Cooperation and the evolution of hunter-gatherer storytelling

Daniel Smith; Philip Schlaepfer; Katie Major; Mark Dyble; Abigail E. Page; James Thompson; Nikhil Chaudhary; Gul Deniz Salali; Ruth MacE; Leonora Astete; Marilyn Ngales; Lucio Vinicius; Andrea Bamberg Migliano

doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02036-8

Cooperation and the evolution of hunter-gatherer storytelling

Daniel Smith, Philip Schlaepfer, Katie Major, Mark Dyble, Abigail E. Page, James Thompson, Nikhil Chaudhary, Gul Deniz Salali, Ruth MacE, Leonora Astete, Marilyn Ngales, Lucio Vinicius, Andrea Bamberg Migliano^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Storytelling is a human universal. From gathering around the camp-fire telling tales of ancestors to watching the latest television box-set, humans are inveterate producers and consumers of stories. Despite its ubiquity, little attention has been given to understanding the function and evolution of storytelling. Here we explore the impact of storytelling on hunter-gatherer cooperative behaviour and the individual-level fitness benefits to being a skilled storyteller. Stories told by the Agta, a Filipino hunter-gatherer population, convey messages relevant to coordinating behaviour in a foraging ecology, such as cooperation, sex equality and egalitarianism. These themes are present in narratives from other foraging societies. We also show that the presence of good storytellers is associated with increased cooperation. In return, skilled storytellers are preferred social partners and have greater reproductive success, providing a pathway by which group-beneficial behaviours, such as storytelling, can evolve via individual-level selection. We conclude that one of the adaptive functions of storytelling among hunter gatherers may be to organise cooperation.

Original language	English
Article number	1853
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	8
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02036-8 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02036-8
Publication status	Published - 2017
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Chemistry
General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
Multidisciplinary
General Physics and Astronomy

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Smith, D., Schlaepfer, P., Major, K., Dyble, M., Page, A. E., Thompson, J., Chaudhary, N., Salali, G. D., MacE, R., Astete, L., Ngales, M., Vinicius, L., & Migliano, A. B. (2017). Cooperation and the evolution of hunter-gatherer storytelling. Nature Communications, 8(1), Article 1853. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02036-8, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02036-8

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Cooperation and the evolution of hunter-gatherer storytelling

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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