This book examines naming practices cross-culturally. The author posits that naming practices help to both reflect and create conceptions of personal identity. Several correlations between name meanings and practices and various sociocultural variables are presented.

This dissertation discusses the divided theoretical approach to how reincarnation, animism, spirits, and general religious beliefs occur within societies cross-culturally. Matlock offers evidence to support Tyler, contradicting the generally accepted Durkheimian approach, arguing that the belief about souls and spirits may originate in dreams and other empirical experiences, in turn informing and shaping social organization. Durkheim argued the opposite, claiming that religious beliefs reflect social organization such as the clan and kinship. The author states 33 quantitative hypotheses to be tested using 30 of the first 60 sample societies available in the HRAF Probability Sample.

This article examines the conditions under which slavery occurs in preindustrial societies. Results suggest that social stratification and the existence of open resources are both necessary conditions for the occurrence of slavery.

This study presents a theory of land inheritance that "focuses on the incentives that land inheritence rules create for potential heirs" and tests this theory on a cross-cultural sample.

In this article, the author suggests a new topology of numerical notation systems. This new typology organizes each system by two axes. The first of these axes is cumulative versus ciphered versus multiplicative and the other is additive versus positional. The author goes on to argue that, considering the intelligibility of number systems even in the absence of knowledge about their associated language, human number systems are a reflection of cognitive processes. Finally, the author uses this new typology to build a theoretical model of numerical system evolution over time. The article concludes with suggestions for utilizing this typology in future cross-cultural research.

This study examines land ownership and territoriality among hunter-gatherers in relation to resource density and predictability and defense technology. A model is presented and briefly tested on a cross-cultural sample of 14 hunter-gatherer societies. Results suggest that societies in more resource-rich areas will be more territorial than societies in less resource-rich areas.

This paper discusses a cross-cultural study comparing features of grammatical structure and features of social structure. The author hypothesizes that the language will emphasize "self" with more personal protection within a society.

This chapter explores and tests some propositions about matrilineal societies. Supplementary to that discussion, the author also explores the problems of method associated with the use of coded data on large samples of cultures.

This article examines the relationship between sexual dimorphism of stature and latitude; data support the association. The authors also find support for an association between latitude and human marriage systems, a variable proposed by Alexander (1979) to explain variation in sexual dimorphism of stature. When societies are categorized by latitude, the relationships between marriage systems and sexual dimorphism do not reach significance. Overall the authors emphasize the influence of environmental adaptation on sexual dimorphism rather than an explanation solely focused on male-male competition.

The author presents an approach to understanding initiation ceremonies that differs from the approach of Whiting (1962). Cohen looks at the association between legal and kinship systems and childrens' experiences growing up. Several significant association are found between these variables.