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 and Andrea Bamberg Migliano ()
Additional contact information
Daniel Smith: University College London
Philip Schlaepfer: AgtaAid
Katie Major: Bristol Zoological Society
Mark Dyble: Jesus College, University of Cambridge
Abigail E. Page: University College London
James Thompson: University College London
Nikhil Chaudhary: University College London
Gul Deniz Salali: University College London
Ruth Mace: University College London
Leonora Astete: Lyceum of the Philippines University, Community Outreach and Service Learning
Marilyn Ngales: Lyceum of the Philippines University, Community Outreach and Service Learning
Lucio Vinicius: University College London
Andrea Bamberg Migliano: University College London

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02036-8

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