This research paper has two-fold objectives: (i) to familiarize the graduate students majoring in anthropology with the theoretical underpinnings of cultural ecology, and (ii) to analyze and explicate the ecological-cultural adaptations among the communities living in the harsh mountain ecological setting of eastern Nepal and their traditional organizations and institutions contributing to comm...

Human cultural traits-behaviors, ideas, and technologies that can be learned from other individuals-can exhibit complex patterns of transmission and evolution, and researchers have developed theoretical models, both verbal and mathematical, to facilitate our understanding of these patterns. Many of the first quantitative models of cultural evolution were modified from existing concepts in theor...

Exchanging gazes with a social partner in response to an event in the environment is considered an effective means to direct attention, share affective experiences, and highlight a target in the environment. This behavior appears during infancy and plays an important role in children's learning and in shaping their socio-emotional development. It has been suggested that cultural values of the c...