Duncan Stibbard Hawkes
@dstibbardhawkes.bsky.social
Anthropologist interested in hunter-gatherer egalitarianism | Asst Prof @BaylorAnthro.bsky.social | Editor-in-Chief, Hunter-Gatherer Research | Spelling errors my own
Pinned
Egalitarianism is not Equality: Moving from outcome to process in the study of human political organisation | Behavioral and Brain Sciences | Cambridge Core
Egalitarianism is not Equality: Moving from outcome to process in the study of human political organisation
doi.org
📣 New BBS preprint out now! 📣
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
If I die, it is also my wish to be memorialized in the username of an online second-hand bookseller.
November 21, 2025 at 7:24 PM
If I die, it is also my wish to be memorialized in the username of an online second-hand bookseller.
Reposted by Duncan Stibbard Hawkes
Perhaps the most influential table in hunter-gatherer studies, published in Lee's chapter in the famous 1968 edited volume by Lee and DeVore titled, ironically, Man the Hunter 🧪 #BioAnth
November 21, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Perhaps the most influential table in hunter-gatherer studies, published in Lee's chapter in the famous 1968 edited volume by Lee and DeVore titled, ironically, Man the Hunter 🧪 #BioAnth
Good to talk with @michaelhobbes.bsky.social for this episode on Sapiens, my favourite book. They really went the extra mile to make sure the science was solid.
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
Sapiens
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · 11/20/2025 · 1h 38m
podcasts.apple.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Good to talk with @michaelhobbes.bsky.social for this episode on Sapiens, my favourite book. They really went the extra mile to make sure the science was solid.
Update on my "Brit in America" naturalisation process: someone just tried to give me a high five and I shook their hand.
November 18, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Update on my "Brit in America" naturalisation process: someone just tried to give me a high five and I shook their hand.
Many thanks to my wonderful coauthor @chrisvonrueden.bsky.social for being ever insightful and incisive. I've wanted to work with him for years and it has been a joy and a pleasure.
Also note that an this early online uncorrected proof - Baylor University does not have a UK campus ☺️
Also note that an this early online uncorrected proof - Baylor University does not have a UK campus ☺️
📣 New BBS preprint out now! 📣
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
Egalitarianism is not Equality: Moving from outcome to process in the study of human political organisation | Behavioral and Brain Sciences | Cambridge Core
Egalitarianism is not Equality: Moving from outcome to process in the study of human political organisation
doi.org
November 18, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Many thanks to my wonderful coauthor @chrisvonrueden.bsky.social for being ever insightful and incisive. I've wanted to work with him for years and it has been a joy and a pleasure.
Also note that an this early online uncorrected proof - Baylor University does not have a UK campus ☺️
Also note that an this early online uncorrected proof - Baylor University does not have a UK campus ☺️
Reposted by Duncan Stibbard Hawkes
📣 New BBS preprint out now! 📣
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
Egalitarianism is not Equality: Moving from outcome to process in the study of human political organisation | Behavioral and Brain Sciences | Cambridge Core
Egalitarianism is not Equality: Moving from outcome to process in the study of human political organisation
doi.org
November 18, 2025 at 8:05 AM
📣 New BBS preprint out now! 📣
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
📣 New BBS preprint out now! 📣
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
Egalitarianism is not Equality: Moving from outcome to process in the study of human political organisation | Behavioral and Brain Sciences | Cambridge Core
Egalitarianism is not Equality: Moving from outcome to process in the study of human political organisation
doi.org
November 18, 2025 at 8:05 AM
📣 New BBS preprint out now! 📣
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
Reposted by Duncan Stibbard Hawkes
The deadline has been extended - there is still time to get your abstracts in to join us in Morocco!
The submission deadline for #CESRabat has been extended to 30 November
@ces2026.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
@ces2026.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
👉 A reminder that the deadline for submitting your abstract to the CES 2026 #CESRabat is the 16th of November.
🔗Submit here: airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026
We look forward to seeing you in Rabat!
🔗Submit here: airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026
We look forward to seeing you in Rabat!
November 16, 2025 at 3:40 AM
The deadline has been extended - there is still time to get your abstracts in to join us in Morocco!
The overlap between Helen Fielding/Jane Austin fans and people with a special interest in hunter-gatherer ev anth is disappointingly shallow, I'm discovering.
My wife is at Austin airport and they have just asked Mark Darcy to make his way to the gate!
November 15, 2025 at 3:14 AM
The overlap between Helen Fielding/Jane Austin fans and people with a special interest in hunter-gatherer ev anth is disappointingly shallow, I'm discovering.
My wife is at Austin airport and they have just asked Mark Darcy to make his way to the gate!
November 13, 2025 at 11:48 PM
My wife is at Austin airport and they have just asked Mark Darcy to make his way to the gate!
Coates' household food insecurity index (9 questions, answers ranging from 0-3) is an effective and well-tested measure; but when they convert it into a categorical var, they strip out much information.
Can anyone think of a better way to handle this variable that preserves the logical weightings?
Can anyone think of a better way to handle this variable that preserves the logical weightings?
November 12, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Coates' household food insecurity index (9 questions, answers ranging from 0-3) is an effective and well-tested measure; but when they convert it into a categorical var, they strip out much information.
Can anyone think of a better way to handle this variable that preserves the logical weightings?
Can anyone think of a better way to handle this variable that preserves the logical weightings?
Actually I know, but I'll never tell.
it’s crazy because no one knows what the aim of science is
November 10, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Actually I know, but I'll never tell.
Reposted by Duncan Stibbard Hawkes
This is a really remarkable piece of writing and in its particulars it describes so, so many people
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:31 AM
This is a really remarkable piece of writing and in its particulars it describes so, so many people
Reposted by Duncan Stibbard Hawkes
So, lots of people picking up Kevin's post to declare all Evolutionary Psychology/ists misogynistic pervs. And I get why but look:
I trained in Evo Psych. I trained in Behavioural Ecology too which maybe helps but I came into academia an enthusiastic researcher of sexual selection.
1/
I trained in Evo Psych. I trained in Behavioural Ecology too which maybe helps but I came into academia an enthusiastic researcher of sexual selection.
1/
Evolutionary psychology makes a big to-do about their finding that sexual selection favors a "feminine body type" that "signals fertility/reproductive potential", including some rather... silly research. Turns out, those traits don't seem to signal reproductive success. Oops! doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
November 9, 2025 at 10:32 PM
So, lots of people picking up Kevin's post to declare all Evolutionary Psychology/ists misogynistic pervs. And I get why but look:
I trained in Evo Psych. I trained in Behavioural Ecology too which maybe helps but I came into academia an enthusiastic researcher of sexual selection.
1/
I trained in Evo Psych. I trained in Behavioural Ecology too which maybe helps but I came into academia an enthusiastic researcher of sexual selection.
1/
Catching strays in the new Rosalia album...
November 7, 2025 at 7:33 AM
Catching strays in the new Rosalia album...
Reposted by Duncan Stibbard Hawkes
New article in collaboration with @chrisbuckley.bsky.social , @thomaspellard.bsky.social @robinryder.bsky.social on the phylogeny of Kra-Dai languages and of the looms used by their speakers:
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Contrasting modes of cultural evolution: Kra-Dai languages and weaving technologies | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
Contrasting modes of cultural evolution: Kra-Dai languages and weaving technologies - Volume 7
www.cambridge.org
November 5, 2025 at 1:08 PM
New article in collaboration with @chrisbuckley.bsky.social , @thomaspellard.bsky.social @robinryder.bsky.social on the phylogeny of Kra-Dai languages and of the looms used by their speakers:
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
I periodically remember that this article, quantifying the abuse its author received uni-cycling through Newcastle, exists and was published in the BMJ.
www.bmj.com/content/bmj/...
www.bmj.com/content/bmj/...
www.bmj.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:04 PM
I periodically remember that this article, quantifying the abuse its author received uni-cycling through Newcastle, exists and was published in the BMJ.
www.bmj.com/content/bmj/...
www.bmj.com/content/bmj/...
Reposted by Duncan Stibbard Hawkes
Milks and colleagues reassess the #Boxgrove horse #scapula which was interpreted as showing evidence of spear injury but looks more likely to be the result if hammerstone percussion to get at grease and #marrow
#archaeology #MiddlePleistocene […]
#archaeology #MiddlePleistocene […]
Original post on c.im
c.im
November 2, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Milks and colleagues reassess the #Boxgrove horse #scapula which was interpreted as showing evidence of spear injury but looks more likely to be the result if hammerstone percussion to get at grease and #marrow
#archaeology #MiddlePleistocene […]
#archaeology #MiddlePleistocene […]
I will never understand why BBC Royal Correspondents write like this.
October 31, 2025 at 12:17 AM
I will never understand why BBC Royal Correspondents write like this.
Oh my I in fact linked the wrong paper 🫢. Here's the correct one but Jay's is great to ofc!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
October 27, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Oh my I in fact linked the wrong paper 🫢. Here's the correct one but Jay's is great to ofc!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
This is an extremely exciting paper, with a useful conclusion.
I believe the primary metric is house-size inequality which is, of course, not wholly a straightforward proxy for inequality sensu lato; but the findings & the data story seem eminently sensible.
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
I believe the primary metric is house-size inequality which is, of course, not wholly a straightforward proxy for inequality sensu lato; but the findings & the data story seem eminently sensible.
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Long-term trends in human body size track regional variation in subsistence transitions and growth acceleration linked to dairying | PNAS
Evidence for a reduction in stature between Mesolithic foragers and Neolithic farmers
has been interpreted as reflective of declines in health, how...
www.pnas.org
October 27, 2025 at 7:50 PM
This is an extremely exciting paper, with a useful conclusion.
I believe the primary metric is house-size inequality which is, of course, not wholly a straightforward proxy for inequality sensu lato; but the findings & the data story seem eminently sensible.
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
I believe the primary metric is house-size inequality which is, of course, not wholly a straightforward proxy for inequality sensu lato; but the findings & the data story seem eminently sensible.
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
I have often heard that school holiday schedules and daylight saving time are organized around farm labor. Apparently *both* of these received truisms are false.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayligh...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayligh...
Daylight saving time - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
October 27, 2025 at 6:12 PM
I have often heard that school holiday schedules and daylight saving time are organized around farm labor. Apparently *both* of these received truisms are false.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayligh...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayligh...
It's not just this. I think some LLMs have logic engines and other bits 'n' pieces loosely sellotaped to them.
But it really is mostly this.
But it really is mostly this.
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
October 27, 2025 at 4:38 PM
It's not just this. I think some LLMs have logic engines and other bits 'n' pieces loosely sellotaped to them.
But it really is mostly this.
But it really is mostly this.
Reposted by Duncan Stibbard Hawkes
Most read in HGR:
'Looking Up for prehistoric hunter-gatherer archaeological sites in mountain landscapes in Europe' by @arctic-glacial.bsky.social, @diggermann.bsky.social, @graemewarren.bsky.social et al.
Read it #OpenAccess: bit.ly/HGR-EUR
@ucdarchaeology.bsky.social @dstibbardhawkes.bsky.social
'Looking Up for prehistoric hunter-gatherer archaeological sites in mountain landscapes in Europe' by @arctic-glacial.bsky.social, @diggermann.bsky.social, @graemewarren.bsky.social et al.
Read it #OpenAccess: bit.ly/HGR-EUR
@ucdarchaeology.bsky.social @dstibbardhawkes.bsky.social
October 22, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Most read in HGR:
'Looking Up for prehistoric hunter-gatherer archaeological sites in mountain landscapes in Europe' by @arctic-glacial.bsky.social, @diggermann.bsky.social, @graemewarren.bsky.social et al.
Read it #OpenAccess: bit.ly/HGR-EUR
@ucdarchaeology.bsky.social @dstibbardhawkes.bsky.social
'Looking Up for prehistoric hunter-gatherer archaeological sites in mountain landscapes in Europe' by @arctic-glacial.bsky.social, @diggermann.bsky.social, @graemewarren.bsky.social et al.
Read it #OpenAccess: bit.ly/HGR-EUR
@ucdarchaeology.bsky.social @dstibbardhawkes.bsky.social