In this paper, the authors utilize phylogenetic methods to reconstruct the evolution of land tenure norms among 97 Austronesian societies. They coded these norms for each society as none (N), group (G), group-kin (K), and individual (I). After formulating various models of evolution through these various stages, they used Bayesian analysis to determine support for each. They conclude with remarks about this type of evolutionary phylogenetic research as a form of "virtual archeology."

This study asks the following research questions: What are the dynamics of land ownership norms over time? Do these changes follow predetermined trajectories? The authors utilize biogeographical and evolutionary analyses to explore temporal and spatial patterns in land ownership norms within a sample of 73 Bantu societies. For the first component of the research, they test three prominent hypotheses regarding evolutionary trajectories: rectilinear, unilinear, and shift without restriction. For the second component, they use a multi-model inference approach to evaluate three hypotheses regarding the possible spatial patterns of land ownership. The results show evidence for the unilinear trajectory in type, but not with a consistent decrease in group ownership in size. Land ownership is more likely in areas with neighboring landowners and predictable resource productivity, while subsistence type is not significantly correlated with type of land ownership.

Using phylogenetic modeling, the researchers test hypotheses for different sequences of political complexity among South-East Asian and Pacific Austronesian-speaking cultures. The research adds to an existing debate between sequential, incremental political evolution models and non-sequential models with larger increases in complexity. The results suggest support for a more sequential unilinear model.

A central issue in anthropology is the process through which political organization (sometimes referred to as cultural complexity) evolves: competing models typically argue for either incremental increases in complexity or larger, non-sequential increases in complexity. Here, the authors evaluate six different models of political evolution, utilizing a phylogenetic approach to analyze the evolution of 84 Austronesian-speaking societies.

Using Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic comparative methods, this study aims to answer how cultural meanings and linguistic forms develop in kinship terminology focusing on sibling terminology. It tests sequential models of change of sibling terminologies among the Austronesian language family to reconstruct: the historical state and evolutionary change of relative age and relative sex; whether these distinctions have independent or dependent evolutionary trajectories; and whether opposite-sex distinctions might have developed when no such distinction previously existed. The results suggest that the trajectories are independent and that there was an initial absence of relative sex distinction. Other findings are that the transitions from absence to complex elaborated terminologies and the disruption of elaborate distinctions are very unusual.

The article discusses the role of land ownership in natural resource management and social-ecological resilience, and explores the factors that determine ownership norms in human societies. The study tests long-standing theories from ecology, economics, and anthropology regarding the potential drivers of land ownership, including resource defensibility, subsistence strategies, population pressure, political complexity, and cultural transmission mechanisms. Using cultural and environmental data from 102 societies, the study found an increased probability of land ownership in mountainous environments and societies with higher population densities. The study also found support for the idea that neighboring societies might influence land ownership. However, there was less support for variables associated with subsistence strategies and political complexity.

In this study, the authors examine pathways to social inequality, specifically social class hierarchy, in 408 non-industrial societies. In a path model, they find social class hierarchy to be directly associated with increased population size, intensive agriculture and large animal husbandry, real property inheritance (unigeniture) and hereditary political succession, with an overall R-squared of 0.45. They conclude that a complex web of effects consisting of environmental variables, mediated by resource intensification, wealth transmission variables, and population size all shape social inequality.

The authors compare language phylogenies and spatial distributions with folktale frequencies of Indo-European peoples in order to reconstruct their cultural transmission. A stronger association is found between folktale frequency and language phylogeny than has been proposed in earlier literature studies, indicating that vertical transmission is more influential on folktale distribution than horizontal transmission through spatial proximity. Finally, the frequencies of certain folktales appear to trace the ancestral divergences of Indo-European languages to a much deeper level than previously though, suggesting that folktales are representative of broader features of culture, rather than recent literary inventions.

This paper examines patterns of cultural learning in pastoralist societies and compares them to those found in hunter-gatherer societies. The study analyzed 198 texts from 13 pastoralist cultures in the eHRAF World Cultures database and found that most cultural skills and knowledge were acquired in early childhood, with parents and non-parental adults as the primary sources of transmission. Teaching was the most common form of learning across all age groups, with minimal variation in transmission between different age groups. While similarities were found between the cultural learning patterns of pastoralists and hunter-gatherers, pastoralists were less likely to mention learning from peers and more likely to mention learning via local enhancement and stimulus enhancement. The importance of teaching did not increase with age in pastoralist societies, unlike in hunter-gatherer societies.

This study analyzes cultural trait transmission among a sample of 172 Western North American Indian societies. The authors use autologistic models built upon spatial and linguistic neighbor graphs to examine the importance of vertical versus horizontal trait transmission. Findings suggest that cultural trait distributions cannot be explained by the transmission of traits from parent to daughter populations and are better analyzed using phylogenies. Authors also show that vertical and horizontal transmission can be incorporated in a single model and may both act upon a single trait. Analysis of only one type of cultural transmission would result in a loss of information.