#527 Kim Hill: Human Sociality, Human Universals, and Protecting Isolated Societies
Dr. Kim Hill is a professor in the Anthropology department at Arizona State University. Dr. Hill’s theoretical interests are human evolutionary ecology, including focal areas such as foraging theory, time allocation, food sharing, life history evolution, parental investment, cooperation, culture and cognition, the emergence and spread of Homo sapiens and unique characteristics of our species. His field experience involves hunter-gatherers and natives of the Neotropics. He has nearly 30 years of fieldwork with Ache (Paraguay), Hiwi (Venezuela), Mashco-Piro, Matsiguenga and Yora (Peru) and has conducted extensive travels to indigenous communities in Latin America. He also worked on foraging problems in Coastal South Africa, and most recently has studied cooperation among Sea Nomads of Southern Mindanao (Philippines).
In this episode, we talk about hunter-gatherer tribes and human sociality. We walk through many of the societies Dr. Hill studied, including the Aché, the Hiwi, the Mashco-Piro, the Matsiguenga, the Yora, and the Sea Nomads, and aspects of their sociality. We get into like what anthropologists learn by studying traditional societies, how we can compare contemporary hunter-gatherers with the societies we evolved in, and human universals, and if societies have more similarities or differences. We ask if it is better to live in traditional or industrialized societies. We then go through several aspects of human sociality, including foraging, food sharing, life history and parental investment, human cooperation and cultural norms, fission-fusion phenomena, co-residence, marriage, inter-band interactions and cumulative culture, and wealth and economic inequality. Finally, we talk about why we should protect isolated tribes, and how to do it best.
Time Links:
Intro
Traditional societies: Aché, Hiwi, Mashco-Piro, Matsiguenga, Yora, and the Sea Nomads
Studying traditional societies
Is it better to live in an hunter-gatherer or an industrialized society?
Models of the societies we evolved in
Human universals, biology, and culture
Foraging theory, and food sharing
Life history theory, and parental investment
The evolution of human cooperation
Fission-fusion
Co-residence
Marriage
Inter-band interactions and cumulative culture
Economic equality in hunter-gatherer societies
Protecting isolated tribes
Follow Dr. Hill’s work!
Follow Dr. Hill’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/2LIJlCA
ResearchGate profile: https://bit.ly/2UzkVQV