In this study, the authors analyze subsistence economies to better understand their variability and success, the role of the environment in different subsistence choices, and the relevance of fishing, specifically in mixed economies. They find regular subsistence patterns, suggesting that not all subsistence combinations are successful. Their findings also indicate that environment influences subsistence choice, mixed economies are common, and that fishing plays a key role in mixed economies.

The second and third parts of this book classify the economic systems of foraging and agricultural societies in the SCCS based on correlations between their institutions of property an distribution. These economic types are then examined for relationships with other social, political, demographic, and environmental factors in order to draw tentative conclusions regarding the origins of the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions. The fourth part of the book uses cross-national data to examine similar associations in industrial/service economies, and is not included here.

Authors use genealogical data to investigate pair bond stability and reproductive skew across a sample of 80 small-scale societies. Results suggest that male reproductive skew and pair-bond stability are independent sources of cross-cultural variation in human mating patterns.

In this study, the authors draw from intensity theory and combine previous research from the fields of behavioral ecology, economics, and social evolution to analyze drivers in the emergence and persistence of inequality across the world. They propose that environmental heterogeneity and circumscription (the difficulty of moving and establishing oneself in a new environment relative to remaining in the current one) play a significant role in the stratification of societies. Their results indicate that situations arise from various environmental conditions and levels of circumscription that may result in an individual giving up autonomy for material gain, thus favoring inequality.

Inter-group variation is greater in humans than in any other animal, and scholars continue to debate the cause of this diversity. Two competing explanatory models of human variation emphasize either (1) ecological differences and "evoked" culture or (2) population-level effects of cultural transmission. The former emphasizes mechanisms that operate within a single generation, while the latter emphasizes cumulative cultural history operating over many generations. To test these competing models, the authors measured the relative power of ecological variables as compared to culture history to predict behavioral variation in 172 western North American tribes. Culture history is subdivided into culture phylogeny (based on language phylogeny) and spatial distance.

Belief in moralizing high gods (MHGs) has been theorized as a response to unfavorable environments, as a way to normalize behavior. In this study, researchers test the theory by creating a model for predicting the distribution of MHGs. They run many alternative models, testing the effects of resource abundance, climate stability, and pertinent social factors on the occurrence of belief in MHGs. Based on the ten most supported models, they create an average model that predicts MHGs within cultures with “excellent” accuracy.

In this article, the authors seek to determine cross-culturally valid predictors of dominant types of human subsistence around the world. They did this by formulating multiple models that incorporate different combinations of environmental, geographic, and social factors. These models were then used to test various hypotheses posed throughout the anthropological literature surrounding factors that determine dominant subsistence strategies.

This article investigates residence, descent rules, and family structure. Empirical analysis suggests that they are associated with settlement patterns, particularly economic and demographic variables.

In this pilot study, the authors investigate the relationships between both subsistence types and environmental conditions, and various coping mechanisms for drought in 35 societies in Africa. Using Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA), they find subsistence strategies to have a more significant correlation with the distribution of coping strategies for drought than environmental conditions.

Apostolou examines the argument that most of human evolution occurred in an environment where individuals had limited opportunity to exercise choice. This argument derives from evidence indicating that among contemporary and ancestral postindustrial societies, mate choice is regulated by parents choosing their children's spouses. Results from the present study show that in an arranged marriage setting, there is still space for individuals to exercise choice in mates (through premarital and extramarital relationships, as well as rape). Apostolou discusses possible explanations for these findings, as well as their evolutionary significance.