RT Journal Article
SR 00
ID 10.1098/rstb.2021.0431
A1 Kraft, Thomas S.
A1 Cummings, Daniel
A1 Venkataraman, Vivek
A1 Alami, Sarah
A1 Beheim, Bret A.
A1 Hooper, Paul L.
A1 Seabright, Edmond
A1 Trumble, Benjamin C.
A1 Stieglitz, Jonathan
A1 Kaplan, Hillard
A1 Endicott, Karen L.
A1 Endicott, Kirk M.
A1 Gurven, Michael
T1 Female cooperative labour networks in hunter–gatherers and horticulturalists
JF Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
YR 2023
FD 2023-01
VO vol.378
IS n°1868
AB Cooperation in food acquisition is a hallmark of the human species. Given that costs and benefits of cooperation vary among production regimes and work activities, the transition from hunting-and-gathering to agriculture is likely to have reshaped the structure of cooperative subsistence networks. Hunter–gatherers often forage in groups and are generally more interdependent and experience higher short-term food acquisition risk than horticulturalists, suggesting that cooperative labour should be more widespread and frequent for hunter–gatherers. Here we compare female cooperative labour networks of Batek hunter–gatherers of Peninsular Malaysia and Tsimane forager–horticulturalists of Bolivia. We find that Batek foraging results in high daily variation in labour partnerships, facilitating frequent cooperation in diffuse networks comprised of kin and non-kin. By contrast, Tsimane horticulture involves more restricted giving and receiving of labour, confined mostly to spouses and primary or distant kin. Tsimane women also interact with few individuals in the context of hunting/fishing activities and forage mainly with spouses and primary kin. These differences give rise to camp- or village-level networks that are more modular (have more substructure when partitioned) among Tsimane horticulturalists. Our findings suggest that subsistence activities shape the formation and extent of female social networks, particularly with respect to connections with other women and non-kin. We discuss the implications of restricted female labour networks in the context of gender relations, power dynamics and the adoption of farming in humans.
PB Royal society publishing
SN 0962-8436
LK https://publications.ut-capitole.fr/id/eprint/46476/
UL http://iast.fr/pub/127545