The present research examines the consumption, treatment, and disposal of the human placenta in a sample of 179 societies. The findings reveal differences between placental mammals and humans as maternal placentophagy, the consumption of the placenta, is rare. Treatment and disposal of the placenta is variable but ubiquitous cross-culturally.

This book investigates a broad hypothesis linking social solidarity and initiation ceremonies. The author proposes that “the degree of solidarity of a given social system determines the degree to which status transitions within it will be dramatized” (1). A variety of operational hypotheses are supported for both male and female initiation ceremonies.

The data in this study attempts to address questions related to cross-cultural similarities and differences in human-pet dynamics. A distribution of pet types across a cross-cultural sample is provided, along with descriptions of the functions and treatment of pets cross-culturally.

This study first reviews two explanations of menstrual taboos: taboos as an aspect of social rigidity and a psychogenic interpretation of menstrual taboos. The authors chiefly advocate a sociogenic explanation of menstrual taboos.

The author tests various hypotheses regarding cross-cultural occurrence of geophagy, the eating of earth. Nearly 500 years of references to geophagy were compiled into the Database on Human Geophagy, which was then used to examine biological justifications for this little-understood behavior.

This study investigates theories of male initiation ceremonies. The author examines a hypothesis related to child-rearing variables (sleeping arrangements and post-partum taboo) and rejects it based on empirical analysis. An alternative hypothesis related to male solidarity is offered.

Researchers examine the body of literature on the practice of geophagy(the consumption of earth), shining a light on the harms, benefits, and proposed reasoning behind the practice cross-sectionally. In addition to this review of the literature, gaps in the literature and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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 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.