The adaptive nature of culture: A cross-cultural analysis of the returns of local environmental knowledge in three indigenous societies
Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung › begutachtet
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in: Current Anthropology, Jahrgang 57, Nr. 6, 01.12.2016, S. 761-784.
Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung › begutachtet
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The adaptive nature of culture
T2 - A cross-cultural analysis of the returns of local environmental knowledge in three indigenous societies
AU - Reyes-García, Victoria
AU - Guèze, Maximilien
AU - Díaz-Reviriego, Isabel
AU - Duda, Romain
AU - Fernández-Llamazares, Álvaro
AU - Gallois, Sandrine
AU - Napitupulu, Lucentezza
AU - Orta-Martínez, Martí
AU - Pyhälä, Aili
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - Researchers have argued that the behavioral adaptations that explain the success of our species are partially cultural, that is, cumulative and socially transmitted. Thus, understanding the adaptive nature of culture is crucial to understand human evolution. We use a cross- cultural framework and empirical data purposely collected to test whether culturally transmitted and individually appropriated knowledge provides individual returns in terms of hunting yields and health and, by extension, nutritional status, a proxy for individual adaptive success. Data were collected in three subsistence oriented societies: the Tsimane’ (Amazon), the Baka (Congo Basin), and the Punan (Borneo). Results suggest that variations in individual levels of local environmental knowledge relate to individual hunting returns and self-reported health but not to nutritional status. We argue that this paradox can be explained through the prevalence of sharing: individuals achieving higher returns to their knowledge transfer them to the rest of the population, which explains the lack of association between knowledge and nutritional status. The finding is in consonance with previous research highlighting the importance of cultural traits favoring group success but pushes it forward by elucidating the mechanisms through which individual- and group-level adaptive forces interact.
AB - Researchers have argued that the behavioral adaptations that explain the success of our species are partially cultural, that is, cumulative and socially transmitted. Thus, understanding the adaptive nature of culture is crucial to understand human evolution. We use a cross- cultural framework and empirical data purposely collected to test whether culturally transmitted and individually appropriated knowledge provides individual returns in terms of hunting yields and health and, by extension, nutritional status, a proxy for individual adaptive success. Data were collected in three subsistence oriented societies: the Tsimane’ (Amazon), the Baka (Congo Basin), and the Punan (Borneo). Results suggest that variations in individual levels of local environmental knowledge relate to individual hunting returns and self-reported health but not to nutritional status. We argue that this paradox can be explained through the prevalence of sharing: individuals achieving higher returns to their knowledge transfer them to the rest of the population, which explains the lack of association between knowledge and nutritional status. The finding is in consonance with previous research highlighting the importance of cultural traits favoring group success but pushes it forward by elucidating the mechanisms through which individual- and group-level adaptive forces interact.
KW - Biology
KW - Ecosystems Research
KW - local environmental knowledge
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85001104646&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1086/689307
DO - 10.1086/689307
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 28104924
AN - SCOPUS:85001104646
VL - 57
SP - 761
EP - 784
JO - Current Anthropology
JF - Current Anthropology
SN - 0011-3204
IS - 6
ER -