This article examines the belief in high gods supportive of human morality. Empirical analyses suggest that this belief is associated with larger society size independent of region and social stratification. While stratification is also associated with a belief in high gods supportive of human morality, this relationship was not independent of regional differences or society size.

This book investigates the origins of supernatural and religious beliefs. The author tests associations between various types of beliefs (e.g. witchcraft, monotheism) and various societal characteristics (e.g. mobility, class stratification). Many hypotheses are supported. Theoretical discussion is included, and the author posits that “the belief in a particular kind of spirit springs from experiences with a type of persisting sovereign group whose area of jurisdiction corresponds to that attributed to the spirit” (175).

This chapter examines the presence of oaths and autonomic ordeals in relation to various socioeconomic variables. Several hypotheses are presented, all are supported.

This article investigates relationships among society size, war and conflict, preferred habitats, and belief in moralizing gods. The authors discuss morality and collective action in the face of natural disasters and competition for resources, theorizing that beliefs in moralizing gods could facilitate such cooperation.

What is the evolutionary sequence of beliefs in hunter-gatherers? The authors attempt to answer this question by reconstructing the development of various traits in traditional societies using phylogenetic and linguistic source trees. Testing for correlated evolution between this reconstruction and population history as proxied by linguistic classification suggests the presence of animism at profound time depth, aligning with classical anthropological religious theory put forth by E.B. Tylor. Coevolutions between other religious concepts including shamanism, ancestor worship, active ancestor worship, high gods, active high gods, and belief in an afterlife are also examined.

This study discusses the distribution of the treatment of the aged across a sample of pre-industrial societies. Data illustrate that the elderly were treated in a non-supportive or death-hastening manner in the majority of societies, dispelling the notion that a golden age/isle existed in pre-industrial societies in which the elderly were revered and supported. Results also suggest a relationship between age and treatment of the elderly and climate, social, and subsistence variables and the treatment of the aged.

This article reviews the theory that permanent animal groups have only one sex breed outside the group in order to balance genetic diversity and group relatedness. The author theorises that since males inherit valuable membership in patrilocal/lineal societies, they are expected to be more concerned about the probability of paternity than males in matrilocal/lineal societies. Moral rules, and specifically belief in moralizing gods, are expected to reflect this difference. In other words, moralizing gods are used to restrict the sexual activity of women.

This study analyzes the relationship between game complexity and sociocultural complexity. Significant relationships were found between several aspects of complexity and game complexity.

This book examines naming practices cross-culturally. The author posits that naming practices help to both reflect and create conceptions of personal identity. Several correlations between name meanings and practices and various sociocultural variables are presented.

This article aims to answer the question: Does the imagery of composite beings, also known as monsters, appear cross-culturally? The authors use the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample to test whether these mythical figures are universal and which sociocultural variables might be related to their presence or absence. To do so, they use the ten measures of cultural complexity by Murdock and Provost (1973): writing and records, fixity of residence, agriculture, urbanization, technological specialization, land transport, money, density of population, level of political integration, and social stratification. The results show that the concept of "monsters" is common among cultures, but not universal. Additionally, the presence of composite beings is related to all the measures of cultural complexity. Finally, the authors wanted to test which variables are more relevant. They use a machine learning method (decision trees and random forests), which suggests that the most important variables are social stratification and higher inter-group contact facilitated by land vehicles.