Did warfare among ancestral hunter-gatherers affect the evolution of human social behaviors?

Science • Vol/Iss. 324(5932) • American Association for the Advancement of Science • • Published In • Pages: 1293-1298 •
By Bowles, Samuel

Abstract

The effect of intergroup hostilities on the development of human behavior has been a frequent theme in evolutionary anthropology since Darwin first published his theories on evolution. This paper builds on existing models of altruism to model the effect of high mortality rates in war amongst hunter-gatherer populations on individual and group altruism. Bowles theorizes that early humans traded individual fitness (life) for group fitness (overall survival, territory, and resources), an idea which his model shows.

Note

Bowles' definition of warfare is "coalitions of members of a group seek to inflict bodily harm on one or more members of another group" (1294)

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
Researcher's own compilationInformed a modelArchaeological (15, all Late Pleistocene/early Holocene) and ethnographic (8, all hunter-gatherers) cases chosen for quality of information

Hypotheses (1)

HypothesisSupported
High mortality rates in war will predict the evolution of human social behavior towards altruismSupported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: hattie.berke