In this article, the authors seek to investigate why some societies reject agriculture despite its many benefits. By modeling data regarding ecological fitness and cultural transmission, the authors found predictors for the degree to which a society relies on agriculture. The authors conclude that the degree of fitness a local environment had for early domesticates as well as the degree of contact with neighboring societies strongly predicts levels of dependence on agriculture.

In this article, the authors seek to investigate why some societies reject agriculture despite its many benefits. By modeling data regarding ecological fitness and cultural transmission, the authors found predictors for the degree to which a society relies on agriculture. The authors conclude that the degree of fitness a local environment had for early domesticates as well as the degree of contact with neighboring societies strongly predicts levels of dependence on agriculture.

In this article, the authors seek to investigate why some societies reject agriculture despite its many benefits. By modeling data regarding ecological fitness and cultural transmission, the authors found predictors for the degree to which a society relies on agriculture. The authors conclude that the degree of fitness a local environment had for early domesticates as well as the degree of contact with neighboring societies strongly predicts levels of dependence on agriculture.

The article discusses the role of land ownership in natural resource management and social-ecological resilience, and explores the factors that determine ownership norms in human societies. The study tests long-standing theories from ecology, economics, and anthropology regarding the potential drivers of land ownership, including resource defensibility, subsistence strategies, population pressure, political complexity, and cultural transmission mechanisms. Using cultural and environmental data from 102 societies, the study found an increased probability of land ownership in mountainous environments and societies with higher population densities. The study also found support for the idea that neighboring societies might influence land ownership. However, there was less support for variables associated with subsistence strategies and political complexity.

Using t-test, generalized linear models (GLMs) and Bayesian regression models in a sample of 1188 pre-industrial societies, this study explores the research question: Why have foraging, horticulture, and pastoralism persisted into the 20th and 21st century? The authors test the marginal hypothesis and the oasis hypothesis of agricultural intensification. The first hypothesis suggests that foragers persisted because foragers predominantly inhabited marginal habitats that were typically unsuitable for agricultural purposes. The second hypothesis suggests that intensive agriculture emerged in regions characterized by limited biodiversity and a dependable water supply not reliant on local rainfall. In addition, the authors test whether specific kinds of biodiversity (elephants, malaria, and tsetse flies) correlate with agricultural intensification in African societies. The results support the marginal and oasis hypotheses, but only marginally support the African hypothesis, since only tsetse fly has a significant negative correlation to agricultural intensification.

Using t-test, generalized linear models (GLMs) and Bayesian regression models in a sample of 1188 pre-industrial societies, this study explores the research question: Why have foraging, horticulture, and pastoralism persisted into the 20th and 21st century? The authors test the marginal hypothesis and the oasis hypothesis of agricultural intensification. The first hypothesis suggests that foragers persisted because foragers predominantly inhabited marginal habitats that were typically unsuitable for agricultural purposes. The second hypothesis suggests that intensive agriculture emerged in regions characterized by limited biodiversity and a dependable water supply not reliant on local rainfall. In addition, the authors test whether specific kinds of biodiversity (elephants, malaria, and tsetse flies) correlate with agricultural intensification in African societies. The results support the marginal and oasis hypotheses, but only marginally support the African hypothesis, since only tsetse fly has a significant negative correlation to agricultural intensification.

Using t-test, generalized linear models (GLMs) and Bayesian regression models in a sample of 1188 pre-industrial societies, this study explores the research question: Why have foraging, horticulture, and pastoralism persisted into the 20th and 21st century? The authors test the marginal hypothesis and the oasis hypothesis of agricultural intensification. The first hypothesis suggests that foragers persisted because foragers predominantly inhabited marginal habitats that were typically unsuitable for agricultural purposes. The second hypothesis suggests that intensive agriculture emerged in regions characterized by limited biodiversity and a dependable water supply not reliant on local rainfall. In addition, the authors test whether specific kinds of biodiversity (elephants, malaria, and tsetse flies) correlate with agricultural intensification in African societies. The results support the marginal and oasis hypotheses, but only marginally support the African hypothesis, since only tsetse fly has a significant negative correlation to agricultural intensification.

This study asks the following research questions: What are the dynamics of land ownership norms over time? Do these changes follow predetermined trajectories? The authors utilize biogeographical and evolutionary analyses to explore temporal and spatial patterns in land ownership norms within a sample of 73 Bantu societies. For the first component of the research, they test three prominent hypotheses regarding evolutionary trajectories: rectilinear, unilinear, and shift without restriction. For the second component, they use a multi-model inference approach to evaluate three hypotheses regarding the possible spatial patterns of land ownership. The results show evidence for the unilinear trajectory in type, but not with a consistent decrease in group ownership in size. Land ownership is more likely in areas with neighboring landowners and predictable resource productivity, while subsistence type is not significantly correlated with type of land ownership.

Using multiple logistic regression, the researchers compare the relative strength of predictors of land ownership across 102 societies. The analysis finds significant predictive power in factors such as neighbors' property system, population density, and geography.

The authors examine multiple ecological variables as possible predictors of language diversity in North America using path analysis, mechanistic simulation modelling, and geographically weighted regression. They conclude that many of the variables do not predict language diversity, but rather are mediated by population density. The authors also find that the variables' ability to predict is not universal across the continent, but rather more regional.