative than women. Women were more cooperative than men in larger groups and in more recent studies, but these differences disappeared after statistically controlling for several study characteristics. We discuss these results in the context of both sociocultural and evolutionary theories of sex differences, stress the need for an integrated biosocial approach, and outline directions for future research.

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“…Band size among forest dwellers was flexible and ranged from three to more than 100 individuals at any given time (Hill and Hurtado 1999), with a mean experienced band size of about 20 adults, with-from adult ego's point of view-consanguineal kin (both close and distant) constituting 20%, and unrelated individuals 25%, with spouse and affines comprising the remainder (Hill et al 2011). Pre-contact Ache marriages were extremely flexible and based on courtship with minimal influence from parents or other adults.…”

Section: Study Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To calculate co-residence we have censuses for 58 pre-contact Ache bands from interviews (Hill et al 2011). Census data spanned the time frame 1958-1970, yielding a total of 157 adult men sampled over this period.…”

Section: Calculating Co-residencementioning

confidence: 99%