This study finds that meat taboos are more common than non-meat taboos cross-culturally. Several explanations for meat taboos are discussed. Authors advocate an evolutionary understanding of food taboos.

This study looks at the possibility of a universal system of social valuation by examining the correlation between shame and devaluation. Researchers conducted an experiment among 899 participants from 15 communities of high cultural variation in order to test if similar relationships between shame and devaluation exist independently of cultural contact or cultural evolution. The findings reveal that shame and devaluation are closely linked both between individuals and members of a local audience, as well as cross-culturally.

Using experimental methods, these researchers evaluated the function of pride in ten small-scale societies by testing personal pride’s association with valuation by the surrounding community. Their aim was to see if findings from western(-ized), educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) societies replicate in non-WEIRD societies. Simple linear regression in each society indicates that the amount of pride one feels for a given action closely matches how highly others in the same community value the action. Authors conclude support for the universality of the pride system.

This thesis follows an evolutionary approach to explore the role of dancing in nuptial rituals across cultures. The overarching hypothesis is that dancing will play a role in courtship. To test this, the author suggests four hypotheses related to the presence of men and women dancing in nuptial rituals. None of these hypotheses were supported by the societies analyzed from eHRAF. This thesis concludes that dancing in nuptial rituals might play different purposes and that further research must be conducted to test other roles such as social bonding or cooperation effects.

This study tests the weaning food availability hypothesis, that both the introduction of foods other than breastmilk and the cessation of breastfeeding will vary by society's subsistence type. This hypothesis has implications for demography, as accelerated weaning can lead to increases in both mothers' fertility (due to decreased birth intervals) and infant mortality (due to the presence of pathogens in new foods).

This study tests for a relationship between subsistence type and fertility using phylogenetic and statistical analyses. The authors find a clear relationship between dependence on agriculture and fertility among non-permanently settled groups.

This article tests the assumption that foragers are more likely to experience regular and severe food shortages than sedentary agriculturalists. The results indicate that there is no statistical difference in the quantity of available food or the frequency or extent of food shortages between preindustrial foragers, recent foragers, and agriculturalists.

This article examines meat avoidance during pregnancy as an evolutionary adaptation. Data suggests that during pregnancy, meat avoidance is significantly more common cross-culturally than other types of food avoidance. The timing of meat avoidance, the presence of meat-borne pathogens, and sensory and ingestive changes in early pregnancy are also discussed.

In this article, the authors seek to understand the connection between male resource-holding potential and male mating success. This connection has been suggested by behavioral ecologists as a way of explaining differing rates of polygyny across cultures. The authors investigate this relationship by testing the relationship between rates of polygyny and male control of local subsistence sites among North American societies during the period of contact. They find a positive relationship between these two variables for both terrestrial and aquatic game, but not for gathered plants. This suggests support for the theory.

Do tropical hunter-gatherers follow the diet known today as the Paleo diet? Using nutritional data on 11 tropical hunter-gatherer groups, this study asses dietary composition. The results show that there are high levels of variation in the distribution of protein, fat, and carbohydrates among the sample of 11 hunter-gatherer groups.