Music production and its role in coalition signaling during foraging contexts in a hunter-gatherer society.

ABSTRACT: Music is a cultural activity universally present in all human societies. Several hypotheses have been formulated to understand the possible origins of music and the reasons for its emergence. Here, we test two hypotheses: (1) the coalition signaling hypothesis which posits that music could have emerged as a tool to signal cooperative intent and signal strength of alliances and (2) music as a strategy to deter potential predators. In addition, we further explore the link between tactile cues and the propensity of mothers to sing toward infants. For this, we investigated the singing behaviors of hunter-gatherer mothers during daily foraging trips among the Mbendjele BaYaka in the Republic of the Congo. Although singing is a significant component of their daily activities, such as when walkin

SUBMITTER: Chittar CR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10646562 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature