Cooperation and the evolution of hunter-gatherer storytelling

Daniel Smith; Philip Schlaepfer; Katie Major; Mark Dyble; Abigail E. Page; James Thompson; Nikhil Chaudhary; Gul Deniz Salali; Ruth Mace; Leonora Astete; Marilyn Ngales; Lucio Vinicius; Andrea Bamberg Migliano

doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02036-8

Nature Communications (Dec 2017)

Cooperation and the evolution of hunter-gatherer storytelling

Daniel Smith,
Philip Schlaepfer,
Katie Major,
Mark Dyble,
Abigail E. Page,
James Thompson,
Nikhil Chaudhary,
Gul Deniz Salali,
Ruth Mace,
Leonora Astete,
Marilyn Ngales,
Lucio Vinicius,
Andrea Bamberg Migliano

Affiliations

Daniel Smith: Department of Anthropology, University College London
Philip Schlaepfer: AgtaAid
Katie Major: Bristol Zoological Society
Mark Dyble: Jesus College, University of Cambridge
Abigail E. Page: Department of Anthropology, University College London
James Thompson: Department of Anthropology, University College London
Nikhil Chaudhary: Department of Anthropology, University College London
Gul Deniz Salali: Department of Anthropology, University College London
Ruth Mace: Department of Anthropology, University College London
Leonora Astete: Lyceum of the Philippines University, Community Outreach and Service Learning
Marilyn Ngales: Lyceum of the Philippines University, Community Outreach and Service Learning
Lucio Vinicius: Department of Anthropology, University College London
Andrea Bamberg Migliano: Department of Anthropology, University College London

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02036-8
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

Read online

Storytelling entails costs in terms of time and effort, yet it is a ubiquitous feature of human society. Here, Smith et al. show benefits of storytelling in Agta hunter-gatherer communities, as storytellers have higher reproductive success and storytelling is associated with higher cooperation in the group.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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