title: Polygyny without wealth: popularity in gift games predicts polygyny in BaYaka Pygmies.
abstract: The occurrence of polygynous marriage in hunter-gatherer societies, which do not accumulate wealth, remains largely unexplored since resource availability is dependent on male hunting capacity and limited by the lack of storage. Hunter-gatherer societies offer the greatest insight in to human evolution since they represent the majority of our species' evolutionary history. In order to elucidate the evolution of hunter-gatherer polygyny, we study marriage patterns of BaYaka Pygmies. We investigate (i) rates of polygyny among BaYaka hunter-gatherers; (ii) whether polygyny confers a fitness benefit to BaYaka men; (iii) in the absence of wealth inequalities, what are the alternative explanations for polygyny among the BaYaka. To understand the latter, we explore differences in phenotypic quality (height and strength), and social capital (popularity in gift games). We find polygynous men have increased reproductive fitness; and that social capital and popularity but not phenotypic quality might have been important mechanisms by which some male hunter-gatherers sustained polygynous marriages before the onset of agriculture and wealth accumulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology , University College London , London WC1H 0BW, UK.
authors.forename: Nikhil
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7528-8529
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chaudhary
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology , University College London , London WC1H 0BW, UK.
authors.forename: Gul Deniz
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9538-3064
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Salali
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology , University College London , London WC1H 0BW, UK.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology , University College London , London WC1H 0BW, UK.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6861-1631
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dyble
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology , University College London , London WC1H 0BW, UK.
authors.forename: Abigail
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0973-1569
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Page
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology , University College London , London WC1H 0BW, UK.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6467-2023
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology , University College London , London WC1H 0BW, UK.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6137-7739
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mace
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology , University College London , London WC1H 0BW, UK.
authors.forename: Andrea Bamberg
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4364-2735
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Migliano
keywords: genetic quality; hunter–gatherers; polygyny; social capital; social networks