This article tests a myriad of factors that may have contributed to the adoption of monogamy in preindustrial societies. Results indicate that monogamy is not imposed by elites; rather, it is a strategy often chosen by women who can see no advantage to increasing the size or economic productivity of their households with more wives. The authors also assert that monogamy is generally adopted through cultural diffusion. Low pathogen stress, low risk of famine, and low endemic violence are also correlated with monogamy.

This article tests a myriad of factors that may have contributed to the adoption of monogamy in preindustrial societies. Results indicate that monogamy is not imposed by elites; rather, it is a strategy often chosen by women who can see no advantage to increasing the size or economic productivity of their households with more wives. The authors also assert that monogamy is generally adopted through cultural diffusion. Low pathogen stress, low risk of famine, and low endemic violence are also correlated with monogamy.

This study retests the work by Ember, Ember and Low (2007) on male mortality and pathogen stress as predictors of nonsororal polygyny. The authors argue that the work of Ember, Ember, and Low is biased because it does not include a variable for cultural trait transmission. Restesting the original Ember, Ember and Low data, including a variable for cultural trait transmission, authors find that male mortality and pathogen stress loose their significance and cultural trait transmission is the only significant predictor of nonsororal polygyny.

This article tests a myriad of factors that may have contributed to the adoption of monogamy in preindustrial societies. Results indicate that monogamy is not imposed by elites; rather, it is a strategy often chosen by women who can see no advantage to increasing the size or economic productivity of their households with more wives. The authors also assert that monogamy is generally adopted through cultural diffusion. Low pathogen stress, low risk of famine, and low endemic violence are also correlated with monogamy.

This article tests a myriad of factors that may have contributed to the adoption of monogamy in preindustrial societies. Results indicate that monogamy is not imposed by elites; rather, it is a strategy often chosen by women who can see no advantage to increasing the size or economic productivity of their households with more wives. The authors also assert that monogamy is generally adopted through cultural diffusion. Low pathogen stress, low risk of famine, and low endemic violence are also correlated with monogamy.

This article tests a myriad of factors that may have contributed to the adoption of monogamy in preindustrial societies. Results indicate that monogamy is not imposed by elites; rather, it is a strategy often chosen by women who can see no advantage to increasing the size or economic productivity of their households with more wives. The authors also assert that monogamy is generally adopted through cultural diffusion. Low pathogen stress, low risk of famine, and low endemic violence are also correlated with monogamy.

This article tests a myriad of factors that may have contributed to the adoption of monogamy in preindustrial societies. Results indicate that monogamy is not imposed by elites; rather, it is a strategy often chosen by women who can see no advantage to increasing the size or economic productivity of their households with more wives. The authors also assert that monogamy is generally adopted through cultural diffusion. Low pathogen stress, low risk of famine, and low endemic violence are also correlated with monogamy.

This article tests a myriad of factors that may have contributed to the adoption of monogamy in preindustrial societies. Results indicate that monogamy is not imposed by elites; rather, it is a strategy often chosen by women who can see no advantage to increasing the size or economic productivity of their households with more wives. The authors also assert that monogamy is generally adopted through cultural diffusion. Low pathogen stress, low risk of famine, and low endemic violence are also correlated with monogamy.

This article analyzes the predictors of private property ownership with an aim to replicate existing correlations using data from the dissertation of Zelman (1974).

This article presents a representative theoretical model of the transition to agriculture. Empirical results from a cross-cultural sample provide support for the model. Results suggest that agriculture is associated with population density, technological sophistication, environment, and proximity to agricultural hearths, such as the Fertile Crescent.