Authors present a model of optimal postmarital residence rules based on human capital investments made before marriage. Implications of this model are tested cross-culturally. Environmental, subsistence, economic, and social variables are considered as predictors of postmarital residence patterns.

This study develops a model of the conditions under which a societies switch from a anarchy to a hierarchy. Empirical results suggest that the presence of police, technological sophistication, population density, and food storage are positively associated with the presence of a territorial hierarchy.

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.

This article presents a representative theoretical model of the transition to agriculture. Empirical results from a cross-cultural sample provide support for the model. Results suggest that agriculture is associated with population density, technological sophistication, environment, and proximity to agricultural hearths, such as the Fertile Crescent.

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.

Name-soul belief systems operate under the belief that deceased ancestors will be reincarnated amongst newborn members of the community. This informs the naming process of children amongst these societies. This study samples 11 hunting/gathering/fishing societies with this belief system, comparing and contrasting how the systems are of the same or different origins. Utilizing a neo-functionalist theoretical model the researchers argue that this system reinforces kinship bonds, as new members are viewed as old members returning home, and that the returned ancestors would provide strength and protection to the newborn from more malevolent spirits. The researchers theorize that this practice, in a functionalist anthropology lens, is a way to deal with constant mortality trauma, and to strengthen group cohesion amongst often mobile groups.

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).

This article uses the Standard Cross-Cultural Samples to test the relationship between disease and economic growth among sub-Saharan African societies. The authors suggest that a higher disease prevalence limits social integration and economic development since pre-colonial times. The variable measuring economic growth is the complexity of large or impressive structures. The hypotheses are that 1) pathogen stress is negatively correlated to the presence of complex buildings, and 2) pathogen stress is positively correlated to increased ethnic diversity. The results support both hypotheses, and there are additional results, like 1) the negative correlation between pathogen stress and current income per capita and 2) the negative correlation between the increased ethnic diversity and current income per capita. Overall, this article shows the robust relationship between disease and economic development.

This study relates the type of games present in a society to the level of cultural complexity. Authors use a "game-type combination scale" that categorizes societies as having: 1) games of physical skill only; 2) games of physical skill and games of chance; and 3) games of physical skill, games of chance, and games of strategy. Results show a relationship between the game-type combination scale and indicators of cultural complexity.