Socioecology shapes child and adolescent time allocation in twelve hunter-gatherer and mixed-subsistence forager societies.

ABSTRACT: A key issue distinguishing prominent evolutionary models of human life history is whether prolonged childhood evolved to facilitate learning in a skill- and strength-intensive foraging niche requiring high levels of cooperation. Considering the diversity of environments humans inhabit, children's activities should also reflect local social and ecological opportunities and constraints. To better understand our species' developmental plasticity, the present paper compiled a time allocation dataset for children and adolescents from twelve hunter-gatherer and mixed-subsistence forager societies (n = 690; 3-18 years; 52% girls). We investigated how environmental factors, local ecological risk, and men and women's relative energetic contributions were associated with cross-cultural variation in

SUBMITTER: Lew-Levy S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9110336 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature