Primitive Ways
Hadza hunter-gatherers are not deontologists and do not prefer deontologists as social partners
Kristopher Smith & Coren Apicella
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Researchers hypothesize that social selection resulting from partner choice may have shaped deontological moral reasoning in humans. People in Western societies judge deontologists to be more trustworthy than utilitarians and prefer them as cooperative partners. We test if the preference for deontologists as social partners generalizes to the Hadza, hunter-gatherers residing in Tanzania. We presented 134 Hadza participants with three ecologically-relevant sacrificial dilemmas and asked them to judge whether the actor should sacrifice one person to save five. We then randomly assigned participants to hear that the actor made either a deontological or utilitarian decision and asked them to make partner choice judgments about the actor in the dilemma. Compared to 249 US Mechanical Turk participants, Hadza participants were more likely to think the actor should choose the utilitarian option. Regardless of what option they thought the actor should choose, Hadza participants showed no preference for the deontological or utilitarian decision-maker, whereas Mechanical Turk participants who thought the actor should choose the deontological option had a strong preference for the deontological actor. These results suggest the preference for deontological decision-makers as cooperative partners is culturally variable.
Global phylogenetic analysis reveals multiple origins and correlates of genital mutilation/cutting
Gabriel Šaffa, Jan Zrzavý & Pavel Duda
Nature Human Behaviour, forthcoming
Abstract:
Genital mutilation/cutting is costly in terms of health, survival and reproduction, and the long-term maintenance of these practices is an evolutionary conundrum. Previous studies have suggested a mate-guarding function or various signalling functions of genital mutilation/cutting. Here we use phylogenetic comparative methods and two global ethnographic samples to study the origins and socio-ecological correlates of major types of female and male genital mutilation/cutting. Male genital mutilation/cutting probably originated in polygynous societies with separate residence of co-wives, supporting a mate-guarding function. Female genital mutilation/cutting originated subsequently and almost exclusively in societies already practising male genital mutilation/cutting, where it may have become a signal of chastity. Both have originated multiple times, some as early as in the mid-Holocene (5,000–7,000 years ago), considerably predating the earliest archaeological evidence and written records. Genital mutilation/cutting co-evolves with and may help maintain fundamental social structures, hindering efforts to change these cultural practices.
Life before Stonehenge: The hunter-gatherer occupation and environment of Blick Mead revealed by sedaDNA, pollen and spores
Samuel Hudson et al.
PLoS ONE, April 2022
Abstract:
The Neolithic and Bronze Age construction and habitation of the Stonehenge Landscape has been extensively explored in previous research. However, little is known about the scale of pre-Neolithic activity and the extent to which the later monumental complex occupied an ‘empty’ landscape. There has been a long-running debate as to whether the monumental archaeology of Stonehenge was created in an uninhabited forested landscape or whether it was constructed in an already partly open area of pre-existing significance to late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. This is of significance to a global discussion about the relationship between incoming farmers and indigenous hunter-gatherer societies that is highly relevant to both Old and New World archaeology. Here we present the results of plant sedaDNA, palynological and geoarchaeological analysis at the Late hunter-gatherer site complex of Blick Mead at the junction of the drylands of Salisbury Plain and the floodplain of the River Avon, on the edge of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. The findings are placed within a chronological framework built on OSL, radiocarbon and relative archaeological dating. We show that Blick Mead existed in a clearing in deciduous woodland, exploited by aurochsen, deer and hunter-gatherers for approximately 4000 years. Given its rich archaeology and longevity this strongly supports the arguments of continuity between the Late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers activity and Neolithic monument builders, and more specifically that this was a partially open environment important to both groups. This study also demonstrates that sediments from low-energy floodplains can provide suitable samples for successful environmental assaying using sedaDNA, provided they are supported by secure dating and complementary environmental proxies.
Materialising the Social Relationships of Hunter-Gatherers: Archaeological and Geochemical Analyses of 4th Millennium BC ‘Slate Ring Ornaments’ from Finland
Marja Ahola, Elisabeth Holmqvist & Petro Pesonen
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, forthcoming
Abstract:
During the 4th millennium BC, an intensive artefact circulation system existed among the hunter-gatherer peoples of north-eastern Europe. Along with other goods, ring-shaped ornaments that were mainly made of different kinds of slates or tuffites were commonly distributed. Although commonly referred to as ‘slate rings’, these ornaments consist mainly of fragments of rings. In this paper, we suggest that the ‘slate rings’ were never meant to be intact, complete rings, but were instead fragmented on purpose and used as tokens of social relationships relating to the gift-giving system. By refitting artefact fragments together, analysing their geochemical composition, micro details, and use-wear, we were able to prove that these items were not only intentionally fragmented but also likely worn as personal ornaments. Moreover, ED-XRF analysis of 56 of the artefacts showed a correlation between their geochemical characteristics and stylistic detailing, suggesting different production phases or batches. Comparative data analysis confirmed the provenance hypothesis that the majority of the analysed objects, or at least their raw materials, were exported over hundreds of kilometres from the Lake Onega region.
Frontier Lapita interaction with resident Papuan populations set the stage for initial peopling of the Pacific
Ben Shaw et al.
Nature Ecology & Evolution, forthcoming
Abstract:
The initial peopling of the remote Pacific islands was one of the greatest migrations in human history, beginning three millennia ago by Lapita cultural groups. The spread of Lapita out of an ancestral Asian homeland is a dominant narrative in the origins of Pacific peoples, and although Island New Guinea has long been recognized as a springboard for the peopling of Oceania, the role of Indigenous populations in this remarkable phase of exploration remains largely untested. Here, we report the earliest evidence for Lapita-introduced animals, turtle bone technology and repeated obsidian import in southern New Guinea 3,480–3,060 years ago, synchronous with the establishment of the earliest known Lapita settlements 700 km away. Our findings precede sustained Lapita migrations and pottery introductions by several centuries, occur alongside Indigenous technologies and suggest continued multicultural influences on population diversity despite language replacement. Our work shows that initial Lapita expansion throughout Island New Guinea was more expansive than previously considered, with Indigenous contact influencing migration pathways and island-hopping strategies that culminated in rapid and purposeful Pacific-wide settlement. Later Lapita dispersals through New Guinea were facilitated by earlier contact with Indigenous populations and profoundly influenced the region as a global centre of cultural and linguistic diversity.