One of my favorite big-think papers of recent years tries to explain humanity’s societal evolution, “The computational power of a human society: a new model of social evolution” by David H. Wolpert ...

Comparative archaeology : a commitment to understanding variation / Robert D. Drennan ... [et al.] -- Approaches to comparative analysis in archaeology / Michael E. Smith and Peter Peregrine -- ...

Animal social behavior is an extremely complex phenomenon that is shaped by evolution. Animals, whether social bird species or solitary hunters, have an extremely wide range of social behaviours.

For two centuries, archaeologists, historians, and social scientists studied human societies in search of the origins of hierarchy—a layered structure where power and privilege are concentrated in the ...

A global study of 186 traditional societies has found evidence supporting the theory that low-alcohol fermented beverages played a role in the evolution of political complexity. The research, ...

Termites did not evolve complex societies by adding new genetic features. Instead, scientists found that they became more social by shedding genes tied to competition and independence. A shift to ...

In Sarasota Bay, Florida, a unique study has been continuously observing the lives of bottlenose dolphins for over five decades, uncovering remarkable insights into their complex social structures, ...

The yellowjacket wasp has a reputation as a British picnic invader. Denis Vesely/Shutterstock It’s spring in England. The daffodils are in full bloom. A queen yellowjacket (Vespula) wasp emerges from ...