Found 97 Documents across 10 Pages (0.002 seconds)
  1. Not just dead meat: an evolutionary account of corpse treatment in mortuary ritualsWhite, Claire - Journal of Cognition and Culture, 2015 - 1 Hypotheses

    Authors suggest that in a majority of studied societies, kin of the deceased tend to engage ritually in risky prolonged and intimate preparation behaviors with corpses. This occurs namely in visual exposure and tactile interaction. Authors hypothesize that this extended contact not only allows true confirmation of death (through exposure to many cues), but also facilitates acceleration of a grieving process that returns the bereaved to a normal state of social functioning.

    Related DocumentsCite
  2. The dead may kill you: Do ancestor spirit beliefs promote cooperation in traditional small-scale societiesWhite, Claire - The Journal of Cognition and Culture, 2022 - 3 Hypotheses

    Using 57 cultures from the Human Relations Area Files database, this paper examines the function and effectiveness of the belief of punitive ancestors in small-scale societies. The authors found that belief in dangerous ancestral entities is widespread and common and that harm is preventable through ritualized mortuary practices. The authors concluded that the fear of ancestral spirits did not promote social cooperation or inhibit self-interest behavior, contrary to the supernatural punishment hypothesis.

    Related DocumentsCite
  3. How marginal are forager habitats?Porter, Claire C. - Journal of Archaeological Science, 2007 - 2 Hypotheses

    This article examines the quality of forager habitats to determine whether agriculturalists occupy the most productive areas while modern forager groups are relegated to poor habitats. Findings indicate that there are slight but insignificant differences in the net primary productivity of foragers’ land and agriculturalists’ land. Further analysis of types of agriculturalists suggest that horticulturalists live in the most productive habitats, followed by intensive agriculturalists and finally pastoralists.

    Related DocumentsCite
  4. Entailment theory and method: a cross-cultural analysis of the sexual division of laborWhite, Douglas R. - Behavior Science Research, 1977 - 3 Hypotheses

    This article discusses constraints on role behavior that affect the division of labor, focusing on women’s childcare responsibilities, the nature of production sequences, and occupational specialization. The authors employ entailment analysis to examine 50 activities; results suggest three findings: 1) men are more likely to be assigned tasks that require travel and exposure to danger, 2) men are more likely to perform tasks that are early in the production sequence, and 3) if women perform a task at an early stage of production, they are more likely to perform subsequent tasks.

    Related DocumentsCite
  5. Rethinking polygyny: co-wives, codes, and cultural systemsWhite, Douglas R. - Current Anthropology, 1988 - 2 Hypotheses

    This article "focuses on internal relationships in the organization of polygynous systems." The author presents new codes for polygyny and tests hypotheses regarding "complexes" of polygynous variables: wealth-increasing polygyny and sororal polygyny. It is asserted that polygyny is produced by a variety of factors and circumstances, and that regional historical, demographic, and ecological forces require attention in order to understand its acceptance and practice.

    Related DocumentsCite
  6. Causes of polygyny: ecology, economy, kinship, and warfareWhite, Douglas R. - American Anthropologist, 1988 - 4 Hypotheses

    This article uses two dependent variables: acceptance of polygyny (the rules) and and the percentage of women in polygynous marriages (the behavior). The rules of marriage are best predicted by social structural variables (e.g. warfare, fraternal interest groups) whereas actual marriage behaviors are best predicted by economic and ecological variables (e.g. climate zone). Deemphasizing exclusively reproductive or economic explanations for polygyny, the authors find polygyny is related to male-oriented kin groups, territorial expansion and migration, and marrying war captives. Polygyny is thus thought to have a stratifying effect on women and is ultimately a detriment to female status.

    Related DocumentsCite
  7. On the emergence of large-scale human social integration and its antecedents in primatesGrueter, Cyril C. - Structure and Dynamics: eJournal of Anthropological and Related Sciences, 2014 - 1 Hypotheses

    This article investigates whether external warfare, intercommunity trade, and female exogamy lead to more amicable intercommunity relationships. Intercommunity amicability is considered a historical facilitator of the large-scale integration of human groups. The absence of internal warfare is used as a measure for intercommunity amicability.

    Related DocumentsCite
  8. Sexual division of labor in agricultureBurton, Michael L. - American Anthropologist, 1984 - 7 Hypotheses

    Authors Michael Burton and Douglas White present and test an ecological model for the process of agricultural intensification that aims to explain variance in (and the reduction in) female contribution to agriculture. The model synthesizes and expands upon findings put forth by previous studies in order to create a more comprehensive design. Results suggest that the strongest predictors of female contribution to agriculture are the number of dry months, the importance of domesticated animals to subsistence, and the use of the plow in farming. Crop type, although a weaker predictor, is also supported.

    Related DocumentsCite
  9. A model of the sexual division of laborBurton, Michael L. - American Ethnologist, 1977 - 1 Hypotheses

    This study presents a model of sexual division of labor using entailment analysis that accounts for distance of the task away from home and danger of the task. Results support the notion that childbirth and nursing are the main constraints on the sexual division of labor and that men tend to be allocated tasks that are more distant and dangerous.

    Related DocumentsCite
  10. Residential variation among hunter-gatherersEmber, Carol R. - Behavior Science Research, 1975 - 7 Hypotheses

    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.

    Related DocumentsCite