Agriculture created new social hierarchies

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cumulative culture requires a high-degree of cooperation between individuals that are not related to each other. This can happen if hunter gatherer groups are formed by people without relation to each other, as suggested by egalitarian societies explain diveristy in hunter-gatherer groups . Agricultural societies, however, show the opposite effect, non-egalitarian groups reside with fewer unrelated individuals .

This means that for farmer societies to show cumulative culture and a high degree of cooperation, further hierarchies and wealth accumulation should occur.

Gender inequality reappeared in humans with the transition to agriculture and pastoralism. Once heritable resources such as land and livestock became important determinants of reproductive success, sex-biased inheritance and lineal systems started to arise, leading to wealth and sex inequalities. [ @dyble2015 Sex equality can explain the unique social structure of hunter-gatherer bands ]


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Aquiles Carattino
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