All Outputs (53)

Women’s subsistence strategies predict fertility across cultures, but context matters (2024)
Journal Article
Page, A. E., Ringen, E. J., Koster, J., Borgerhoff Mulder, M., Kramer, K., Shenk, M. K., …Sear, R. (2024). Women’s subsistence strategies predict fertility across cultures, but context matters. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(9), Article e2318181121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2318181121

While it is commonly assumed that farmers have higher, and foragers lower, fertility compared to populations practicing other forms of subsistence, robust supportive evidence is lacking. We tested whether subsistence activities—incorporating market i... Read More about Women’s subsistence strategies predict fertility across cultures, but context matters.

Child and adolescent foraging: New directions in evolutionary research. (2024)
Journal Article
Pretelli, I., Crittenden, A. N., Dounias, E., Friant, S., Koster, J., Kramer, K. L., …Lew-Levy, S. (2024). Child and adolescent foraging: New directions in evolutionary research. Evolutionary Anthropology, Article e22020. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.22020

Young children and adolescents in subsistence societies forage for a wide range of resources. They often target child-specific foods, they can be very successful foragers, and they share their produce widely within and outside of their nuclear family... Read More about Child and adolescent foraging: New directions in evolutionary research..

Dyadic inter-group cooperation in shotgun hunting activities in a Congo Basin village. (2024)
Journal Article
Kandza, V. H., Jang, H., Kiabiya Ntamboudila, F., Lew-Levy, S., & Boyette, A. H. (2024). Dyadic inter-group cooperation in shotgun hunting activities in a Congo Basin village. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 6, Article e22. https://doi.org/10.1017/ehs.2024.14

Understanding the dynamics of inter-group cooperation in human adaptation has been the subject of recent empirical and theoretical studies in evolutionary anthropology, beginning to fill gaps in our knowledge of how interactions across political, eco... Read More about Dyadic inter-group cooperation in shotgun hunting activities in a Congo Basin village..

Hormone physiology and sleep dynamics among BaYaka foragers of the Congo Basin: Gendered associations between nighttime activity, testosterone, and cortisol (2023)
Journal Article
Gettler, L. T., Samson, D. R., Kilius, E., Sarma, M. S., Miegakanda, V., Lew-Levy, S., & Boyette, A. H. (in press). Hormone physiology and sleep dynamics among BaYaka foragers of the Congo Basin: Gendered associations between nighttime activity, testosterone, and cortisol. Hormones and Behavior, 155, 105422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105422

A dataset of energetic value estimates of wild and domesticated food items consumed by Congolese BaYaka foragers (2023)
Journal Article
Benoit, L., Lew-Levy, S., Ouamba, Y. R., & Crittenden, A. N. (in press). A dataset of energetic value estimates of wild and domesticated food items consumed by Congolese BaYaka foragers. Journal of Ecological Anthropology, https://doi.org/10.6084/M9.FIGSHARE.19453514.V1

We present a dataset that systematically estimates the energetic value of wild and domesticated food resources collected and consumed by Congolese BaYaka foragers. This dataset is unique in that it accounts for everyday practices of food processing a... Read More about A dataset of energetic value estimates of wild and domesticated food items consumed by Congolese BaYaka foragers.

Quantifying quality: The impact of measures of school quality on children's academic achievement across diverse societies (2023)
Journal Article
Rawlings, B. S., Davis, H. E., Anum, A., Burger, O., Chen, L., Morales, J. C. C., …Legare, C. H. (2023). Quantifying quality: The impact of measures of school quality on children's academic achievement across diverse societies. Developmental Science, e13434. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13434

Recent decades have seen a rapid acceleration in global participation in formal education, due to worldwide initiatives aimed to provide school access to all children. Research in high income countries has shown that school quality indicators have a... Read More about Quantifying quality: The impact of measures of school quality on children's academic achievement across diverse societies.

Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals (2023)
Journal Article
Ross, C. T., Hooper, P. L., Smith, J. E., Jaeggi, A. V., Smith, E. A., Gavrilets, S., …Mulder, M. B. (2023). Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(22), Article e2220124120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2220124120

Intergroup Cooperation in Shotgun Hunting Among BaYaka Foragers and Yambe Farmers from the Republic of the Congo (2023)
Journal Article
Kandza, V. H., Jang, H., Ntamboudila, F. K., Lew-Levy, S., & Boyette, A. H. (2023). Intergroup Cooperation in Shotgun Hunting Among BaYaka Foragers and Yambe Farmers from the Republic of the Congo. Human Nature, 34(2), 153-176. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-023-09448-0

Whereas many evolutionary models emphasize within-group cooperation or between-group competition in explaining human large-scale cooperation, recent work highlights a critical role for intergroup cooperation in human adaptation. Here we investigate i... Read More about Intergroup Cooperation in Shotgun Hunting Among BaYaka Foragers and Yambe Farmers from the Republic of the Congo.

Peer learning and cultural evolution (2023)
Journal Article
Lew-Levy, S., Bos, W. V. D., Corriveau, K. H., Dutra, N. B., Dutra, N., Flynn, E. G., …Wood, L. (2023). Peer learning and cultural evolution. Child Development Perspectives, 17, 97-105. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12482

In this article, we integrate cultural evolutionary theory with empirical research from developmental psychology, cultural anthropology, and primatology to explore the role of peer learning in the development of complex instrumental skills and behavi... Read More about Peer learning and cultural evolution.

Associations between men's reputations for fathering and their reproductive success among BaYaka foragers in the Congo Basin (2023)
Journal Article
Boyette, A. H., Lew-Levy, S., Valchy, M., & Gettler, L. T. (2023). Associations between men's reputations for fathering and their reproductive success among BaYaka foragers in the Congo Basin. Evolution and Human Behavior, 44(2), 110-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2023.02.005

It is generally recognized that paternal care is a facultative feature of human cooperative caregiving that helps underpin our evolved life history strategy. Yet, little direct evidence links variation in men's fathering to fitness outcomes. Research... Read More about Associations between men's reputations for fathering and their reproductive success among BaYaka foragers in the Congo Basin.

BaYaka forager food sharing networks in the Congo Basin: The roles of gender homophily and kin sharing (2023)
Journal Article
Gettler, L. T., Redhead, D., Dzabatou, A., & Lew-Levy, S. (2023). BaYaka forager food sharing networks in the Congo Basin: The roles of gender homophily and kin sharing. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 181(1), 59-69. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24688

Objectives Food sharing is a costly form of cooperation that was likely critical to human evolutionary success, including the emergence of human's life history strategy. Food sharing in human communities may be maintained through a number of pathway... Read More about BaYaka forager food sharing networks in the Congo Basin: The roles of gender homophily and kin sharing.

Toys as Teachers: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Object Use and Enskillment in Hunter--Gatherer Societies (2022)
Journal Article
Riede, F., Lew-Levy, S., Johannsen, N. N., Johannsen, N. N., Lavi, N., & Andersen, M. M. (2023). Toys as Teachers: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Object Use and Enskillment in Hunter--Gatherer Societies. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 30, 32--63. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-022-09593-3

Studies of cultural transmission—whether approached by archaeological or ethnographic means—have made great strides in identifying formal teaching and learning arrangements, which in turn can be closely aligned with models of social learning. While n... Read More about Toys as Teachers: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Object Use and Enskillment in Hunter--Gatherer Societies.

The social learning and development of intra-and inter-ethnic sharing norms in the Congo Basin: A registered report protocol (2022)
Journal Article
Pope-Caldwell, S., Lew-Levy, S., Maurits, L., Boyette, A. H., Boyette, A. H., Ellis-Davies, K., …House, B. R. (2022). The social learning and development of intra-and inter-ethnic sharing norms in the Congo Basin: A registered report protocol. PLoS ONE, 17(11), e0276845. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276845

Compared to other species, the extent of human cooperation is unparalleled. Such cooperation is coordinated between community members via social norms. Developmental research has demonstrated that very young children are sensitive to social norms, an... Read More about The social learning and development of intra-and inter-ethnic sharing norms in the Congo Basin: A registered report protocol.

Foraging complexity and the evolution of childhood (2022)
Journal Article
Pretelli, I., Ringen, E., & Lew-Levy, S. (2022). Foraging complexity and the evolution of childhood. Science Advances, 8(41), Article eabn9889. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn9889

Our species’ long childhood is hypothesized to have evolved as a period for learning complex foraging skills. Researchers studying the development of foraging proficiency have focused on assessing this hypothesis, yet studies present inconsistent con... Read More about Foraging complexity and the evolution of childhood.

Links between household and family social dynamics with sleep profiles among BaYaka foragers of the Congo Basin (2022)
Journal Article
Gettler, L. T., Samson, D. R., Kilius, E., Sarma, M. S., Ouamba, Y. R., Miegakanda, V., …Lew-Levy, S. (2022). Links between household and family social dynamics with sleep profiles among BaYaka foragers of the Congo Basin. Social Science & Medicine, 311, Article 115345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115345

Given the contributions of sleep to a range of health outcomes, there is substantial interest in ecological and environmental factors, including psychosocial contexts, that shape variation in sleep between individuals and populations. However, the li... Read More about Links between household and family social dynamics with sleep profiles among BaYaka foragers of the Congo Basin.

Socioecology shapes child and adolescent time allocation in twelve hunter-gatherer and mixed-subsistence forager societies (2022)
Journal Article
Lew-Levy, S., Reckin, R., Kissler, S. M., Pretelli, I., Boyette, A. H., Crittenden, A. N., …Davis, H. E. (2022). Socioecology shapes child and adolescent time allocation in twelve hunter-gatherer and mixed-subsistence forager societies. Scientific Reports, 12, Article 8054. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-12217-1

A key issue distinguishing prominent evolutionary models of human life history is whether prolonged childhood evolved to facilitate learning in a skill- and strength-intensive foraging niche requiring high levels of cooperation. Considering the diver... Read More about Socioecology shapes child and adolescent time allocation in twelve hunter-gatherer and mixed-subsistence forager societies.

Hunter-Gatherer Children's Object Play and Tool Use: An Ethnohistorical Analysis (2022)
Journal Article
Lew-Levy, S., Andersen, M. M., Lavi, N., & Riede, F. (2022). Hunter-Gatherer Children's Object Play and Tool Use: An Ethnohistorical Analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 824983. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.824983

Learning to use, make, and modify tools is key to our species’ success. Researchers have hypothesized that play with objects may have a foundational role in the ontogeny of tool use and, over evolutionary timescales, in cumulative technological innov... Read More about Hunter-Gatherer Children's Object Play and Tool Use: An Ethnohistorical Analysis.

Costly teaching contributes to the acquisition of spear hunting skill among BaYaka forager adolescents (2022)
Journal Article
Lew-Levy, S., Bombjaková, D., Milks, A., Kiabiya Ntamboudila, F., Kline, M. A., & Broesch, T. (2022). Costly teaching contributes to the acquisition of spear hunting skill among BaYaka forager adolescents. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289(1974), Article 20220164. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0164

Teaching likely evolved in humans to facilitate the faithful transmission of complex tasks. As the oldest evidenced hunting technology, spear hunting requires acquiring several complex physical and cognitive competencies. In this study, we used obser... Read More about Costly teaching contributes to the acquisition of spear hunting skill among BaYaka forager adolescents.

A roadmap to doing culturally grounded developmental science (2022)
Journal Article
Broesch, T., Lew-Levy, S., Kärtner, J., Kanngiesser, P., & Kline, M. (2022). A roadmap to doing culturally grounded developmental science. Review of Philosophy and Psychology, 14(2), 587--609. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13164-022-00636-y

Social ties in the Congo Basin: insights into tropical forest adaptation from BaYaka and their neighbours (2022)
Journal Article
Boyette, A. H., Lew-Levy, S., Jang, H., & Kandza, V. (2022). Social ties in the Congo Basin: insights into tropical forest adaptation from BaYaka and their neighbours. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 377(1849), Article 20200490. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0490

Investigating past and present human adaptation to the Congo Basin tropical forest can shed light on how climate and ecosystem variability have shaped human evolution. Here, we first review and synthesize genetic, palaeoclimatological, linguistic and... Read More about Social ties in the Congo Basin: insights into tropical forest adaptation from BaYaka and their neighbours.