This study provides a cross-cultural examination of the definitions of old age. Further research on these definitions and their implications is suggested.

This article uses cross-cultural methodology to examine the classification and treatment of the aged. Results suggest that the combination of supportive/unsupportive treatment is associated with the intact/decrepit age grouping.

This study discusses the distribution of the treatment of the aged across a sample of pre-industrial societies. Data illustrate that the elderly were treated in a non-supportive or death-hastening manner in the majority of societies, dispelling the notion that a golden age/isle existed in pre-industrial societies in which the elderly were revered and supported. Results also suggest a relationship between age and treatment of the elderly and climate, social, and subsistence variables and the treatment of the aged.

This study examines the status and treatment of the elderly in non-industrial societies. Associations are found between social complexity, subsistence type, and the status and treatment of the elderly.

High infant and child mortality rates are suggested to be one of the most enduring and important features of ancestral human environments, referred to as the Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA). These rates contrast with the very low rates of infant and child mortality among many industrialized nations since the 19th and 20th centuries. The authors compare data from recent hunter-gatherer and agricultural societies, historical records, and non-human primates in attempt to quantitatively describe infant and child mortality rates during the EEA.

"The kin selection hypothesis posits that male androphilia evolved because androphilic males invest more in kin, thereby enhancing inclusive fitness." However, increased kin-directed altruism has only been seen in societies that exhibit transgendered male androphilia. To test the validity of the kin selection hypothesis for male androphilia, the authors examine the relationship between ancestral sociocultural conditions, access to kin, and societal reactions to homosexuality and the expression of male androphilia as transgendered or non-transgendered. They find that ancestral sociocultural conditions and bilateral and double descent systems were more common in transgendered than non-transgendered societies.

Heider's theory of cognitive balance is applied to Levi-Strauss' discussion of the sentiment relations existing among four kin roles.

This article suggests that Spiro's (1965) study on typology of social structure used a biased cross-cultural sample and possibly obscured regional patterns in data. Hypotheses related to marital structure, descent rules, food production and social stratification are tested.

In this chapter of 'Beyond War,' Douglas critiques previous codes of warfare to make a distinction between feuding and warring. A test of warfare and level of social complexity among hunter-gatherers is conducted. Results indicate that complex hunter-gatherers make war while a majority of simple hunter-gatherers do not.

This study tests several hypothesis about predictors of male or female gods. Results suggest a relationship between relative emphasis on female deities and rule of descent.