This is the first book to examine social learning and innovation in hunter-gatherers from
around the world. More is known about social learning in chimpanzees and nonhuman primates than
is known about social learning in hunter-gatherers a way of life that characterized most of
human history. The book describes diverse patterns of learning and teaching behaviors in
contemporary hunter-gatherers from the perspectives of cultural anthropology ecological
anthropology biological anthropology and developmental psychology. The book addresses several
theoretical issues including the learning hypothesis which suggests that the fate of Homo
sapiens and Neanderthals in the last glacial period might have been due to the differences in
learning ability. It has been unequivocally claimed that social learning is intrinsically
important for human beings however the characteristics of human learning remain under a dense
fog despite innumerable studies with children from urban-industrialcultures. Controversy
continues on problems such as: do hunter-gatherers teach? If so what types of teaching occur
who does it how often under what contexts and so on. The book explores the most basic and
intrinsic aspects of social learning as well as the foundation of innovative activities in
everyday activities of contemporary hunter-gatherer people across the earth. The book examines
how hunter-gatherer core values such as gender and age egalitarianism and extensive sharing of
food and childcare are transmitted and acquired by children. Chapters are grouped into five
sections: 1) theoretical perspectives of learning in hunter-gatherers 2) modes and processes
of social learning in hunter-gatherers 3) innovation and cumulative culture 4) play and other
cultural contexts of social learning and innovation 5) biological contexts of learning and
innovation. Ideas and concepts based on the data gathered through an intensive fieldwork by the
authors will give much insight into the mechanisms and meanings of learning and education in
modern humans.
