Theoretical and Methodological Approaches to Ecological Changes, Social Behaviour and Human Intergroup Tolerance...

Area of Science:

• Paleoanthropology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Archaeology

Background:

• Archaeological evidence indicates significant changes in human social behaviors between 300,000 and 30,000 years ago.
• These changes include new artifact types, increased raw material transfer, and greater regional mobility, suggesting enhanced intergroup interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how ecological contexts influence selection pressures on intergroup social behaviors.
• To investigate the relationship between environmental variability and transformations in human social behavior.

Main Methods:

• Utilized agent-based modeling (ABM) to simulate intergroup interactions.
• Assessed the costs and benefits of varying levels of intergroup tolerance on survival and resource exploitation in different simulated environments.

Main Results:

• Identified a potential link between ecological changes and shifts in intergroup behavioral dynamics.
• Results suggest that harsher environments may have favored increased intergroup tolerance.

Conclusions:

• Increased intergroup tolerance, potentially driven by hormonal and emotional changes linked to environmental stress, offers a parsimonious explanation for 'self-domestication' and modern human behavior.
• This challenges explanations focusing solely on cognitive advancements or population size.