Although fire is inherently dangerous, leading many animals to avoid it, for most of human history, mastery of fire has been critical to survival. Humans can therefore be expected to possess evolved psychological mechanisms dedicated to controlling fire. Because techniques for starting, maintaining, and using fire differ across ecosystems, the postulated adaptations can be expected to take the ...

Although stratified societies have typically been characterized by intensive polygyny, socially imposed monogamy has developed in the stratified societies of Western Europe. Following a critical review of other theories of socially imposed monogamy, a multivariate, non-deterministic theory is developed. Within this theory a variety of internal political processes can result in socially imposed ...

The agricultural transition profoundly changed human societies. We sequenced and analysed the first genome (1.39x) of an early Neolithic woman from Ganj Dareh, in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, a site with early evidence for an economy based on goat herding, ca. 10,000 BP. We show that Western Iran was inhabited by a population genetically most similar to hunter-gatherers from the Caucasus, but ...

BACKGROUND In western societies, atrial fibrillation is an increasingly common finding among the elderly. Established risk factors of atrial fibrillation include obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Atrial fibrillation has almost exclusively been studied in western populations where these risk factors are widely present. Therefore, we studied the epidemiology of atrial f...

Abstract Is the social integration of contemporary Western societies at risk? We will not provide an answer to this question, which is high on political agenda. Instead, in our introduction special issue, we first offer conceptual clarifications. What a theoretically sound and empirically useful understanding modern societies? Second, ask three basic questions for adequate answers have yet been...

this article, after explaining the concept of peace building in the framework of united nations peace operations, considers the challenges facing it. peace operations are a complex and inter-related set of activities which lack clear legal status in the united nations charter, but are accessible instruments for the maintenance of international peace and security. despite the fact that peace bui...

Theory and research show that humans attribute both emotions and intentions to others on the basis of facial behavior: A gasping face can be seen as showing "fear" and intent to submit. The assumption that such interpretations are pancultural derives largely from Western societies. Here, we report two studies conducted in an indigenous, small-scale Melanesian society with considerable cultural ...

Majority World working children's voices have attained some prominence in debates over their well-being. Many have defended their right to work, challenging Minority World understandings of children's ‘best’ interests. Yet employers' voices remain sidelined, raising questions over the extent to which the discursive and material spaces of children's work have been decolonised. A postcolonial per...

Previous research has shown that individuals from high-status families enter marriage later than those low-status families. However, in many Western societies, it become common to cohabit prior marriage. Does this change the link between parent

This piece developed out of discussions between the authors at the 12th World AIDS Conference, held in Geneva in 1998. In the sessions on human rights, a number of delegates from Asia and Africa experienced some difficulty understanding how they could apply the primarily legal arguments of the UN's HIV/AIDS and Human Rights: International Guidelines to local conditions.' Particularly visible wa...