This paper hypothesizes that cross-cultural variation in rhythm is related to variation in infant carrying practices. Suggestions are made regarding the psychological origin of rhythm as well as the function and importance of music in human experience.

This article seeks to examine the distribution and frequency of bride-theft. Tylor's (1889) findings between various forms of marriage by capture and certain other social instituions are confirmed.

This paper explores the relationship between polygyny and societal rank. Results suggest that the higher a male's rank, the higher the incidence of polygyny.

The author argues for the use of sexual selection as a theoretical framework to give meaning to the various cross-cultural studies that show significant association between form of marriage (polygyny vs. monogamy) and other cultural, social, and personality variables. The author suggests that "marriage systems reflect individual reproductive strategies."

This study tested for cross-cultural patterns in the age at which societies "assume responsibility or teachability in children or assign a more mature social, sexual, or cultural role [to children]” (353). Out of 27 variables measuring the assignment of roles and responsibilities to children, 16 showed “a modal cultural assignment of social responsibility in the 5- to 7-year age range” (353).

This chapter tests the influences of physiological stressors during infancy on different aspects of musical behavior. Findings suggest that songs in societies where infantile stress is practiced will be characterized by stronger accents and a wider range.

This chapter attempts to explain why the number, importance, and duration of food and sex taboos during pregnancy vary cross-culturally. The author hypothesizes that differences in child socialization will be associated with differences in food taboos, and differences in sexual behavior and sanctions will be associated with sex taboos. Results support the hypotheses.

This book discusses the role of women cross-culturally. The authors use a cross-cultural sample to examine the differences between men and women in contribution to subsistence as well as the social juxtaposition of the sexes in foraging, horticultural, agricultural, pastoral, and industrial societies.

This study explores predictors of variation in two dimensions of marital residence patterns among hunter-gatherers: 1) the tendency toward patrilocality versus matrilocality and 2) the tendency toward unilocality versus bilocality.

The present research investigates food sharing and labor sharing practices of 98 nonindustrial societies. The aims are to: 1) document the frequency and scope of sharing, and 2) test the theory that greater sharing is adaptive in societies subject to more resource stress (including natural hazards).