Hypotheses
- Infant and child mortality rates will be higher among contemporary hunter-gatherer populations than in western, industrialized populations.Volk, Anthony A. - Infant and child death in the human environment of evolutionary adaptation, 2013 - 2 Variables
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.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - The estimated Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA) infant and child mortality rate will be greater than the mortality rates in modern Western cultures.Volk, Anthony A. - Infant and child death in the human environment of evolutionary adaptation, 2013 - 2 Variables
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.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Adult violence mortality is higher among horticulturalists compared to hunter-gatherers (164).Hames, Raymond - Pacifying Hunter-Gatherers, 2019 - 2 Variables
In this article Hames addresses the long-standing disagreements between evolutionary theories regarding human warfare (more specifically between Rousseauian and Hobbesian frameworks). This study posits that while most current and previous research focuses on the discrepancies between the frequency and intensity with which warfare takes place between hunter-gatherer and large-scale societies, the ability for societies to live in peace with their neighbors despite the possibility for warfare, is the most important evolutionary trait. Coexisting peacefully is what distinguishes human socially and politically from chimpanzees whereas warfare itself is a more primitive trait humans share with previous ancestors. Hames concludes that going forward, use of phylogenetic methods to control for common ancestry, and use of archaeological data would lead to new and more comprehensive findings. Although largely a review of principal warfare literature, Hames does present an original statistical finding on adult violence mortality which is reported below.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - The presence of grandmothers will predict lower child mortality rates (10).Sear, Rebecca - Who keeps children alive? A review of the effects of kin on child survival, 2008 - 2 Variables
Evolutionary anthropologists have long emphasized the puzzle of short inter-birth intervals, extended childhoods, and long post-reproductive lives of humans, in particular the problem it poses for raising children. While there is agreement that mothers receive assistance from kin to offset the high costs of raising children, opinion is equivocal as to which kin help and to what extent they help. Here the authors review 45 studies from historical and contemporary natural fertility populations to assess the effects of various types of kin on child survival rates.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - The infant/child's age at the cessation of breastfeeding is lower in preindustrial populations with agricultural or pastoral subsistence type than in hunting and gathering socieities (p. 50).Sellen, Daniel W. - Relationships between subsistence and age at weaning in "preindustrial" soci..., 2001 - 2 Variables
This study tests the weaning food availability hypothesis, that both the introduction of foods other than breastmilk and the cessation of breastfeeding will vary by society's subsistence type. This hypothesis has implications for demography, as accelerated weaning can lead to increases in both mothers' fertility (due to decreased birth intervals) and infant mortality (due to the presence of pathogens in new foods).
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Maternal grandmothers will tend to increase child survival more than paternal grandmothers (10).Sear, Rebecca - Who keeps children alive? A review of the effects of kin on child survival, 2008 - 3 Variables
Evolutionary anthropologists have long emphasized the puzzle of short inter-birth intervals, extended childhoods, and long post-reproductive lives of humans, in particular the problem it poses for raising children. While there is agreement that mothers receive assistance from kin to offset the high costs of raising children, opinion is equivocal as to which kin help and to what extent they help. Here the authors review 45 studies from historical and contemporary natural fertility populations to assess the effects of various types of kin on child survival rates.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Grandfathers will have significantly less effect on child survival than grandmothers (10).Sear, Rebecca - Who keeps children alive? A review of the effects of kin on child survival, 2008 - 3 Variables
Evolutionary anthropologists have long emphasized the puzzle of short inter-birth intervals, extended childhoods, and long post-reproductive lives of humans, in particular the problem it poses for raising children. While there is agreement that mothers receive assistance from kin to offset the high costs of raising children, opinion is equivocal as to which kin help and to what extent they help. Here the authors review 45 studies from historical and contemporary natural fertility populations to assess the effects of various types of kin on child survival rates.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Maternal grandfathers will have a greater effect on child survival than paternal grandfathers (10).Sear, Rebecca - Who keeps children alive? A review of the effects of kin on child survival, 2008 - 3 Variables
Evolutionary anthropologists have long emphasized the puzzle of short inter-birth intervals, extended childhoods, and long post-reproductive lives of humans, in particular the problem it poses for raising children. While there is agreement that mothers receive assistance from kin to offset the high costs of raising children, opinion is equivocal as to which kin help and to what extent they help. Here the authors review 45 studies from historical and contemporary natural fertility populations to assess the effects of various types of kin on child survival rates.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Agricultural societies will have higher paternal certainty than hunter-gatherer societies (230).Gaulin, Steven J.C. - Sexual dimorphism in the human post-reproductive life-span: possible causes, 1980 - 2 Variables
This study tests possible explanations for sexual dimorphism in human post-reproductive life-spans. The author focuses on explanations involving male paternal investment and finds that men in agricultural societies are more likely to invest in their offspring than men in hunter-gatherer societies.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Treatment of the elderly will be related to climate, subsistence strategy, social stratification, and belief in active high gods (408).Glascock, Anthony P. - The myth of the golden isle: old age in pre-industrial societies, 1987 - 5 Variables
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.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author