To understand transmission of knowledge and its impact on human evolution history, this study explores the research question: "How do hunter-gatherer children learn subsistence skills?". The authors use meta-ethnography methods on 34 cultures from five continents discussing these topics. The results show that the learning process starts early in infancy when their parents take them to the excursions. In middle childhood, they already acquired gathering skills. Only in the start of adolescence, adults begin teaching how to hunt and to produce complex tools. The learning process continues into adulthood.

To understand transmission of knowledge and its impact on human evolution history, this study explores the research question: "How do hunter-gatherer children learn subsistence skills?". The authors use meta-ethnography methods on 34 cultures from five continents discussing these topics. The results show that the learning process starts early in infancy when their parents take them to the excursions. In middle childhood, they already acquired gathering skills. Only in the start of adolescence, adults begin teaching how to hunt and to produce complex tools. The learning process continues into adulthood.

To understand transmission of knowledge and its impact on human evolution history, this study explores the research question: "How do hunter-gatherer children learn subsistence skills?". The authors use meta-ethnography methods on 34 cultures from five continents discussing these topics. The results show that the learning process starts early in infancy when their parents take them to the excursions. In middle childhood, they already acquired gathering skills. Only in the start of adolescence, adults begin teaching how to hunt and to produce complex tools. The learning process continues into adulthood.

The sustainability of a society depends on the transmission of cultural knowledge between generations. This study examines how that transmission occurs in 23 egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies, where leaders tend to lack coercive power. Specifically, the study examines differences between the transmission of so-called “instrumental culture” (which includes skills such as how to do subsistence tasks) and what the authors call “opaque culture”, meaning abstract societal values and norms (e.g. rules of sharing and symbolic culture, such as religious beliefs). Using ethnographic data, the study finds that opaque culture is almost always conveyed through explicit teaching (rather than observation or imitation), often during middle childhood (ages 8 – 12). Among the 23 egalitarian societies in the sample in particular, adult community leaders, or other socially influential adult individuals, were most likely to be the ones engaging in teaching.

The sustainability of a society depends on the transmission of cultural knowledge between generations. This study examines how that transmission occurs in 23 egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies, where leaders tend to lack coercive power. Specifically, the study examines differences between the transmission of so-called “instrumental culture” (which includes skills such as how to do subsistence tasks) and what the authors call “opaque culture”, meaning abstract societal values and norms (e.g. rules of sharing and symbolic culture, such as religious beliefs). Using ethnographic data, the study finds that opaque culture is almost always conveyed through explicit teaching (rather than observation or imitation), often during middle childhood (ages 8 – 12). Among the 23 egalitarian societies in the sample in particular, adult community leaders, or other socially influential adult individuals, were most likely to be the ones engaging in teaching.

The sustainability of a society depends on the transmission of cultural knowledge between generations. This study examines how that transmission occurs in 23 egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies, where leaders tend to lack coercive power. Specifically, the study examines differences between the transmission of so-called “instrumental culture” (which includes skills such as how to do subsistence tasks) and what the authors call “opaque culture”, meaning abstract societal values and norms (e.g. rules of sharing and symbolic culture, such as religious beliefs). Using ethnographic data, the study finds that opaque culture is almost always conveyed through explicit teaching (rather than observation or imitation), often during middle childhood (ages 8 – 12). Among the 23 egalitarian societies in the sample in particular, adult community leaders, or other socially influential adult individuals, were most likely to be the ones engaging in teaching.

The article discusses the role of toys and tools in the development of skills and cultural transmission in hunter-gatherer societies. The authors present a cross-cultural inventory of objects made for and by hunter-gatherer children and adolescents, finding that toys and tools were primarily handled outside of explicit pedagogical contexts, and there is little evidence for formalised apprenticeships. The authors suggest that children's self-directed interactions with objects, especially during play, have a critical role in early-age enskillment. Both boys and girls tend to use objects in work and play that emulate the gendered division of labor in their communities, and many objects made by and for children had full-scale counterparts. Finally, the authors argue that the peer group is crucial to skill acquisition in hunter-gatherer societies.

The article discusses the role of toys and tools in the development of skills and cultural transmission in hunter-gatherer societies. The authors present a cross-cultural inventory of objects made for and by hunter-gatherer children and adolescents, finding that toys and tools were primarily handled outside of explicit pedagogical contexts, and there is little evidence for formalised apprenticeships. The authors suggest that children's self-directed interactions with objects, especially during play, have a critical role in early-age enskillment. Both boys and girls tend to use objects in work and play that emulate the gendered division of labor in their communities, and many objects made by and for children had full-scale counterparts. Finally, the authors argue that the peer group is crucial to skill acquisition in hunter-gatherer societies.

Why do humans have long childhoods and slow physical growth rates compared to nonhuman primates? The embodied capital theory (ECT) posits that the hard-to-extract, energy-packed resources sought by humans require more complex cognitive and physical skills, which are acquired during a longer development period. The authors of this article test this theory through a comparative analysis of different forms of resource types and skill level by age in 28 different societies. Their findings support ECT, suggesting that long childhoods evolved as a period to develop the skills required for extracting complex resources in foraging societies.

Why do humans have long childhoods and slow physical growth rates compared to nonhuman primates? The embodied capital theory (ECT) posits that the hard-to-extract, energy-packed resources sought by humans require more complex cognitive and physical skills, which are acquired during a longer development period. The authors of this article test this theory through a comparative analysis of different forms of resource types and skill level by age in 28 different societies. Their findings support ECT, suggesting that long childhoods evolved as a period to develop the skills required for extracting complex resources in foraging societies.