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.

The article investigates whether more socially restrictive societies provide more outlets for aggression. These authors operationalized restrictiveness with the presence of sorcery and unilineal kinship structure; the two outlets for aggression examined were occurrence of warfare and games of physical skill. Results suggest an association between these variables, though unilineal kinship structure was the better predictor of the existence of warfare.

This article develops a new measure of religious evolution and uses multivariate statistical techniques to examine correlates of different religious stages. Results suggest that subsistence economy, societal size, and the presence of writing and records are all associated with the evolution toward monotheism.

This article tests three types of theories of gender inequality in preindustrial societies. Bivariate and multivariate analyses suggest little support for militarist theories, moderate support for Marxian theories, and strong support for non-Marxian theories.

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.

This article considers the consequences of modernization. Factor analysis is used to identify four stages of modernization: 1) changes in education, government, and trade; 2) changes in health, technology, and transportation; 3) changes in family, religion, and toilet; and 4) changes in behavior. The authors then consider five trends they expect to be associated with modernization and test whether they develop over the course of the four stages. Results indicate that these 5 trends—increased cultural complexity, female status, pacification, suicide, and social stress—are associated with only the first and fourth stages.

This article investigates a cultural patterning of altered states of consciousness. The authors use an ordinal variable for a society's trance type; its four levels are 1) trance, 2) trance and possession trance, 3) possession trance, and 4) neither type. Results suggest that trance type is associated with measures of societal complexity and subsistence economy. Regional differences and the effects of diffusion are also examined.