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University Press of Florida eBooks, Jul 11, 2023
University Press of Florida eBooks, Jul 11, 2023
Academic Press eBooks, 1980
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American Anthropologist, Mar 1, 1985
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Dec 7, 2000
Amazonia peruana, Mar 14, 1982
A crif examination of Gross's hypothesis that ah original Amazonian populations were limited to l... more A crif examination of Gross's hypothesis that ah original Amazonian populations were limited to low levels by lack of • adequate protein resources concludes that (1) evidence either far or against the hypothesis is still in short supply; (2) the role of vegetable protein in aboriginal diets needs much more attention and may ultimately overthrow the protein limitation hypothesis; (3) the abundance of animal protein in the tropical forest has likely also been underestimated; (4) the abundance of people in precontact Amazonian may well have been underestimated as well. Un exap1en critique de l'hypothese de Cross selon laquelle les populations amazoniennes étaiht limitées a un bas niveau a cause e la carence de ressources adequates. en proteines ame ne a condure que (1) la preuve pour <;>U contre l'hypothese reste a fournir; (2) le rale des protéines végétales dans l'alimentation indigene necessite beaucoup •plus d'attention et peut en derniere instance infirmer l'hypothese de la limitation proteinique; (3) l'abondance des protéines animales dans la for~t tropicale a été .prohablement aussi sous-estimee; (4) la demographie humaine en Amazonie avant le contact peut tout aussi bien avoir ete sous-estimee. Aus einer kritischen Untersuchung der Hypothese van Cross, dass die heimische amazonische Siedlungen, auf Grund eines Mangels an geeigneten Proteinquelle, zu niedrigen Standarden beschrankt sind, folgt dass. 1.die Daten zugunsten oder gegen der Hypothese nicht zureichend sind; 2.-die Rolle die Pflanzenproteine spielen, mehr Rucksicht benotigt und schliesslich die hypothese des Protcinhindernises verlegen kann;
Hahr-hispanic American Historical Review, Feb 1, 1983
Antropológica (Caracas), 2010
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
To address claims of human exceptionalism, we determine where humans fit within the greater mamma... more To address claims of human exceptionalism, we determine where humans fit within the greater mammalian distribution of reproductive inequality. We show that humans exhibit lower reproductive skew (i.e., inequality in the number of surviving offspring) among males and smaller sex differences in reproductive skew than most other mammals, while nevertheless falling within the mammalian range. Additionally, female reproductive skew is higher in polygynous human populations than in polygynous nonhumans mammals on average. This patterning of skew can be attributed in part to the prevalence of monogamy in humans compared to the predominance of polygyny in nonhuman mammals, to the limited degree of polygyny in the human societies that practice it, and to the importance of unequally held rival resources to women’s fitness. The muted reproductive inequality observed in humans appears to be linked to several unusual characteristics of our species—including high levels of cooperation among males...
Amazonian Indians from Prehistory to the Present
The Anthropology of Marriage in Lowland South America, 2017
The chapter records changes in Waorani marriage as acculturative forces reduce the power of young... more The chapter records changes in Waorani marriage as acculturative forces reduce the power of young people’s parents to decide whom they must marry. With the arrival of missionaries, oil workers, anthropologists, and tourists, the social world has expanded; new possibilities for marriage have been presented and indeed encouraged by non-Waorani; new residential patterns and ways of making a living have reduced the influence of parents. There are more love matches, more extra-marital pregnancies, and fewer planned alliances between families. Most ethnographers who have worked with indigenous populations have probably noticed that with contact and acculturation, one of the first things to weaken is the authority of the older generation over the sexual behavior of the younger. Because of the dramatic history of the Waorani and the ethnographic attention they have received, this case is particularly well documented and instructive.
The root of modern human warfare lies in the lethal coalitionary violence of males in small-scale... more The root of modern human warfare lies in the lethal coalitionary violence of males in small-scale societies. However, little quantitative data exist concerning the form and function of coalitionary violence in this setting. Debates exist over how lethal coalitions are constituted, as well as the motivations and benefits for males to join such groups. Data from a lowland Amazonian population, the Waorani of Ecuador, illuminate three issues: (i) the degree to which raiding parties are composed of groups of fraternal kin as opposed to strategic alliances of actual or potential affinal kin, (ii) the extent to which individuals use pre-existing affinal ties to motivate others to participate in war or leverage warfare as a mechanism to create such ties and (iii) the extent to which participation in raiding is driven by rewards associated with future marriage opportunities. Analyses demonstrate that Waorani raiding parties were composed of a mix of males who were potential affines, actual affines and fraternal kin, suggesting that men used pre-existing genetic, lineal and social kin ties for recruiting raid partners and used raiding as a venue to create novel social relationships. Furthermore, analyses demonstrate that males leveraged raiding alliances to achieve marriage opportunities for themselves as well as for their children. Overall, it appears that a complex set of motivations involving individual rewards, kin marriage opportunities, subtle coercion and the assessment of alliance strength promote violent intergroup conflict among the Waorani. These findings illustrate the complex inter-relationships among kin selection, coalition building and mating success in our species.
Current Anthropology, 2017
Human Nature, 2019
In response to recent work on the nature of human aggression, and to shed light on the proximate,... more In response to recent work on the nature of human aggression, and to shed light on the proximate, as opposed to ultimate, causes of tribal warfare, we present a record of events leading to a fatal Waorani raid on a family from another tribe, followed by a detailed first-person observation of the behavior of the raiders as they prepared themselves for war, and upon their return. We contrast this attack with other Waorani aggressions and speculate on evidence regarding their hormonal underpinnings. Onthe-ground ethnographic observations are examined in light of the neuroendocrinological literature. The evidence suggests a chain of causality in launching lethal violence, beginning with a perceived injury, culminating in a massacre, and terminating in rejoicing. Although no blood or saliva samples were taken at the time of this raid, the behaviors were consistent with a deliberate initiation of the hormonal cascade characterizing the "fight-or-flight" response, along with other hormonal changes. We conclude with observations on the stratified interrelationships of the cognitive, social, emotional, and neuroendocrinological causes of aggression leading to coalitional male homicide.
The Cambridge World History of Food
The Anthropology of Marriage in Lowland South America, 2017
Traditional treatments of marriage among indigenous people focus on what people say about whom on... more Traditional treatments of marriage among indigenous people focus on what people say about whom one should marry and on rules that anthropologists induce from those statements. This volume is a cultural and social anthropological examination of the ways the indigenous peoples of lowland South America/Amazonia actually choose whom they marry. Detailed ethnography shows that they select spouses to meet their economic and political goals, their emotional desires, and their social aspirations, as well as to honor their commitments to exogamic prescriptions and the exchange of women. These decisions often require playing fast and loose with what the anthropologist and the peoples themselves declare to be the regulations they obey. Inevitably then, this volume is about agency and individual choice in the context of social institutions and cultural rules. There is another theme running through this book—the way in which globalization is subverting traditional hierarchies, altering identitie...
Choice Reviews Online, 2014
Latin American Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence
The root of modern human warfare lies in the lethal coalitionary violence of males in small-scale... more The root of modern human warfare lies in the lethal coalitionary violence of males in small-scale societies. However, little quantitative data exist concerning the form and function of coalitionary violence in this setting. Debates exist over how lethal coalitions are constituted, as well as the motivations and benefits for males to join such groups. Data from a lowland Amazonian population, the Waorani of Ecuador, illuminate three issues: (i) the degree to which raiding parties are composed of groups of fraternal kin as opposed to strategic alliances of actual or potential affinal kin, (ii) the extent to which individuals use pre-existing affinal ties to motivate others to participate in war or leverage warfare as a mechanism to create such ties and (iii) the extent to which participation in raiding is driven by rewards associated with future marriage opportunities. Analyses demonstrate that Waorani raiding parties were composed of a mix of males who were potential affines, actual ...
University Press of Florida eBooks, Jul 11, 2023
University Press of Florida eBooks, Jul 11, 2023
Academic Press eBooks, 1980
RefDoc Bienvenue - Welcome. Refdoc est un service / is powered by. ...
American Anthropologist, Mar 1, 1985
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Dec 7, 2000
Amazonia peruana, Mar 14, 1982
A crif examination of Gross's hypothesis that ah original Amazonian populations were limited to l... more A crif examination of Gross's hypothesis that ah original Amazonian populations were limited to low levels by lack of • adequate protein resources concludes that (1) evidence either far or against the hypothesis is still in short supply; (2) the role of vegetable protein in aboriginal diets needs much more attention and may ultimately overthrow the protein limitation hypothesis; (3) the abundance of animal protein in the tropical forest has likely also been underestimated; (4) the abundance of people in precontact Amazonian may well have been underestimated as well. Un exap1en critique de l'hypothese de Cross selon laquelle les populations amazoniennes étaiht limitées a un bas niveau a cause e la carence de ressources adequates. en proteines ame ne a condure que (1) la preuve pour <;>U contre l'hypothese reste a fournir; (2) le rale des protéines végétales dans l'alimentation indigene necessite beaucoup •plus d'attention et peut en derniere instance infirmer l'hypothese de la limitation proteinique; (3) l'abondance des protéines animales dans la for~t tropicale a été .prohablement aussi sous-estimee; (4) la demographie humaine en Amazonie avant le contact peut tout aussi bien avoir ete sous-estimee. Aus einer kritischen Untersuchung der Hypothese van Cross, dass die heimische amazonische Siedlungen, auf Grund eines Mangels an geeigneten Proteinquelle, zu niedrigen Standarden beschrankt sind, folgt dass. 1.die Daten zugunsten oder gegen der Hypothese nicht zureichend sind; 2.-die Rolle die Pflanzenproteine spielen, mehr Rucksicht benotigt und schliesslich die hypothese des Protcinhindernises verlegen kann;
Hahr-hispanic American Historical Review, Feb 1, 1983
Antropológica (Caracas), 2010
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
To address claims of human exceptionalism, we determine where humans fit within the greater mamma... more To address claims of human exceptionalism, we determine where humans fit within the greater mammalian distribution of reproductive inequality. We show that humans exhibit lower reproductive skew (i.e., inequality in the number of surviving offspring) among males and smaller sex differences in reproductive skew than most other mammals, while nevertheless falling within the mammalian range. Additionally, female reproductive skew is higher in polygynous human populations than in polygynous nonhumans mammals on average. This patterning of skew can be attributed in part to the prevalence of monogamy in humans compared to the predominance of polygyny in nonhuman mammals, to the limited degree of polygyny in the human societies that practice it, and to the importance of unequally held rival resources to women’s fitness. The muted reproductive inequality observed in humans appears to be linked to several unusual characteristics of our species—including high levels of cooperation among males...
Amazonian Indians from Prehistory to the Present
The Anthropology of Marriage in Lowland South America, 2017
The chapter records changes in Waorani marriage as acculturative forces reduce the power of young... more The chapter records changes in Waorani marriage as acculturative forces reduce the power of young people’s parents to decide whom they must marry. With the arrival of missionaries, oil workers, anthropologists, and tourists, the social world has expanded; new possibilities for marriage have been presented and indeed encouraged by non-Waorani; new residential patterns and ways of making a living have reduced the influence of parents. There are more love matches, more extra-marital pregnancies, and fewer planned alliances between families. Most ethnographers who have worked with indigenous populations have probably noticed that with contact and acculturation, one of the first things to weaken is the authority of the older generation over the sexual behavior of the younger. Because of the dramatic history of the Waorani and the ethnographic attention they have received, this case is particularly well documented and instructive.
The root of modern human warfare lies in the lethal coalitionary violence of males in small-scale... more The root of modern human warfare lies in the lethal coalitionary violence of males in small-scale societies. However, little quantitative data exist concerning the form and function of coalitionary violence in this setting. Debates exist over how lethal coalitions are constituted, as well as the motivations and benefits for males to join such groups. Data from a lowland Amazonian population, the Waorani of Ecuador, illuminate three issues: (i) the degree to which raiding parties are composed of groups of fraternal kin as opposed to strategic alliances of actual or potential affinal kin, (ii) the extent to which individuals use pre-existing affinal ties to motivate others to participate in war or leverage warfare as a mechanism to create such ties and (iii) the extent to which participation in raiding is driven by rewards associated with future marriage opportunities. Analyses demonstrate that Waorani raiding parties were composed of a mix of males who were potential affines, actual affines and fraternal kin, suggesting that men used pre-existing genetic, lineal and social kin ties for recruiting raid partners and used raiding as a venue to create novel social relationships. Furthermore, analyses demonstrate that males leveraged raiding alliances to achieve marriage opportunities for themselves as well as for their children. Overall, it appears that a complex set of motivations involving individual rewards, kin marriage opportunities, subtle coercion and the assessment of alliance strength promote violent intergroup conflict among the Waorani. These findings illustrate the complex inter-relationships among kin selection, coalition building and mating success in our species.
Current Anthropology, 2017
Human Nature, 2019
In response to recent work on the nature of human aggression, and to shed light on the proximate,... more In response to recent work on the nature of human aggression, and to shed light on the proximate, as opposed to ultimate, causes of tribal warfare, we present a record of events leading to a fatal Waorani raid on a family from another tribe, followed by a detailed first-person observation of the behavior of the raiders as they prepared themselves for war, and upon their return. We contrast this attack with other Waorani aggressions and speculate on evidence regarding their hormonal underpinnings. Onthe-ground ethnographic observations are examined in light of the neuroendocrinological literature. The evidence suggests a chain of causality in launching lethal violence, beginning with a perceived injury, culminating in a massacre, and terminating in rejoicing. Although no blood or saliva samples were taken at the time of this raid, the behaviors were consistent with a deliberate initiation of the hormonal cascade characterizing the "fight-or-flight" response, along with other hormonal changes. We conclude with observations on the stratified interrelationships of the cognitive, social, emotional, and neuroendocrinological causes of aggression leading to coalitional male homicide.
The Cambridge World History of Food
The Anthropology of Marriage in Lowland South America, 2017
Traditional treatments of marriage among indigenous people focus on what people say about whom on... more Traditional treatments of marriage among indigenous people focus on what people say about whom one should marry and on rules that anthropologists induce from those statements. This volume is a cultural and social anthropological examination of the ways the indigenous peoples of lowland South America/Amazonia actually choose whom they marry. Detailed ethnography shows that they select spouses to meet their economic and political goals, their emotional desires, and their social aspirations, as well as to honor their commitments to exogamic prescriptions and the exchange of women. These decisions often require playing fast and loose with what the anthropologist and the peoples themselves declare to be the regulations they obey. Inevitably then, this volume is about agency and individual choice in the context of social institutions and cultural rules. There is another theme running through this book—the way in which globalization is subverting traditional hierarchies, altering identitie...
Choice Reviews Online, 2014
Latin American Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence
The root of modern human warfare lies in the lethal coalitionary violence of males in small-scale... more The root of modern human warfare lies in the lethal coalitionary violence of males in small-scale societies. However, little quantitative data exist concerning the form and function of coalitionary violence in this setting. Debates exist over how lethal coalitions are constituted, as well as the motivations and benefits for males to join such groups. Data from a lowland Amazonian population, the Waorani of Ecuador, illuminate three issues: (i) the degree to which raiding parties are composed of groups of fraternal kin as opposed to strategic alliances of actual or potential affinal kin, (ii) the extent to which individuals use pre-existing affinal ties to motivate others to participate in war or leverage warfare as a mechanism to create such ties and (iii) the extent to which participation in raiding is driven by rewards associated with future marriage opportunities. Analyses demonstrate that Waorani raiding parties were composed of a mix of males who were potential affines, actual ...