Human social organization during the Late Pleistocene: Beyond the nomadic-egalitarian model |
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| Institution: | 1. Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, University of Toulouse, France;2. Department of Anthropology, Boston University, United States of America;1. University of Arkansas, United States of America;2. The University of Southern Mississippi, United States of America;3. Utah Valley University, United States of America;1. Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87111, United States of America;2. Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87111, United States of America;1. Department of Anthropology, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States of America;2. Department of Psychology, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, United States of America;3. Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States of America;4. School of Human Services, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, United States of America;5. Department of Anthropology, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, United States of America;6. Department of Psychology, Nipissing University, North Bay, Ontario, Canada;7. Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, United States of America;1. Faculty of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany;2. Center for Baby Science, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan;4. Department of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany;5. Department of Behavior Theory and Research, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Brazil;6. University of Plymouth, School of Psychology, Plymouth, United Kingdom;1. University of Arkansas, USA;2. Florida State University, USA |
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| Abstract: | Many researchers assume that until 10–12,000 years ago, humans lived in small, mobile, relatively egalitarian bands. This “nomadic-egalitarian model” suffuses the social sciences. It informs evolutionary explanations of behavior and our understanding of how contemporary societies differ from those of our evolutionary past. Here, we synthesize research challenging this model and articulate an alternative, the diverse histories model, to replace it. We review the limitations of using recent foragers as models of Late Pleistocene societies and the considerable social variation among foragers commonly considered small-scale, mobile, and egalitarian. We review ethnographic and archaeological findings covering 34 world regions showing that non-agricultural peoples often live in groups that are more sedentary, unequal, large, politically stratified, and capable of large-scale cooperation and resource management than is normally assumed. These characteristics are not restricted to extant Holocene hunter-gatherers but, as suggested by archaeological findings from 27 Middle Stone Age sites, likely characterized societies throughout the Late Pleistocene (until c. 130 ka), if not earlier. These findings have implications for how we understand human psychological adaptations and the broad trajectory of human history. |
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