PULLMAN, Wash. — Unlike kids in the United States, hunter-gatherer children in the Congo Basin have often learned how to hunt, identify edible plants and care for babies by the tender age of six or seven.
This rapid learning is facilitated by a unique social environment where cultural knowledge is passed down not just from parents but from the broader community, according to a new Washington State University-led study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The research helps explain how many cultural traits have been preserved for thousands of years among hunter-gatherer groups across a wide range of natural environments in Africa.
“We focus on hunter-gatherers because this way of life characterized 99% of human history,” said Barry Hewlett, a professor of anthropology at WSU and lead author of the study. “Our bodies and minds are adapted to this intimate, small group living, rather than to contemporary urban life. By examining how children in these societies learn, we aim to uncover the mechanisms that have allowed humans to adapt to diverse environments across the globe.”
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