This article examines cross-cultural variation in customary birth practices for men and women, testing a general hypothesis that birth practices represent tactics in negotiations over paternity. Data supports this hypothesis, and a series of related variables are tested in bivariate analysis and path analysis. Findings suggest that compensation demands at birth are associated with maternal restrictions from paternity-related agreements (e.g. maternal seclusion during birth), and fraternal interest groups are associated with the husband’s ritual involvement at birth (e.g. demonstration of the couvade).

Female genital mutilations within Africa are associated with strong fraternal interest groups, virginity tests, and conservative permarital sex norms. Codes and ratings for female genital mutilations, virginity tests, premarital sex norms, and female initiation rites are presented in this article.

Feuding and other responses to malfeasance are examined cross-culturally. The geographic distribution of responses are presented and odds ratios/logistic regression models are employed in analyzing the effect of socio-economic, historical and ecological variables on responses to malfeasance. Codes are included.

This article examines the relationship between grammatical forms and a society’s economic activity, particularly whether property-based societies are more likely to develop the possessive verbs. Analysis supports an association.

This article reviews aspects of cooperative breeding in humans and nonhumans. Life history characteristics, childcare helpers, and demographic implications of cooperative breeding are examined. Cross-cultural data is presented, though no empirical hypotheses are tested.

The author explicitly defines and provides code for male and female age organizations and secret societies in Africa, as well as their significant sociopolitical roles within society. The author conducts preliminary analysis using the codes to explore characteristics and regional patterns of such organizations and societies. The analysis is compared to existing studies in order to assess the code and better understand cross-cultural patterns and variances. The author identifies the usefulness of the code beyond Africa, and discusses avenues for future research. No explicit hypotheses were tested, but Ericksen includes some descriptive generalizations.

This book investigates reproductive rituals in preindustrial societies. Major theories are discussed, and cross-cultural tests of several variables (fraternal interest groups, menarcheal ceremonies, puberty ceremonies, residence, circumcision, birth practices, segregation practices, etc.) are conducted.

This article suggests a theory of the relationship between rules of descent and polity structure. The author suggests that “polity structure in stateless societies is a consequence of the presence or absence of cohesive factions based on lineage or family” (301). Two types of kinship ties produce different polity structures: cross-cutting ties, common in matrilineal societies, lead to political consensus; overlapping ties, common in patrilineal societies, lead to factionalism. Empirical tests support this theory.

The researchers develop and compare two evolutionary models to evaluate the association between social stratification and female genital modification(FGMo) in a cross-cultural African sample, theorizing that social hierarchy creates competition for high-value males in which FGMo acts as a costly demonstration of paternity certainty. Although the null model outperforms the stratification model when applied to empirical data, an association between FGMo and stratification is found in the expected direction. The authors suggest that while stratification may be an important factor in the de novo origins of FGMo, spread and persistence of the practice subsequently become more heavily dependent on other selective forces.

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.