This paper seeks to understand the roles played by children and adolescents in hunter-gatherer societies in relation to their social and ecological context. The authors set out to investigate how environmental factors, ecological risk, and the energetic contributions of adult men and women to food production may have influenced children/adolescent allocation of time to child care, domestic work, food production, and play. In order to carry out this study, the authors logged the behaviors of 690 children and adolescents from twelve hunter-gatherer and mixed-subsistence societies (Agta, Aka, Baka, BaYaka, Dukha, Hadza, Matsi-genka, Maya, Mayangna, Mikea, Pume, and Tsimane), totaling 85,597 unique observations. The study found that harsh environmental factors were not associated with child/adolescent time allocation, but that local ecological risk such as dangerous animals and lack of water availability predicted decreased time allocation to child care and domestic work, and that increased adult female participation in food production was associated with less time invested in child care among boys. It also found that all gendered differences in time allocation among children were stronger when men made greater contributions to food production than women. The authors interpret these results to signify that parents may play a role in preparing their children for environmental and ecological difficulty in order to help them develop skills that will help them become useful community members as adults.

This paper seeks to understand the roles played by children and adolescents in hunter-gatherer societies in relation to their social and ecological context. The authors set out to investigate how environmental factors, ecological risk, and the energetic contributions of adult men and women to food production may have influenced children/adolescent allocation of time to child care, domestic work, food production, and play. In order to carry out this study, the authors logged the behaviors of 690 children and adolescents from twelve hunter-gatherer and mixed-subsistence societies (Agta, Aka, Baka, BaYaka, Dukha, Hadza, Matsi-genka, Maya, Mayangna, Mikea, Pume, and Tsimane), totaling 85,597 unique observations. The study found that harsh environmental factors were not associated with child/adolescent time allocation, but that local ecological risk such as dangerous animals and lack of water availability predicted decreased time allocation to child care and domestic work, and that increased adult female participation in food production was associated with less time invested in child care among boys. It also found that all gendered differences in time allocation among children were stronger when men made greater contributions to food production than women. The authors interpret these results to signify that parents may play a role in preparing their children for environmental and ecological difficulty in order to help them develop skills that will help them become useful community members as adults.

This paper seeks to understand the roles played by children and adolescents in hunter-gatherer societies in relation to their social and ecological context. The authors set out to investigate how environmental factors, ecological risk, and the energetic contributions of adult men and women to food production may have influenced children/adolescent allocation of time to child care, domestic work, food production, and play. In order to carry out this study, the authors logged the behaviors of 690 children and adolescents from twelve hunter-gatherer and mixed-subsistence societies (Agta, Aka, Baka, BaYaka, Dukha, Hadza, Matsi-genka, Maya, Mayangna, Mikea, Pume, and Tsimane), totaling 85,597 unique observations. The study found that harsh environmental factors were not associated with child/adolescent time allocation, but that local ecological risk such as dangerous animals and lack of water availability predicted decreased time allocation to child care and domestic work, and that increased adult female participation in food production was associated with less time invested in child care among boys. It also found that all gendered differences in time allocation among children were stronger when men made greater contributions to food production than women. The authors interpret these results to signify that parents may play a role in preparing their children for environmental and ecological difficulty in order to help them develop skills that will help them become useful community members as adults.

To understand transmission of knowledge and its impact on human evolution history, this study explores the research question: "How do hunter-gatherer children learn subsistence skills?". The authors use meta-ethnography methods on 34 cultures from five continents discussing these topics. The results show that the learning process starts early in infancy when their parents take them to the excursions. In middle childhood, they already acquired gathering skills. Only in the start of adolescence, adults begin teaching how to hunt and to produce complex tools. The learning process continues into adulthood.

To understand transmission of knowledge and its impact on human evolution history, this study explores the research question: "How do hunter-gatherer children learn subsistence skills?". The authors use meta-ethnography methods on 34 cultures from five continents discussing these topics. The results show that the learning process starts early in infancy when their parents take them to the excursions. In middle childhood, they already acquired gathering skills. Only in the start of adolescence, adults begin teaching how to hunt and to produce complex tools. The learning process continues into adulthood.

To understand transmission of knowledge and its impact on human evolution history, this study explores the research question: "How do hunter-gatherer children learn subsistence skills?". The authors use meta-ethnography methods on 34 cultures from five continents discussing these topics. The results show that the learning process starts early in infancy when their parents take them to the excursions. In middle childhood, they already acquired gathering skills. Only in the start of adolescence, adults begin teaching how to hunt and to produce complex tools. The learning process continues into adulthood.

To understand transmission of knowledge and its impact on human evolution history, this study explores the research question: "How do hunter-gatherer children learn subsistence skills?". The authors use meta-ethnography methods on 34 cultures from five continents discussing these topics. The results show that the learning process starts early in infancy when their parents take them to the excursions. In middle childhood, they already acquired gathering skills. Only in the start of adolescence, adults begin teaching how to hunt and to produce complex tools. The learning process continues into adulthood.

The sustainability of a society depends on the transmission of cultural knowledge between generations. This study examines how that transmission occurs in 23 egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies, where leaders tend to lack coercive power. Specifically, the study examines differences between the transmission of so-called “instrumental culture” (which includes skills such as how to do subsistence tasks) and what the authors call “opaque culture”, meaning abstract societal values and norms (e.g. rules of sharing and symbolic culture, such as religious beliefs). Using ethnographic data, the study finds that opaque culture is almost always conveyed through explicit teaching (rather than observation or imitation), often during middle childhood (ages 8 – 12). Among the 23 egalitarian societies in the sample in particular, adult community leaders, or other socially influential adult individuals, were most likely to be the ones engaging in teaching.

The sustainability of a society depends on the transmission of cultural knowledge between generations. This study examines how that transmission occurs in 23 egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies, where leaders tend to lack coercive power. Specifically, the study examines differences between the transmission of so-called “instrumental culture” (which includes skills such as how to do subsistence tasks) and what the authors call “opaque culture”, meaning abstract societal values and norms (e.g. rules of sharing and symbolic culture, such as religious beliefs). Using ethnographic data, the study finds that opaque culture is almost always conveyed through explicit teaching (rather than observation or imitation), often during middle childhood (ages 8 – 12). Among the 23 egalitarian societies in the sample in particular, adult community leaders, or other socially influential adult individuals, were most likely to be the ones engaging in teaching.

The sustainability of a society depends on the transmission of cultural knowledge between generations. This study examines how that transmission occurs in 23 egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies, where leaders tend to lack coercive power. Specifically, the study examines differences between the transmission of so-called “instrumental culture” (which includes skills such as how to do subsistence tasks) and what the authors call “opaque culture”, meaning abstract societal values and norms (e.g. rules of sharing and symbolic culture, such as religious beliefs). Using ethnographic data, the study finds that opaque culture is almost always conveyed through explicit teaching (rather than observation or imitation), often during middle childhood (ages 8 – 12). Among the 23 egalitarian societies in the sample in particular, adult community leaders, or other socially influential adult individuals, were most likely to be the ones engaging in teaching.