From epic poetry to game shows, from Stone Age axes to spaceflight, humans have the most complex cultures of any species on Earth. Since the time of Darwin, scientists have suspected that this culture ...

Researchers at the University of Maine are theorizing that human beings may be in the midst of a major evolutionary shift — driven not by genes, but by culture. In a paper published in the Oxford ...

Human evolution has often been depicted as a process of adaptation, where natural selection and genetic changes drive species toward better-suited traits for survival in their environments. But this ...

Recent investigations into primate behaviour have underscored the importance of cultural evolution — the process by which behaviours and skills are socially transmitted and refined over successive ...

Culture is central to defining humanity. Throughout history, many definitions have been proposed to describe what we mean when we talk about culture, leading to considerable confusion. But while ...

It is a basic understanding in anthropology that the course of human evolution differs fundamentally from that of other animals due to its heavy reliance on cultural rather than biological adaptation.

Of the 8.7 million species on Earth, why are human beings the only one that paints self-portraits, walks on the Moon and worships gods? For decades, many scholars have argued that the difference stems ...

What led humans on the unique path of cultural development? And can we do anything useful with newly reconstructed histories of this process? Culture is central to defining humanity. Throughout ...