title: The adaptive nature of culture. A cross-cultural analysis of the returns of local environmental knowledge in three indigenous societies.
abstract: Researchers have argued that the behavioral adaptations that explain the success of our species are partially cultural, i.e., 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, to 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 to 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.
authors.affiliation: Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellatera, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Reyes-García
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellatera, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Maximilien
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guèze
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellatera, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Díaz-Reviriego
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellatera, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Duda
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellatera, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Álvaro
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Fernández-Llamazares
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellatera, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gallois
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellatera, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Lucentezza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Napitupulu
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellatera, Barcelona, Spain; International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Hague, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Martí
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Orta-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellatera, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Aili
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pyhälä
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000350:Africa, Central; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003468:Cultural Evolution; D066046:Diet, Paleolithic; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D044382:Population Groups; D014171:Transients and Migrants
keywords: adaptation; cross-cultural research; hunter-gatherers; hunting; medicinal plants; sharing; traditional knowledge