The authors use ethnographic data to try to shed light on the prevalence of missing phalanges in Upper Paleolithic cave images. Searching eHRAF World Cultures, they found evidence of finger amputation in 121 societies. These accounts cast doubt on two common theories: 1) that cave images reflect sign language or 2) counting systems. Researchers argue the intentional removal of fingers could be sorted into the 10 following categories: sacrifice (for deities), mourning (for grief), identity (for group membership), medical (to heal sickness), marriage (status marker), punishment (for deeds), veneration (for worship), offering (post mortem for deities), trophy (an enemies fingers), and talisman (assist with magic). They argue that sacrifice was the most likely reason for the missing finger images in Upper Paleolithic caves.

Researchers looked at 180 of the 186 societies in the SCCS for changes over time in lineage systems. The goal was to estimate the frequency of transitions away from and to matriliny cross-culturally, as well as explore the potential causes of these patterns / transitions. The study focused on two overarching research questions: 1. How common are transitions away from matriliny and how often do ‘reverse transitions’ to matriliny occur? 2. What causes transitions to or from matriliny? Overall, the study found that transitions away from matriliny have been quite common within the time frames covered by the ethnographic samples available, while transitions from another system to matrility have been rare. In answering the second question, the researchers report the highest correlation is between subsistence transitions (towards pastoralism, intensive agriculture, or a market economy) and lineage transitions (away from matriliny) as well as between higher levels of social complexity (measured by stratification, slavery, and population size) and lineage transitions (away from matriliny).

This study focuses on the relationship between pathogen prevalence and mate selection. Results show that increased pathogen prevalence is significantly associated with an increased importance in the physical attractiveness of potential mates.

This article investigates marriage ceremonies as a technique for encouraging commitment and protecting wealth and alliance stakes in a marriage. Hypotheses are supported.

The authors review and provide an alternative to Levi-Strauss's theory on unilateral cross-cousin marriage. Levi-Strauss theorized that matrilateral cross-cousin marriage (males marrying their maternal uncles' daughters) occurs more than the patrilateral form because the former promotes more "roundabout" woman-giving and overall social solidarity. He also states that the form of cross-cousin marriage does not depend on kinship linearity. In contrast, the present authors hypothesize that, among societies with unilateral cross-cousin marriage, patrilineal societies will have matrilateral cross-cousin marriage and matrilineal societies will have the patrilateral form. To justify their prediction, the authors point to the close, informal relationships fostered between males and their maternal uncles in patrilineal societies and between males and their paternal aunts in matrilineal societies.

This study seeks to examine the potential catalysts for democratic behavior in human societies. After creating a theoretical model to demonstrate that council governance is beneficial to executives in situations in which there were information asymmetries between executives and the populace, the authors decide to examine this empirically by using "caloric variability" as a potential cause of information asymmetry. The results indicate that higher caloric variability leads to a greater likelihood of council governance. Further empirical results indicate that caloric potential may be associated with higher levels of political integration, and that bureaucracy may act as a substitute for councils.

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.

This article examines child-training through children's display of individualistic orientations (self-reliance, achievement, and general independence) and/or group orientations (responsibility, nurturance, and obedience). Five sub-categories measure whether each orientation is linked to a child's experience of general pressure or performance anxiety/conflict. Together, these orientations their sub-categories total 30 variables that were correlated; differences in gender were also examined. Results indicate that child-rearing pressure to act one way predicts pressure to act in other ways, and this pattern of interaction between variables did not vary by gender.

This study examines the relationship between disequilibrium and cognitive development using measurements of child-rearing, presence of high gods, and games of strategy.

This study examines the role of schooling in socialization processes and cultural complexity, seeking to understand whether schooling is correlated with these variables and/or affects them. The author concludes that school serves as a socializer for young children, a skill developer for older children, and a homogenizing force on societal child-rearing practices.