Social Network Analysis

Not by Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution

Ethnologue: Languages of the World

Time is divided by geologists according to marked shifts in Earth's state. Recent global environmental changes suggest that Earth may have entered a new human-dominated geological epoch, the Anthropocene. Here we review the historical genesis of the idea and assess anthropogenic signatures in the geological record against the formal requirements for the recognition of a new epoch. The evidence suggests that of the various proposed dates two do appear to conform to the criteria to mark the beginning of the Anthropocene: 1610 and 1964. The formal establishment of an Anthropocene Epoch would mark a fundamental change in the relationship between humans and the Earth system.

Defining the Anthropocene

Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet

We investigated the coupled social and ecological dynamics of swidden agriculture through a common property resource field experiment framed as a game with realistic social norms and ecological dynamics. We tested the hypothesis that community social norms related to labor reciprocity and graduated sanctioning may encourage sustainable swidden cultivation. We played the game with 150 people from two Q’eqchi’ Maya villages in southern Belize where swidden agriculture is common. We found that when the game mimics local social norms related to agricultural labor exchange, clearing requests decrease and a statistical analysis indicates that players sanctioned one another in order to decrease resource use and increase sustainability. We validated our results using qualitative methods, post-game surveys, and interviews, and we conclude that cultural and social norms related to labor exchange improve the sustainability of swidden agriculture.

The Milpa Game: a Field Experiment Investigating the Social and Ecological Dynamics of Q’eqchi’ Maya Swidden Agriculture

Abstract Abstract Theories of early cooperation in human society often draw from a small sample of ethnographic studies of surviving populations of hunter–gatherers, most of which are now sedentary. Borneo hunter–gatherers (Punan, Penan) have seldom figured in comparative research because of a decades-old controversy about whether they are the descendants of farmers who adopted a hunting and gathering way of life. In 2018 we began an ethnographic study of a group of still-nomadic hunter–gatherers who call themselves Punan Batu (Cave Punan). Our genetic analysis clearly indicates that they are very unlikely to be the descendants of neighbouring agriculturalists. They also preserve a song language that is unrelated to other languages of Borneo. Dispersed travelling groups of Punan Batu with fluid membership use message sticks to stay in contact, co-operate and share resources as they journey between rock shelters and forest camps. Message sticks were once widespread among nomadic Punan in Borneo, but have largely disappeared in sedentary Punan villages. Thus the small community of Punan Batu offers a rare glimpse of a hunting and gathering way of life that was once widespread in the forests of Borneo, where prosocial behaviour extended beyond the face-to-face community, facilitating successful collective adaptation to the diverse resources of Borneo's forests.

Deep ancestry of collapsing networks of nomadic hunter–gatherers in Borneo

abstract:Like other regions across the Great Plains, the Sandhills of Nebraska has been identified as a promising region for the expansion of wind energy development. But residents have mixed views regarding their support for the industry. In this study, we seek to examine the attitudinal and socio-demographic factors that contribute to individuals' support or opposition to the development of wind energy in Brown County, Nebraska. We collected data from a 37-question mail survey that was completed by more than 150 residents. Our analysis found that concerns about visual unattractiveness and perceived health effects were the most salient concerns driving opposition to wind energy development. The perceptions of job creation by wind energy and of unfair treatment in the planning and siting process influence wind attitudes when examined independently but are not significant net of other variables. Additionally, the perceived frequency of seeing turbines and party identification have significant effects on attitudes of support toward wind. We discuss how these results illustrate the context-dependent nature of attitudes toward wind— and how that might influence patterns of wind acceptance and resistance in different contexts across the Great Plains.

Sean S. Downey

Papers

The Milpa Game: a Field Experiment Investigating the Social and Ecological Dynamics of Q’eqchi’ Maya Swidden Agriculture

Deep ancestry of collapsing networks of nomadic hunter–gatherers in Borneo

Explaining Resident Attitudes toward Wind Energy Development in the Sandhills