CARTA - Anthropogeny (Audio)

Recently, a convergence of views has led to the notion that the study of animal domestication may tell us something not only about our relationship with domesticated species since perhaps at least the Pleistocene, but also about our own evolution as a species in the more distant past. This symposium brings together scientists from a variety of research backgrounds to examine these views and to elu...

Recently, a convergence of views has led to the notion that the study of animal domestication may tell us something not only about our relationship with domesticated species since perhaps at least the Pleistocene, but also about our own evolution as a species in the more distant past. This symposium brings together scientists from a variety of research backgrounds to examine these views and to elu...

Recently, a convergence of views has led to the notion that the study of animal domestication may tell us something not only about our relationship with domesticated species since perhaps at least the Pleistocene, but also about our own evolution as a species in the more distant past. This symposium brings together scientists from a variety of research backgrounds to examine these views and to elu...

Sarah Blaffer Hrdy(UC Davis) discusses how reliance on allomaternal assistance to rear young rendered mothers increasingly sensitive to signals of how much social support she and her offspring could expect. Additionally, multiple offspring, with overlapping periods of dependency, meant that mothers might be forced to choose between offspring when investing. Paternal and alloparental responses to i...

Summary, question and answer session and closing statement for the symposium Male Aggression and Violence in Human Evolution that takes a fresh look at the causes and consequences of variation in aggression, both between and within species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28357]

Human male violence is paradoxical. On the one hand, within social groups there is a strong tendency for avoidance of direct conflicts such that confrontations between angry individuals or groups normally end without serious harm. On the other hand, our species has a consistent history of intense deliberate violence, ranging from planned homicides and low-level and long-lasting warfare among nomad...

In order to understand how warfare and violence have shaped the natural history of our species, and perhaps favored adaptations that respond to this important life threat, we need to document what types of violence were common in our ancestors and what were the levels of violent death in the past. Observation of modern hunter-gatherers, who live under conditions similar to our ancestors, provides...

Patricia Lambert (Utah State Univ) examines the bioarchaeological evidence for violence and warfare in ancient California. Violent injuries in human skeletal remains provide one of the most compelling lines of evidence for violent conflict in prehistory. These data help to broaden our perspective on the causes of human violence and enhance our understanding of its evolutionary underpinnings. Serie...

In both lions and chimpanzees, males cooperate in inter-group conflict with group-mates who are often relatives and with whom they maintain close, life-long social bonds. Anne Pusey (Duke Univ) discusses some of the mounting evidence that successful intergroup aggression and killing results in better resources for group members in both species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Tra...

In this talk, Christopher Boehm (USC) discusses how today’s hunter-gatherers are used to portray likely patterns of male aggression among culturally-modern foragers in the Late Pleistocene epoch. Patterns of aggressive behavior are considered at three levels: within groups, between groups of the same ethnicity, and between groups that consider one another strangers. Series: "CARTA - Center for Aca...

Welcome and opening remarks for the symposium Male Aggression and Violence in Human Evolution that takes a fresh look at the causes and consequences of variation in aggression, both between and within species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28346]

In the last few decades, new sources of evidence have continued to indicate that male violence has played an important role in shaping behavior in the human lineage. The frequency and nature of such violence varies widely among populations and over time raises questions about the factors responsible for the variation. This symposium takes a fresh look at the causes and consequences of variation in...

In the last few decades, new sources of evidence have continued to indicate that male violence has played an important role in shaping behavior in the human lineage. The frequency and nature of such violence varies widely among populations and over time raises questions about the factors responsible for the variation. This symposium takes a fresh look at the causes and consequences of variation in...

In the last few decades, new sources of evidence have continued to indicate that male violence has played an important role in shaping behavior in the human lineage. The frequency and nature of such violence varies widely among populations and over time raises questions about the factors responsible for the variation. This symposium takes a fresh look at the causes and consequences of variation in...

Closing remarks and Question and Answer session Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28038]

Opening remarks, introduction Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28037]

In this talk, Hillard Kaplan (Univ of New Mexico) presents a theoretical model linking ecology to male paternal investment. The basic argument is that there are three fundamental potential inputs into offspring fitness: genes, care, and energy. When this model is applied to humans, it is proposed that there is a modal human economy of food production and redistribution that evolved as part of the...

Giving and sharing are central to understanding humanity and human evolution. In this talk, Barry Hewlett (Washington State Univ, Vancouver) examines reproductive (i.e., allomaternal care) and information (i.e., knowledge and skills) sharing among Aka hunter-gatherers of the Congo Basin. Particular attention is given to understanding the contexts of allomaternal nursing and teaching during infancy...

Sue Carter of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill examines the hypothesis that Homo sapiens, with their high level of dependence on social behavior and cognition, could not have evolved without the neuropeptide, oxytocin. Oxytocin pathways – which include oxytocin, the related peptide vasopressin, and their receptors – are at the center of physiological and genetic systems that permitted...

Katie Hinde of Harvard University presents emerging research that addresses the magnitude, sources, and consequences of inter-individual variation of bioactive constituents in mother’s milk. A better understanding of variation in milk composition, especially for milk constituents linked to infant cognition, neurodevelopment, behavior, and metabolism, enhances an evolutionary biological perspective...

Kim Bard of the University of Portsmouth, UK presents data on comparative development of infant states, that is, states of arousal, state regulation, emotion states, and engagement states in chimpanzee and human infants. Comparative developmental studies are valuable for understanding hominid evolution, and essential for delineating those characteristics that are uniquely human. Series: "CARTA - C...

From the moment of birth, human infants require an inordinate amount of care and, unlike our nearest living relatives, remain dependent on a variety of caretakers during an unusually long maturation period followed by extraordinary adult longevity. How did such a distinctive pattern of development evolve and what other human features are linked to it? Barry Hewlett (Washington State Univ, Vancouve...

From the moment of birth, human infants require an inordinate amount of care and, unlike our nearest living relatives, remain dependent on a variety of caretakers during an unusually long maturation period followed by extraordinary adult longevity. How did such a distinctive pattern of development evolve and what other human features are linked to it? Katie Hinde (Harvard Univ) begins with a discu...

From the moment of birth, human infants require an inordinate amount of care and, unlike our nearest living relatives, remain dependent on a variety of caretakers during an unusually long maturation period followed by extraordinary adult longevity. How did such a distinctive pattern of development evolve and what other human features are linked to it? Wenda Trevathan (New Mexico State Univ) begins...

CARTA: Mind Reading: Human Origins and Theory of Mind: Question and Answer Session Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26085]