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Zonker J, Padilla-Iglesias C, Djurdjevac Conrad N. Insights into drivers of mobility and cultural dynamics of African hunter-gatherers over the past 120 000 years. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230495. [PMID: 37920565 PMCID: PMC10618055 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
Humans have a unique capacity to innovate, transmit and rely on complex, cumulative culture for survival. While an important body of work has attempted to explore the role of changes in the size and interconnectedness of populations in determining the persistence, diversity and complexity of material culture, results have achieved limited success in explaining the emergence and spatial distribution of cumulative culture over our evolutionary trajectory. Here, we develop a spatio-temporally explicit agent-based model to explore the role of environmentally driven changes in the population dynamics of hunter-gatherer communities in allowing the development, transmission and accumulation of complex culture. By modelling separately demography- and mobility-driven changes in interaction networks, we can assess the extent to which cultural change is driven by different types of population dynamics. We create and validate our model using empirical data from Central Africa spanning 120 000 years. We find that populations would have been able to maintain diverse and elaborate cultural repertoires despite abrupt environmental changes and demographic collapses by preventing isolation through mobility. However, we also reveal that the function of cultural features was also an essential determinant of the effects of environmental or demographic changes on their dynamics. Our work can therefore offer important insights into the role of a foraging lifestyle on the evolution of cumulative culture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Zonker
- Zuse Institute Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Population interconnectivity over the past 120,000 years explains distribution and diversity of Central African hunter-gatherers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2113936119. [PMID: 35580185 PMCID: PMC9173804 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2113936119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
We combined ethnographic, archaeological, genetic, and paleoclimatic data to model the dynamics of Central African hunter-gatherer populations over the past 120,000 years. We show, against common assumptions, that their distribution and density are explained by changing environments rather than by a displacement following recent farming expansions, and that they have maintained large population sizes and genetic diversity, despite fluctuations in niche availability. Our results provide insights into the evolution of genetic and cultural diversity in Homo sapiens. The evolutionary history of African hunter-gatherers holds key insights into modern human diversity. Here, we combine ethnographic and genetic data on Central African hunter-gatherers (CAHG) to show that their current distribution and density are explained by ecology rather than by a displacement to marginal habitats due to recent farming expansions, as commonly assumed. We also estimate the range of hunter-gatherer presence across Central Africa over the past 120,000 years using paleoclimatic reconstructions, which were statistically validated by our newly compiled dataset of dated archaeological sites. Finally, we show that genomic estimates of divergence times between CAHG groups match our ecological estimates of periods favoring population splits, and that recoveries of connectivity would have facilitated subsequent gene flow. Our results reveal that CAHG stem from a deep history of partially connected populations. This form of sociality allowed the coexistence of relatively large effective population sizes and local differentiation, with important implications for the evolution of genetic and cultural diversity in Homo sapiens.
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Boyette AH, Lew-Levy S, Jang H, Kandza V. Social ties in the Congo Basin: insights into tropical forest adaptation from BaYaka and their neighbours. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200490. [PMID: 35249385 PMCID: PMC8899623 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2021] [Accepted: 01/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Investigating past and present human adaptation to the Congo Basin tropical forest can shed light on how climate and ecosystem variability have shaped human evolution. Here, we first review and synthesize genetic, palaeoclimatological, linguistic and historical data on the peopling of the Congo Basin. While forest fragmentation led to the increased genetic and geographical divergence of forest foragers, these groups maintained long-distance connectivity. The eventual expansion of Bantu speakers into the Congo Basin provided new opportunities for forging inter-group links, as evidenced by linguistic shifts and historical accounts. Building from our ethnographic work in the northern Republic of the Congo, we show how these inter-group links between forest forager communities as well as trade relationships with neighbouring farmers facilitate adaptation to ecoregions through knowledge exchange. While researchers tend to emphasize forager-farmer interactions that began in the Iron Age, we argue that foragers' cultivation of relational wealth with groups across the region played a major role in the initial occupation of the Congo Basin and, consequently, in cultural evolution among the ancestors of contemporary peoples. This article is part of the theme issue 'Tropical forests in the deep human past'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam H. Boyette
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sheina Lew-Levy
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Haneul Jang
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Vidrige Kandza
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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Fa JE, Nasi R, Funk SM. The COVID-19 Pandemic Endangers Africa's Indigenous Pygmy Populations. ECOHEALTH 2021; 18:403-405. [PMID: 34041645 PMCID: PMC8154106 DOI: 10.1007/s10393-021-01528-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2020] [Revised: 11/07/2020] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Julia E Fa
- Department of Natural Sciences, School of Science and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, M1 5GD, UK
- Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), CIFOR Headquarters, Bogor, 16115, Indonesia
| | - Robert Nasi
- Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), CIFOR Headquarters, Bogor, 16115, Indonesia
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Knight JK, Salali GD, Sikka G, Derkx I, Keestra SM, Chaudhary N. Quantifying patterns of alcohol consumption and its effects on health and wellbeing among BaYaka hunter-gatherers: A mixed-methods cross-sectional study. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0258384. [PMID: 34705859 PMCID: PMC8550590 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2021] [Accepted: 09/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Ethnographers frequently allude to alcoholism and related harms in Indigenous hunter-gatherer communities, but very few studies have quantified patterns of alcohol consumption or its health and social impacts. We present a case study of the Mbendjele BaYaka, a Congolese population undergoing socioeconomic transition. 83 adults answered questions about their frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption, underwent biometric measurements and reported whether they were currently experiencing a cough or diarrhoea; 56 participated in structured interviews about their experiences with alcohol. Based on WHO standards, we found 44.3% of the full sample, and 51.5% of drinkers (excluding abstainers), had a hazardous volume of alcohol consumption; and 35.1% of the full sample, and 40.9% of drinkers, engaged in heavy episodic drinking; consumption habits varied with sex and age. Total weekly consumption was a positive predictor of blood pressure and the likelihood of experiencing diarrhoea; associations with other biometric variables were not statistically significant. Interview responses indicated numerous other economic, mental and physical health harms of alcohol use, the prevalence of which demonstrate some variability between forest camps and permanent village settlements. These include high rates of drinking during pregnancy and breastfeeding (~40%); frequent alcohol-induced violence; and considerable exchange of foraged foods and engagement in exploitative labour activities to acquire alcohol or repay associated debts. Our findings demonstrate the prevalence of hazardous alcohol consumption among transitioning hunter-gatherers is higher than other segments of the Congolese population and indicate negative impacts on health and wellbeing, highlighting an urgent need for targeted public health interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica K. Knight
- Department of Archaeology, Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Gul Deniz Salali
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Gaurav Sikka
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Inez Derkx
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Sarai M. Keestra
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Nikhil Chaudhary
- Department of Archaeology, Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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Remis MJ, Jost Robinson CA. Elephants, Hunters, and Others: Integrating Biological Anthropology and Multispecies Ethnography in a Conservation Zone. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/aman.13414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Melissa J. Remis
- Department of Anthropology Purdue University 700 W. State Street West Lafayette IN 47907‐2059
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Guagliardo SAJ, Doshi RH, Reynolds MG, Dzabatou-Babeaux A, Ndakala N, Moses C, McCollum AM, Petersen BW. Do Monkeypox Exposures Vary by Ethnicity? Comparison of Aka and Bantu Suspected Monkeypox Cases. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2020; 102:202-205. [PMID: 31769405 PMCID: PMC6947767 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.19-0457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2019] [Accepted: 08/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
In 2017, a monkeypox outbreak occurred in Likouala Department, Republic of the Congo. Many of the affected individuals were of Aka ethnicity, hunter-gatherers indigenous to Central Africa who have worse health outcomes in comparison with other forest-dwelling peoples. To test the hypothesis that Aka people have different risk factors for monkeypox, we analyzed questionnaire data for 39 suspected cases, comparing Aka and Bantu groups. Aka people were more likely to touch animal urine/feces, find dead animals in/around the home, eat an animal that was found dead, or to have been scratched or bitten by an animal (P < 0.05, all variables). They were also more likely to visit the forest ≥ once/week, sleep outside, or sleep on the ground (P < 0.001, all variables), providing opportunities for contact with monkeypox reservoirs during the night. The Aka and possibly other vulnerable groups may warrant special attention during educational and health promotion programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Anne J. Guagliardo
- Epidemic Intelligence Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
- Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Reena H. Doshi
- Epidemic Intelligence Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
- Division of Global HIV and Tuberculosis, Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Mary G. Reynolds
- Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
| | | | - Nestor Ndakala
- Field Epidemiology Training Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
| | - Cynthia Moses
- International Communication and Education Fund, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
| | - Andrea M. McCollum
- Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Brett W. Petersen
- Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
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The exceptional value of intact forest ecosystems. Nat Ecol Evol 2018; 2:599-610. [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0490-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 459] [Impact Index Per Article: 76.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2017] [Accepted: 01/30/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
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Recent loss of closed forests is associated with Ebola virus disease outbreaks. Sci Rep 2017; 7:14291. [PMID: 29085050 PMCID: PMC5662765 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-14727-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2017] [Accepted: 10/16/2017] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a contagious, severe and often lethal form of hemorrhagic fever in humans. The association of EVD outbreaks with forest clearance has been suggested previously but many aspects remained uncharacterized. We used remote sensing techniques to investigate the association between deforestation in time and space, with EVD outbreaks in Central and West Africa. Favorability modeling, centered on 27 EVD outbreak sites and 280 comparable control sites, revealed that outbreaks located along the limits of the rainforest biome were significantly associated with forest losses within the previous 2 years. This association was strongest for closed forests (>83%), both intact and disturbed, of a range of tree heights (5–>19 m). Our results suggest that the increased probability of an EVD outbreak occurring in a site is linked to recent deforestation events, and that preventing the loss of forests could reduce the likelihood of future outbreaks.
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MacVicar S, Berrang-Ford L, Harper S, Steele V, Lwasa S, Bambaiha DN, Twesigomwe S, Asaasira G, Ross N. How seasonality and weather affect perinatal health: Comparing the experiences of indigenous and non-indigenous mothers in Kanungu District, Uganda. Soc Sci Med 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.06.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Fa JE, Olivero J, Farfán MA, Lewis J, Yasuoka H, Noss A, Hattori S, Hirai M, Kamgaing TOW, Carpaneto G, Germi F, Márquez AL, Duarte J, Duda R, Gallois S, Riddell M, Nasi R. Differences between Pygmy and Non-Pygmy Hunting in Congo Basin Forests. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0161703. [PMID: 27589384 PMCID: PMC5010184 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161703] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2016] [Accepted: 08/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
We use data on game harvest from 60 Pygmy and non-Pygmy settlements in the Congo Basin forests to examine whether hunting patterns and prey profiles differ between the two hunter groups. For each group, we calculate hunted animal numbers and biomass available per inhabitant, P, per year (harvest rates) and killed per hunter, H, per year (extraction rates). We assess the impact of hunting of both hunter groups from estimates of numbers and biomass of prey species killed per square kilometre, and by examining the proportion of hunted taxa of low, medium and high population growth rates as a measure of their vulnerability to overhunting. We then map harvested biomass (kg-1P-1Yr-1) of bushmeat by Pygmies and non-Pygmies throughout the Congo Basin. Hunting patterns differ between Pygmies and non-Pygmies; Pygmies take larger and different prey and non-Pygmies sell more for profit. We show that non-Pygmies have a potentially more severe impact on prey populations than Pygmies. This is because non-Pygmies hunt a wider range of species, and twice as many animals are taken per square kilometre. Moreover, in non-Pygmy settlements there was a larger proportion of game taken of low population growth rate. Our harvest map shows that the non-Pygmy population may be responsible for 27 times more animals harvested than the Pygmy population. Such differences indicate that the intense competition that may arise from the more widespread commercial hunting by non-Pygmies is a far more important constraint and source of conflict than are protected areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia E. Fa
- Division of Biology and Conservation Ecology, School of Science and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, M1 5GD, United Kingdom
- Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), CIFOR Headquarters, Bogor, 16115, Indonesia
| | - Jesús Olivero
- Grupo de Biogeografía, Diversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología Animal, Universidad de Málaga, Facultad de Ciencias, Campus de Teatinos s/n, 29071, Málaga, Spain
| | - Miguel Angel Farfán
- Grupo de Biogeografía, Diversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología Animal, Universidad de Málaga, Facultad de Ciencias, Campus de Teatinos s/n, 29071, Málaga, Spain
| | - Jerome Lewis
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW, United Kingdom
| | - Hirokazu Yasuoka
- Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University, 46 Yoshida-Shimoadachi-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606–8501, Japan
| | - Andrew Noss
- Department of Geography, University of Florida, 3141 Turlington Hall, Gainesville, FL, 32611–7315, United States of America
| | - Shiho Hattori
- Faculty of International Studies, Tenri University, 1050 Somanouchi, Tenri City, Nara, 632–8510, Japan
| | - Masaaki Hirai
- Japan Forest Technology Association, 7 Rokubancho, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo, 102–0085, Japan
| | - Towa O. W. Kamgaing
- Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University, 46 Yoshida-Shimoadachi-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606–8501, Japan
- Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, P.O. Box 14794, Yaoundé, Cameroon
| | | | | | - Ana Luz Márquez
- Grupo de Biogeografía, Diversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología Animal, Universidad de Málaga, Facultad de Ciencias, Campus de Teatinos s/n, 29071, Málaga, Spain
| | | | - Romain Duda
- Ethnoecology Laboratory, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
- Département Hommes, Natures, Sociétés MNHN—Musée de l'Homme 17 place du Trocadéro, 75116, Paris, France
| | - Sandrine Gallois
- Ethnoecology Laboratory, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
- Département Hommes, Natures, Sociétés MNHN—Musée de l'Homme 17 place du Trocadéro, 75116, Paris, France
| | - Michael Riddell
- Bioclimate, Research and Development, UN House, 4 Hunter Square, Edinburgh, EH1 1QW, United Kingdom
| | - Robert Nasi
- Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), CIFOR Headquarters, Jalan CIFOR, Situ Gede, Bogor, 16115, Indonesia
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