The Evolutionary Taxonomy of Culture

Author(s): Alan Lomax and Norman Berkowitz

Source: Science, New Series, Vol. 177, No. 4045 (Jul. 21, 1972), pp. 228-239
Published by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1734533
Accessed: 13-03-2018 05:54 UTC

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 or to subtract the resting metabolism from
the total and consider the remainder as the
energy used in running, or, as I have done
here, subtract value for the Y-intercept. The
procedure must depend on the purpose we
have in mind. I have discussed the net cost
of locomotion--that is, the cost of loco-
motion per se. The total energy expenditure
during locomotion is higher, but equally
correct. For example, a migrating bird uses
its fat reserves for flying, and the distance
it can cover on the available fuel is deter-
mined by its total metabolic rate. Likewise,
a grazing sheep must obtain enough food
to cover, not only the energy cost of walk-
ing, but enough for its total metabolic
needs. Therefore, there is no reason for
controversy, so long as we have defined the
terms in estimating the cost of locomotion.
38. A comparison with man-made machines shows
that automobile3 use about twice as much
energy in locomotion, per unit weight, as a
horse (about 0.5 cal g-1 km-l). Big jet air-
planes use about the same amount of energy
as a horse per unit weight, but smaller planes
use progressively more energy, and helicopters
use nearly ten times as much as a horse.
Ships use less energy, however, and an eco-
nomical long distance freighter may, per
unit weight, use almost as little as one-tenth
the energy used in locomotion of a horse.
39. A. C. Barger, V. Richards, J. Metcalfe, B.
Giinther, Amer. J. Physiol. 184, 613 (1956);
S. Brody, Bioenergetics and Growth (Reinhold,
New York, 1945); P. Cerretelli, J. Piiper, F.
Mangili, B. Ricci, J. Appl. Physiol. 19, 25
(1964); J. L. Clapperton, Brit. J. Nutr. 18,
47 (1964); H. G. Knuttgen, Acta Physiol.
Scand. 52, 366 (1961); R. Margaria, P. Cer-
retelli, P. Aghemo, G. Sassi, J. Appl. Physiol.
18, 367 (1963); R. Passmore and J. V. G. A.
Durin, Physiol. Rev. 35, 801 (1955); B.
Slowtzoff, Pfiuegers Arch. Gesamte Physiol.
Menschen Tiere 95, 158 (1903); D. R. Young,
R. Mosher, P. Erve, H. Spector, J. Appl.
Physiol. 14, 834 (1959); N. Zuntz and 0.
Hagemann, Landwirt. Jahrb. 27 (Suppl. 3),
1 (1898).
40. J. S. Hart, Can. J. Zool. 30, 90 (1952); -
and 0. Heroux, Can. J. Biochem. Physiol. 33,
428 (1955); J. S. Hart and L. Jansky, ibid. 41,
629 (1963); L. Jansky, Physiol. Bohemoslov. 8,
464 (1959); ibid., p. 472; N. P. Segrem and
J. S. Hart. Can. J. Physiol. Pharmacol. 45,
531 (1967).
40. Supported by NIH research grant HE-02228
and research career award 1-K6-GM-21,522.

Its
Its weak
weakspots
spotsoccur
occurexactly
exactly
in in
those
those
places
places where
whereititlacks
lacksdata,
data,which
which
may,
may,
with
with further
furthereffort,
effort,
bebesupplied.
supplied.
Other-
Other-
wise,
wise, its
itsinclusiveness
inclusiveness and
anditsits
parsimony
parsimony
recommend it. First, the scheme ac-
counts for most of the variation in hu-

The
The Evolutionary
Evolutionary man cultures by a small number of dis-
crete cultural zones (Fig. 1) organized
Taxonomy
Taxonomy of
of Culture
Culture into three large regional clusters (Fig. 2):
(i) the simple producers; (ii) the tropi-
cal gardeners; and (iii) the Eurasian
A few
few behavioral
behavioralfactors
factorsaccount
accountfor
forthe
the
regional
regional agriculturalists. Each of these regions
represents a decisive adaptive develop-
variation
variation and
and evolutionary
evolutionarydevelopment
developmentofof
culture.
culture. ment. Second, factor analysis clusters
the measures of culture themselves

Alan Lomax with Norman Berkowitz around two main vectors: (i) econom-
ic and social control of the environment,
and (ii) organization and integration of
teams. Vector 1 orders the main zones
of culture on a steadily rising curve of
The grand
grand theme
theme of anthropology isis Since cultures consist of enormous
of anthropology socioeconomic development. Vector 2
that man,
man, to
to aa far
far greater
greater degree thancomplexes of customs, beliefs, institu-
degree than (which depicts the form of team orga-
the other
other animals,
animals, adapts
adapts to
to his environ-tions, and modes of communication,
his environ- nization each subsistence level requires)
ment by by means
means of of changes
changes in in socially they could only be transmitted, before oscillates in a regular, wavelike fashion
socially
transmitted,
transmitted, rather
rather than
than biologically
biologicallyin- the invention of written language, by along the curve of progress as the spe-
in-
herited, patterns
patterns of of action
action and
and interac-
interac-whole societies. An ideal cultural taxon- cies deploys, again and again, its limited
tion. The
The ways
ways ofof aa people-its econom- omy should, therefore, discover a series
people-its econom- repertory of organizational resources
ic, affective,
affective, political,
political, communicative,
communicative, of geographically continuous culture (Fig. 5). A third group of factors,
re-
and expressive
expressive systems-are learned gions, each explicable as a pattern of
systems-are learned which includes the organization of kin
and may
may be
be changed
changed by
by each succeedingadaptation that was carried from its
each succeeding and family, shows no clear vectored
generation.
generation. Margaret
Margaret Mead
Mead tells
tells how thezone of origin to others along feasiblerelation to evolutionary development.
howthe
Manus, a Stone Age people, were so land or sea routes. The borders of a The data for this evolutionary taxon-
impressed by Western culture that they given culture region should be defined
omy came from two sources-a com-
decided to get rid of their own andby physical barriers or by the limits parative
of survey of world song styles and
straightway threw much of it into theother such culture regions. Any breaks a similar survey of ethnography: name-
sea (1). This instance illustrates the in the distribution of such a culture ly, G. P. Murdock's Ethnographic
Atlas (2). Murdock encodes from the
malleability of culture. It is this flexi-continuum should be explained by the
bility of cultural, as compared to bio- intrusion of another, more productive
literature of ethnology the economic,
social,
logical, systems that gave man an ad-and better adapted cultural system. It and political features of more
vantage over other species and enabled should be possible to arrange these than geo- 1000 societies. In some cases, these
him, early in his history, to occupy every graphically bounded cultural taxa in a formed scales-for example, the
codes
zone of the globe. developmental sequence that would one ac- concerning the number of levels of
count for their boundaries and their dis- political authority outside the local com-
Mr. Lomax is director, Cantometrics and continuities. Thus, human subspeciation munity, from 0 among hunters to 4 for
Choreometrics Project, Department of Anthro-
pology and Bureau of Applied Social Research, could be viewed as a continuum of cul- Oriental empires. In other cases, Conrad
Columbia University, 215 West 98 Street, New tural adaptions with several regional Arensberg and I arranged the codes into
York 10025. This article is adapted from an
address given during the symposium on Dar- specializations. scales in order to measure the relative
win's Descent of Man, AAAS annual meeting,
The factored cultural taxonomy pre- frequency of certain kinds of behaviors
Philadelphia, 1971. Mr. Berkowitz designed the
computer programs. sented here meets those requirements. or features of culture, such as level of
228 SCIENCE, VOL. 177

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 ways across cultures. Perhaps this is be- the cultural substructure. Moreover,
production or permanence of settlement.
Combinations of these scales exhibited
cause linguistic analysis has largely main song performance patterns seem
man's full range as a producer and dealt
as with grammar, phonemic structure, to be extremely stable (as well as very
an inventor of new forms of social and vocabulary, all of which are useful audible) aspects of regional cultures
organization. However, factor analysis
in formal instruction but, since they are and, on the whole, do not migrate unless
of a sample of world cultures, using
the most arbitrary aspects of speech, a whole people or culture also migrates.
these measures alone, did not produce
they cannot be expected to have an These conclusions are based on the
the geographically discrete taxonomy
orderly relation to the structure of so- analysis and comparison of 4000 re-
required. This was not achieved until cieties. corded song performances from about
measures of human communication were The Cantometric study of song (3), 400 different cultures, located in every
added to the measures of social rela- however, revealed strong statistical rela- world zone. It was this first panhuman
tions. This seems logical, since the most
tions between song style and social study of communication that produced
distinctive trait of Homo sapiens isnorms-for
his instance, that the explicit- scaled data on norms of group organi-
elaboration of symbolic systems,ness, by or information load, of song varies zation and models of communication to
means of which knowledge can be with the level of economic productivity, match the species-wide scoring of socio-
shared and preplanned activities with that cohesiveness of performance is an economic patterns in the Ethnographic
others can be carried out. indicator of the level of community Atlas. The descriptive grid combining
The data relating to the variance of
solidarity, that multipart singing occurs these two sets of measures was sizable
human communication systems camein societies where the sexes have a com- and so was the number of societies re-
from a somewhat novel source-a plementary relationship, and that degree quired to represent the whole range of
worldwide study of song performanceof ornamentation increases with in- human culture. Norman Berkowitz de-
style. Earlier areal classifications of cul-
creased social stratification (3). Thus vised a special adaptation of the vari-
tures had incorporated linguistic identi-
song appears to function as a reinforce-max rotation multifactor analysis to
fications, but with minor taxonomicment of ef-
a culture's social structure, classify
and these complex profiles. This
fect. There are two reasons for this. profiles of song performance cancomputer
be procedure swiftly compares
First, languages can be learned as used sys- as indicators of culture pattern.
a large number of cultures on a long
tems and, as such, can move easily Since the Cantometric measures reportroster of scales, clusters the most simi-
across cultural borders. Second, lan- oi how people use their voices or orga-
lar cultures, and then picks out the dis-
guages, as they have so far been de- nize their choruses, they point to pat- tinctive profiles of each cluster. It has
scribed, seem not to vary in any regular terns of behavior transmitted as parttwo
of different outputs-Q, factoring of

, .

s. .. *s

Is
?.. '" ohc ohc afr, '-
,: .

' , ....: " .I I, ...

I o.amh .. . .. *.~../sb sib..

". I " ' C~~~~~~~~.. -ohc s
.,

.,

amh amh amh: . ur eur sib

.. - amh ' :. a ohc- . ohc ohc .ohc
? ,f af'
..vil amh amh ':
?. amh eur^ * eur.
i.?o
afr
eur
afr ohc - r.
' u
?,f
oc oc .afr
amh amh vii .afr afr afr a o: si .a. . -
amh amh vil vil
*.amh amh amh !'
*'amh vil amh eur eur:::'.ohc" ohc ohc ohc ohc.
amh mex .*"' vil
'. mex
afr af- pol mel.
.. mex. .. .ohc ohc amh""h ohc ohc ohc
e .afr , : afr .aug
mex amz amz
amz ; ...afr afr afr afr afr ohc pml pml mel mel
mel amz *., .. afr afg afr aug ohc,..p l mel
.'oc.ocafr r ..
amz mel. ':afr ohc afr;-. ^^ohc pmf mel mel p
.amz amh amz. afr afg ' ohc me'.' mel pol
pol nex amz.'
pol amh :afg afr' (afr laug
amh.

I'
.. . '
pol .

-ohc %..

amh

Fig. 1. Factor identification of 137 cultures located geographically (approximately)

ing are abbreviations for the factors: afg, African Gatherers; afr, Black Africa; a
Australian Gatherers; eur, Europe; pml, Proto-Malay; mel, Melanesia; mex, Mexic
Siberia; vil, American Villagers. Underlining indicates that the culture is an excep
21 JULY 1972
229

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cultures, and R, factoring of scales ofsatisfies these criteria, which together
interchangeably represent the same un-
culture measurement. The criteria I derlying cultural attribute. Thus one
define the culture hypothesis-that most
established to estimate the success of human behavior is determined by com- may account for the endless amplifica-
these operations are postulates of some tions of human behavior in terms of
plex patterns of learned behavior trans-
importance to the comparative study of mitted through the centuries in the the regrouping of a small number of
human behavior. same territory. deep attributes.
The criterion for the success of the These two criteria-one for geo-
factoring of measures is that each clus-
graphic continuity and the other for op-
Taxonomic Criteria ter of measures should be conceptuallyerational unity-were used to test the
pure-that is, capable of being given acceptability
a of the factor analyses.
The members of each of the culture
label that characterizes all of its mem- When a culture factor that was run
factors should outline one continuous bers. All members of such a factor can through the computer did not meet the
geographic zone through which a cul- then be viewed as formalized manifesta-geographic criterion, we usually found
tural pattern or style might have tions
mi- of the same deep attribute or gen- that our sample was defective. For ex-
eral characteristic of culture. It is here
grated or been transmitted from group ample, if too many neighbors of a
to group. Any discontinuous geographic
assumed that the principle of substitu- given culture were missing, it might
factor must have a clear historical ex-
tability is applicable to culture as well
be grouped with similar, but inappropri-
planation-for instance, the shattering
as to communication: just as a series of
ately distant, cultures or remain unclas-
of one cultural continuum by another, gestures or statements can serve as in-sified. When a measure was inappropri-
invading tradition. The "best" of several
terchangeable symbols for a thing or anately grouped, this usually pointed to
geographic factor runs is the one thatidea, so a set of behavioral norms can defects in its structure, which might
then be remedied. The input of culture
profiles and measures was changed in
run after run until both criteria were
approximately satisfied. The simplicity
of these tests and the flexibility of the
computer procedure itself provide an
excellent method for the objective com-
parison of the multimember, multi-
faceted phenomena called cultures.

The Geographic Taxa

In order to provide a balanced pic-

ture of the range of human culture, I
used a subset of the Murdock standard

CO
test sample of culture, in which geo-
(n graphic neighbors and duplicates have
c
0
presumably been eliminated. The sub-
sample, for which there were data on
both song performance and social struc-
a ture, include 148 cultures from the 186
a>
provinces in the Murdock sample. In
the Q, or geographic phase of the fac-
toring, the computer grouped over 90
percent of this sample into 13 clusters,
or factors, which were either geographic
or historical continuums, or both. Each
of the 13 has a clear-cut and distinc-
tive profile of traits (ten profiles are
partially presented in Fig. 3). In other
words, each of these 13 cultural factors
can be viewed as a distinct subvariety
or style of human culture, a historical-
geographic continuum of one pattern of
adaptation. The map in Fig. 1 presents
the geography of these 13 culture styles;
1.01 the distribution of each one can be
Fig. 2. Numerical scores for each of the 13 main geographic factors were calculated traced by its abbreviation. Brief descrip-
on the differentiation factor. The vertical axis shows the resultant scale, with a point tions of these 13 cultural factors fol-
for each of the 13 main geographic factors. Connections between the boxes represent low.
the residual bonds, or levels of similarity, between the geographic taxa. Each of the
1) Siberia: A continuous zone of
taxa is limited to its two highest bonds. The differential strength of the bonds is
indicated by the width of the connecting lines. No bond lower than the mean of 13 nomadic hunters, fishers, and reindeer
for the whole field was allowed. herders, from European Lapland across
230 SCIENCE, VOL. 177

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Siberia to Kanchatka. Two paleo-Sibe- Gran Chaco, and Patagonia. Thiswash
clus-
irrigationists of the Southwest.
rian cultures, the Yukaghir and the tering points to the existence of These
a con-cultures would probably have
Ainu, are equal members of this and tinuous distribution of an ancient cul- formed an unbroken continuum if in-
the Amerindian Hunters zone, thus indi- tural substratum across both continents formation from the Mississippi Valley
cating a common origin in early Siberia -a continuum broken by the rise of cultures, such as the Natchez, had been
for both of these clusters. available.
agricultural adaptations, represented by
2) Amerindian Hunters: A cluster-
the following three clusters. 4) Amazonia: The forest-dwelling,
3) American Villagers: Corn farm-seminomadic, root gardeners and river-
ing of the hunters and fishers of the
American Arctic and the Northern ers of the Eastern woodlands and prai- ine fishers of the Amazon and Orinoco
Plains with those of Mato Grosso,rie
the
areas and the pueblo-dwelling, dry-basins.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
African Australian American American Old High
Amazonia Melanesia Polynesia Black Africa Europe
Gatherers Gatherers Hunters Villagers Culture

(1.6) (2.2) (2.7) (2.9) (3.9) (43) (5.6) (6.1) (80) (8.0)

Succession of leader IAbsent Hereditary Formal

Milking None Present
High gods _ I__ NoneI i None 1I1 None Otiose j I Otiose Involved
Games _ [PS & C None Physical skill and chance Strategy
Metal ' None Present
Stratification* None 2 _to4 5_ _to
Land inheritance None Present

0 Size of animals Noneigs Catle, sheep and goats

Ic:i

4.-
Animal husbandry None 0 to 20% 30 to 40%
Permanence of i
o00) settlement 8ands Seminomadic Villages or nuclear

Extra-local government None i i i iiiii2i---i- 1

Size of settlement Fewer than 49 200 to 400 50,000 5 to 50,000
Roots versus grains None Rootsc Grains Roots Grains

Intensity of agriculture None Extensive Horticulture Extensive Intensive Irrigation

Production scale E tr~: t
____________ Extracting _______ Incipient Gardening plow Irrigation
Fishing _ ' :20 to 30% 40% plus 20 to 30% 40% plus 10%
settlement Band ~LSemin?madic ........III V~~~~r Preillgsorncea..!
Collec ti ng/game rCollecting
Wnrriv........ ... Game Less than 10% of either
(U
Embellishment Little I.i.. ..Some .ittl . IfMuch
(.) Leader/Group Group IL/GiII1 L/G j I GLJ J L/G _ Group Solo
Va riatione Little sitte Little s hMuch a n Much :
E Interval size Wide 'ar
E
0
o Enunciation E Slurred |Mid Slurred -----[ Precise . Slurred Precise
0
v |lNounsense I
ivisuy/ I iuonsense/ woray
i,,ofb11ot II Nonsense I IWordv/nonsl I MidI I Wnrd r 7
I I I - - I -- I - - 1/ I # I, I L 2" --
I
III II I i .
I Female
Division of laborFemale
t lele Male
Solidarity index
0 1 Nonsolidary Solidary ' - Nonsolidary...
A-4
Community organization
None Clan None I Ramage Clanone
(-
C:
I) Tonal blend
- 1-- IFGood
---.~L-?-V v - _.. ,v
II Pnnr
....J.- Medium
- ... .. IL Good G [Good I Med-poor
...... .- -I

Vocal organization j Integrated JDiffuse Unison IIntegrated solo

Vocal width Very wide Narrow 11 MidI- - - -Narrow I Wide

Rasp Rasp
IittleLittlGreat
I Great ittie I Gr- I
Great Mid Great

Fig. 3. The emergent traits of the differential c

no entry is made in any location unless it is stat
example, the distinctive scores for the first stag
for group organization and performance point
Gatherers in most of the same columns are indi
leaders and a tense-voiced, diffuse performance s
changes from the previous stage-that is, change
Blanks occur where no clear and distinctive tra
diagram easier to read. Numbers in parentheses
ferentiative factor. (* Number of levels. t The s
21 JULY 1972
231

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 5) Nuclear America: A somewhat sidering the state of available data. A sents the control of the triad of essen-
flawed continuum (reaching from north- set of homogeneous and continuous re- tial foods-namely, grain plus meat and
ern Mexico through middle America to gions of culture, each with a distinctive milk-on which the members of spe-
behavioral and adaptive profile, presents cialized agricultural and pastoral soci-
Peru) of societies affected by the devel-
opment of Amerindian civilizations. a coherent picture of human subspeci- eties came increasingly to depend. In
6) Australian Gatherers: A cultural ation. fact, belief in one, authoritarian, male
continuum on the subcontinent of Aus- god does seem to have originated in
tralia prior to the arrival of Europeans the patriarchal cultures of the Middle
in the 18th century. The Behavioral Taxa East, where control of the herds and
7) African Gatherers: Bushman and land rested in the hands of the male
Pygmy groups occupied most of Africa A number of other anthropologists head of the patriline.
south of the Sahara, before the coming have applied factor analysis to culture, It thus appears that the 71 measures,
of black herders and gardeners in the most of them using the criteria in whichthe reduced the variety of human cul-
last two or three millennia. Ethnographic Atlas. Their findings ture (4)to a small number of homogeneous
8) Black Africa: A continuous dis- point in a similar direction to those pre- regions, represent no more than
culture
tribution in Africa showing the spread sented here. 19 attributes. If the geographic taxono-
of gardeners and herders through the Multifactor analysis of our 71 mea- my of culture presented earlier (Fig.
southern half of the continent and, re- sures of social and communicative struc- 1) is judged to be fairly satisfactory,
cently, into the Americas. Inclusion of ture clustered them into 14 factors and then a compact set of terms such as
tribal Indian culture in this cluster sug- five single measures. Inspection of the these 19 may be sufficient to describe
gests that an old transoceanic continuumdisplay of these factors (see box) shows and classify human culture and, insofar
of tropical agriculture once connectedthat most of them are conceptually pure as behavior is cultural, human behavior
Africa with lands to the east. and clearly represent some single ten- itself. Actually I shall try to show that a
9) Melanesia: Includes the horticul- dency or deep attribute of culture. The successful taxonomy of culture and an
turalists and pig farmers of New Guinea, four apparent exceptions to this rule acceptable
all account of cultural evolution
Melanesia, and nearby Micronesia, along imply interesting hypotheses, which may can be achieved with only 5 of the 19
with two similar South American socie- produce further unities. factors. Moreover, these five may be
ties, the Timbira and the Bora Witoto. Factor 13, in which the availability lumped of into two vectors, the interplay
10) Polynesia-Pacific: The seafaring milk products is linked to vocal dynam- of which has shaped the development
cultures of the Pacific, including the ics, suggests that this extra sourceof ofculture and the emergence of the
Motu of southern New Guinea, the protein accounts for many cases of en- subspecies of man.
eastern Micronesians, and the Polyne-ergetic vocalizing. In fact, loud and
sians. forceful singing does seem to be more
11) Proto-Malay: In spite of a weak common where protein is plentiful. A Tree of Culture
sample, this factor outlines the spread Factor 6, which clusters the measures
of rice-growing Malay people (the so- of sexual sanctions with vocal noise, re- Factor 1 puts the scales of economic
called "bamboo culture") from the hills lates to a finding, fully established in productivity, increase of population,
of Indochina to Borneo and the Philip- earlier research (3, pp. 194-195), that stability of settlements, and centraliza-
pines. degree of voice tension varies directly tion of political and social controls
12) Old High Culture: Shows the with the severity of sexual mores. Fac- together with measures of the amount
spread of cities, empire, irrigation, andtor 3 properly includes collecting versus of information the performance carries,
craft specialization from the Middle hunting with sexual division of labor, as indicated by the importance of small
East, west through the Mediterranean, since gathering is largely a female, and intervals, precise enunciation, and non-
south with the Cushites into central hunting largely a male, activity. repeated text. It has been established
Africa, and all the way east through The composition of factor 2 suggests elsewhere that the explicitness, or in-
India, Southeast Asia, and Indonesia a number of interesting ideas. First, formation load, in song performance
into east and central Asia. games of strategy, like checkers, grow increases directly with the productivity
13) Europe: The hard-grain, plough,popular after the management of herds of the subsistence system and with other
dairying agriculturalists of Europe and of milk-producing animals becomes a features of the social economy (3).
colonial America. central cultural theme. Second, the in- Indeed, there appears to be a lawful
Four of the 148 cultures remained corporation in the produce factor (fac- relation between the explicitness of
unattached and unique-the Miao Ti- tor 2) of the scale dealing with beliefs communication performance and in-
beto-Burmans, the Andean Aymara, the about the presence and potency of high creased productivity and political cen-
Zadruga Strpci of Yugoslavia, and the gods is fascinating. Swanson's pioneer tralization. Therefore, postponing fur-
cattle-herding Mesakin of Kordofan. work (5) indicated that the develop- ther discussion of the relations among
Five cultures were classified out of re- ment of religious belief, from animism,these variables (Fig. 3), I shall consider
gion: the Bedouin in factor 2, the Arau- through polytheism, to monotheism, that all of these measures together rep-
canians in factor 12, the Timbira and paralleled the rise and centralization of resent the effect of one powerful cul-
Bora in factor 9, and the Sajek of For- political authority, from the acephalous tural attribute-man's concern with
mosa in factor 8. Thus, only 7 percent tribal council, through the feudal con- differential control of his environment.
of the sample of 148 cultures remained federacies, to centralized monarchy. The Change here affects the whole social,
outside of this system of regional cul- connection of monotheism to milking, economic, and communicative struc-
tural continuums. Otherwise, the classifi- implied in the structure of factor 2, ture. In a word, human culture evolves
cation fulfills the first of the two taxo- suggests, moreover, that the spiritual as its differentiative capacity increases.
nomic criteria surprisingly well, con- authority of powerful divinities repre- The tree diagram (Fig. 2) offers a
232 SCIENCE, VOL. 177

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 cursory view of this evolutionary The branches of this evolutionary treegeographic and historical congeners-
principle. Here the 13 culture zones are formed by the residual bonds ofto Australia by .25 similarity and to
presented earlier are arranged on a similarity that link the 13 culture types.Polynesia-Micronesia by .27 similarity.
vertical scale of increasing differentia-These linking bonds were also derived Interlinking establishes interesting fami-
tion. The numbers along the vertical by the computer, which, once it hadlies, such as a circum-Pacific region of
axis are calculations of the weighted established independent geographic fac-simple producers. Black Africa's highest
average of the 13 on the differentiation tors, then calculated the residual simi- bonds tie it to Polynesia and Melanesia,
factor. The scale rises from 1 and 2 larity between these cultural taxa. The shaping a world family of tropical gar-
for Australian and African gatherers two to highest bonds for each of the 13 are deners. However, the ancient cultural
8+ for agriculturalists of Europe and drawn between them to complete the link of Black Africa to the Middle East
Asia. The effect of industry was not tree diagram and to show how the shows up in the bond of 14 between the
taxa are interrelated along its branches. Old High Culture and the African fac-
considered here because reliable ratings
of industrialized cultures were not Note, for instance, that Melanesia is tor.
available. linked by its highest bonds to its closest Indeed, this purely numerical opera-

A summary of the factor analysis that grouped the 71 measures of social and performance norms into 14 clusters
and 5 single factors. Each cluster consists of two or more measures. With a few exceptions, all measures in these
clusters represent a single deep attribute of culture. Indented measures are either attached with equal strength to two
factors or also occurred as a unique or single factor.

1) Differentiation 4) Organization of groups 10) Size and type of statement

Productive range Importance of leaders Number of phrases
Intensity of agriculture versus group Litany, strophe, through-
Percent of animal Unison versus multipart composed
husbandry choruses Symmetry of form
Size of settlement 5) Level of cohesiveness Melodic range
Number of extra-local In rhythm of vocal group Presence and activity of
hierarchies In vocal blend gods
Inheritance of land In orchestral tonal blend 11) Orchestral model
Degree of stratification In rhythm of orchestra Social organization of the
Presence of metalworking Organization of vocal orchestra
Task differentiation by sex group rhythm orchestral Unison versus multipart in
Percent of repeated text rhythmic type the orchestra
Percent of precise enunciation 6) Noise and tension Organization of orchestral
Interval size Raspy vocalizing group rhythm
Degree of melodic Nasal vocalizing Relations of orchestra to
variation Tight and narrow vocaliz- vocal part orchestral
Severity of premarital ing rhythmic type
sex sanctions Severity of premarital 12) Vocal rhythm
Games of skill versus sex sanctions Vocal rhythmic type
games of strategy 7) Ornamentation (regular to irregular)
Rules for leadership Melisma Tempo
succession (unique) Glissando Phrase length
Difficulty of wiving Embellishment 13) Dynamics
(unique) Glottal shake Soft-loud vocalizing
2) Caloric value of produce Tremolo Lax-forceful vocal accents
Size of domestic animals Degree of melodic Low-high register
Root versus grain agricul- variation Importance of milking
ture 8) Community type 14) Part organization
Percent of fishing Solidarity-index Type of polyphony
Importance of milking Unilineal-bilateral Social organization of
Presence and activity of Solidary kin organizations chorus
gods Kinship system 15) Type of family
Games of skill versus 9) Matri-patri 16) Size of family
games of strategy Female-male inheritance 17) Segregation of boys
Kinship system of real property 18) Female dominance in
3) Sexual division of labor Female-male inheritance pottery, weaving, leather-
In main productive activity of movable property work
In overall productive acts Marital residence rules 19) Position of final note in
Percent collecting versus (F-M) songs
percent hunting, fishing Matrilineal-patrilineal

I L I I II - - L _ I I I _LII 111 111 r ----

-

21 JULY 1972
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tion arranges human cultural families in highly functional in a solidary, village, municative patterns. Each gave rise to
a highly provocative way. The known gardening economy without a complex sets of regional and areal subtraditions,
historical relationships among the 13 technology. all of whose members share some of the
areas are reaffirmed, with the one ex- The computer weighed a mountain ofdistinctive traits of one parental stem,
ception of Malaysia, where the sample evidence to produce the numbers that most markedly in their expressive be-
is weak. The diagram points to the on- point to the existence of this tropical havior.
going tie between European and classi- factor. If this arrangement of cultures All of this argues for the direct rela-
cal Oriental civilization, Polynesia and proves acceptable, one can take very tion of cultural evolution to the regional
Melanesia, primitive America and its seriously the following grand scheme of development of differentiative capacity.
Siberian roots, and to the separate human cultural evolution. Figure 3 summarizes the stepwise emer-
branching out of Indian cultures in the Stage 1, African Gatherers: Less than gence of the differentiative components
Americas. The intercontinental affilia- 2 for differentiation score, low produc- through time. The evolutionary scale of
tions of the African and Australian tivity, nomadic bands, acephalous, egali- culture types is used as the horizontal
tarian, complementary social relation-axis, from African Gatherers on the
gatherers suggest that these two clusters
ships, cohesive and highly integrated
represent the earliest and most generally left to Old High Culture on the right.
distributed culture types of which singing
weorganization, and polyrhythmic, The entries in the column above each
have a living record. Although hunting flowing, sensuous dance style. These are evolutionary stage are those, and only
found
is practiced by both, it is clearly a sec- among the Bushmen and those,
Pygmies traits that became statistically dis-
ondary, although valued, source ofoffood. Africa, with traces in refuge areastinctive at that level.
These facts suggest that gathering, on every continent. Column 1: Among the acephalous,
rather than hunting, was the first major Stage 2, Circum-Pacific simple nomadic,
pro- freely associating African
subsistence activity of human beings. ducers: About 3 for differentiation Gatherers, most familiar traits of social
This finding, if true, overturns the now score, seminomadic, basically acephal-
control are absent, just as their perform-
popular view of early man as a blood- ous, males dominate productive ances and are empty of explicit and group-
thirsty caveman, whose adaptive success social relations, hunting, fishing, or
controlling content.
was due to his interest in weaponry slash-burn agriculture without Column
animal 2: Emergent traits for Aus-
combined with a calculated ferocity. tralian aboriginal societies outline a
husbandry, individualized and unison
Like our nearest relatives, the great masculine gerontocracy, in which elder
singing organization, and a linear dance
apes, and like present-day gatherers, style. This culture type presumably male clan heads control the sexual,
early human societies were probably spread from a hunting origin in economic,
Siberia, and ritual life of their people.
Note an accompanying rise of narrow
nonaggressive, highly intrasupportivearound the perimeter of the Pacific,
intervals and of voice tension indicators,
teams of foraging amateur botanists, and flowered in the Americas.
as well as an accompanying drop in
quarterbacked by women and guarded Stage 3, Tropical gardeners: About 5.5
by males. performance cohesiveness.
for differentiation score, full agriculture
Beyond the gatherers, three grand re- with animal husbandry, settled villages, Column 3: Men become the principal
gions of culture, ringed by circles in the confederacies, a two-class system, com- producers in the diffusely bonded hunt-
diagram, can be seen in the clusters of plementary productive and social rela-ing-fishing economies of America and
interbonded factors. Two of the regions Siberia, and this masculine productive
tionships, great solidarity in community
are known-the Eurasian and the cir- dominance is symbolized by the im-
life, cohesive and polyvoiced singing,
cum-Pacific. The latter embraces all of and highly erotic, synchronous, and portance of male solo performances and
the primitive producers of the Pacific polyrhythmic dance style. An early con- male choruses singing in rough unison.
tinuous distribution is indicated-from Column 4: In the Amazon-Orinoco
rim, from Australia, through Melanesia
and Siberia, and into Amerindia. The Melanesia, through Southeast and Basin,
south- loosely bonded, bisexual teams
clear emergence of an Afro-Oceanic re-ern Asia to East Africa and the Sudan, carry out a rudimentary agriculture,
gion supports the hypothesis that a con-later spreading into sub-Saharan Africa, and song performances are notable for
tinuous ring of gardening cultures once east into Polynesia, and west into thediffuseness and multipartedness.
linked Oceania to Africa in the tropicalNew World. Column 5: Among aboriginal North
latitudes. Only traces of this ancient Stage 4, Eurasian plow agriculture:Americans, corn farming fosters larger
human distribution seem to have sur- communities, tribal confederacies, and
8 for differentiation score, large towns,
vived the incursion of higher cultures incentralized government, complex strati- clan-based community organizations
Malaysia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia. fication, male dominance of productivewhose solidarity and complementarity
However, in main features of social and social system, and emphasis on are reflected in the unity and frequent
bisexuality of singing and dancing
interaction, and especially in song and virtuosic soloists in performance, with
dance style, the peoples of Black Africaelaborate and drilled participation ofgroups.
and the maritime Pacific affirm an an- chorus and orchestra. Columns 6, 7, and 8: In Melanesia,
cient cultural allegiance. Their shared The advantage of such an Polynesia,
overview and Black Africa, the need
patterns include a complementary rela- is not only that it sums up much of for
the highly synchronous male-female
tion between the sexes; emphasis upon evidence of comparative ethnology, but work teams to carry out the monotonous
routines of year-round agriculture
fertility as a central social value; and it also permits one to see the main
social solidarity manifested in massed events in cultural history in terms emerges
of in the usually cohesive, multi-
choirs of rhythmically unified perform- the growth and encounter of a small part, male-female dancing choruses of
ers and workers, in sensual hip-swinging, number of traditions. Though not iso- the tropical gardeners. Here the extra
lated, the three main traditions nourishment resources of horticulture
clearly
polyrhythmic dancing, in polyrhythmic
orchestras, and in open-throated, poly- developed in different zones of the world and animal husbandry give rise to
voiced choruses. All these habits are around distinctive adaptive and com- stable settlements, systems of land in-
SCIENCE, VOL. 177
234

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heritance, and social stratification. In Thus, at the level of complex agricul-
other words, a parallel between the way
Black Africa, sheep, goat, and cattle cultures synchronize activity in produc-
ture, strong social forces militate against
culture, grains, and metallurgy give rise the social solidarity that apparently
tive efforts and in expressive perform-
to further social stratification, kingdoms ances. leads to unforced, synchronous choral-
and empires, and a passion for games of Supporting evidence for this
izing.
hy-An exception that proves this
strategy resembling chess. pothesis comes from S. H. Udy's rule
cross-
is the complementary, village-based
Column 9: In Europe, intensive plow dance
cultural study (6) of how work is or- and song groups that once en-
agriculture, and an increase in animal ganized. I have extracted fromlivened
Udy's the work bees of Eastern
husbandry and dairy products stimulates Europe.of
study pertinent data on the structure
the growth of cities, where centralized tasks and teams in a hundred cultures,
governments replace local, kin-based from gatherers to irrigators. The per-
organizations in authority. An authori- The Main
centage of stable work teams by region is Evolutionary Factors
tarian monotheism arises, males take as follows: African Gatherers, no score;
over the main roles in the productiveAustralian Gatherers, 33; American An earlier study (3, pp. 199-200)
system, and highly explicit song style Hunters, 20; Amazonians, 0; American established a strong correlation between
becomes the rule. Villagers, 95; Melanesia, no score; the cohesiveness of a culture's perform-
Column 10: The centralization of Polynesia, 91; Black Africa, 85; Eu- ance style and both the stability of its
economic and political control, essential rope, 25; Old High Culture, 44. teams and the level of its community
in large riverine irrigation systems, leads It appears that stable teams occur solidarity. I feel justified in regarding
to further centralization and stratifica- most frequently where choral solidaritythe variance of factor 5, the level of
tion in much of the Orient. The musical is highest-among the gardeners. Thecohesiveness (in song), as standing for
specialist appears, addressing the centerpersonnel of hunting and fishing par- the general adaptive importance of
with long, complex, highly embellishedties may vary with each venture, highly unified behavior. The way this
songs, loaded with the tension of an and here performance is generally factor varies along the evolutionary
alienating and authoritarian social sys- individualized. The teams of complex scale is shown in Fig. 4. This figure also
tem.
agriculture are also likely to be loosely shows the variance in the part played
These seem to be the main stepwise textured, since farming is often done by women in the principal subsistence
developments in the evolution of cul- by individuals, small family units (as activity at each level of culture and the
tures as outlined in the present factor in Western Europe), or under exploita- degree to which groups are integrated
analysis. A steady buildup in subsistence tive conditions of forced labor or peon- in organization at each level. These
productivity is at first accompanied by age, as in much of the ancient world. three curves follow more or less the
changes in male-female division of labor
and in lineage organization, and then
(from the middle of the scale on) by 40 34
mounting stratification and political cen- Division of labor Group organization Cohesiveness
tralization. Ever more highly articulated
societal entities are mirrored in more
9.
and more explicit performance style (3,
pp. 194-199). All of these develop-
ments contribute to a steadily rising 8
curve of differentiation. Some important
aspects of social and performance orga- 7'
nization, however, do not conform to
this curve of progress. Figure 3 shows
that women dominate in gathering and 6-
gardening subsistence systems, while
males dominate in hunting and intensive \ . \
\.. \ \
* \

5-
agriculture, and that cohesive, noise-
\
free, highly integrated, rather than lead-
4-
- \
er-dominated, performance peaks among
African Gatherers and among gardeners.
This contrast confirms the finding that . organization
3-i
a highly integrated style of performance .

is typical of complementary and soli-

2- Division of labor
dary communities, whereas noisy, tense-
voiced, solo, unison, or diffuse perform-
ance occurs in male-dominated, loosely 1 - -
I . .I i. I ,. I ......
, -- - I
vl -- I
bonded, network-like societies (3, pp. ro ) 1 2 S t.) e t 0
to (t
Q.
(1) -C zO

130-148). It seems, therefore, that the 0- 0 "C

prevalent performance style of a culture Lii
o
< 0 EI E E> - 0 U
reflects and reinforces not only the de- 0 <(< << < 0- u
0
gree of differentiative control, but the cr

degree and kind of group integration Evolutionary culture scale

that is appropriate and necessary to the
Fig. 4. The weighted means of three R factors are plotted along the evolutionary culture
culture's adaptive structure. There is, in scale: division of labor by sex, organization of groups, and level of cohesiveness.
2t JULY 1972
235

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same regular, wavelike path along the should vary in relation to child-rearing peripheral movement, varied movement,
evolutionary scale. Moreover, all three needs and thus only indirectly in rela- three-dimensional movement, light
represent factors that are interlinked tion to societal evolution. movement, and hand and foot syn-
by the strongest residual bonds in the Many basic structural features of chrony. The sinuous factor involves
factor analysis of the measures (Fig. 4, frequent multipart trunk movement,
social and communication systems, how-
top). These three factors seem to rep- ever, do vary with the differentiation-trunk synchrony, successiveness, a flow-
integration pair. When the variance of
resent a single deep attribute of culture ing quality, trunk presentation, high
-the integrative tendency, which can all the factors of culture measurement synchrony, and curving movement.
best be observed by combining its three is plotted along the evolutionary scale, Not only does this pair of factors
indicators. the factors fall into three groups: correspond
(i) in many ways to the differ-
Figure 5 shows how the combined those that essentially go along with the entiation-integration pair, but they shift
weighted mean of integration varies in differentiation factor, (ii) those whosealong the evolutionary rank order in a
a clear, wavelike fashion along the variance follows the wavelike move- similar way (Fig. 6). The mean level of
evolutionary series and how this mean ment of the integration curve, and the(iii)
manipulative factor rises in three
a miscellaneous group, whose even
is related to the steadily mounting curve stages
oralong the evolutionary rank.
of differentiation. As I have already indeterminate movements indicate that These stages reflect an increase in light,
suggested, an intimate, though not di- they play no clear part in the overall varied, three-dimensional movement of
rect, relation exists between these two course of cultural evolution [Factors 6,
the extremities of the body in dance,
general cultural characterizers. It has 9 through 12, 14, and 6 through 19 as manifested, for example, in the toe-
been pointed out that groupy teams are (see box)]. It is notable that measures dancing of Europe and the elaborate
needed for many gardening tasks, while concerning the character of the family handplay of the Oriental dance. This
individualized teams are more suitable and the dimensions and structures of body style symbolizes a complex and
the kin group seem not to have a varied
for hunting, fishing, and intensive agri- de- approach to the environment.
culture. The sexual makeup of teams cisive relation to the overall course of As a matter of fact, all of the measures
also changes with the main subsistence species development as outlined in the in the manipulative factor are highly
base of culture. Most gathering and evolutionary scale of culture. If this correlated
is to elements in the differen-
gardening is relatively light work and not an expected result, it may be tiation
a factor.

takes place in moderate or warm cli- logical one. Family and kin are human The wavelike factor in Fig. 6 I term
mates; therefore, it can be performed "sinuous" because it traces the mean
psychobiological constants, essential to
by women, even if accompanied by all societies for ensuring the nurture level
of of scales that measure fluid, curva-
children and the emotional stability ceous
their children. Extractive activities, ex- of movement, often involving the
cept in the case of river and shoreline adults. These institutions are, of course,
central body (pelvis, breasts, shoulders).
fishing, are often strenuous and hazard-subject to change, but only withinAll a of these features, taken together,
ous operations, and are normally car- small range-perhaps because they are symbolize the feminine and the sexual.
ried out by men-especially since, too as fundamental to emotional security They are visible among African Gather-
main subsistence activities, they are to vary in such drastic ways as the fea-ers and among Polynesians and Black
usually confined to cold climates, wheretures of the integration factor. It ap- Africans, where women are prime pro-
women must stay home to keep the pears, therefore, that those social sci-ducers and where a feminine esthetic is
children alive (7). A good deal of in- entists who have sought to chart the dominant. The members of such cul-
tensive agriculture, such as plowing course of social evolution by studying tures fall easily into synchrony with
with large draft animals, is heavy work changes in family and kin structure each other at a level that other cul-
for which male strength is usually have been looking in the wrong direc- tures can scarcely achieve by intensive
required. tion. drill, probably because the sinuous
Although this is a sketchy account In fact, two deep attributes movement
(differ- style maintains a network of
of a vast and important subject, it entiation and integration) may be eroticall signals that keeps interpersonal
serves to show that the character and that are needed to produce an evolu- awareness high. It is, therefore, quite
the sexual makeup of productive teams, tionary taxonomy of culture. The com- understandable that these qualities of
as well as performing groups, change parative study of world dance styles movement should be prominent in those
according to the requirements of the supports this supposition. When cultures in which people dance, sing,
multi-
subsistence system. All the components factor analysis was performed on talk, 50 and work together with a great
of the integration factor shift to- measures of movement style against deal a of "natural and spontaneous" co-
gether as subsistence teams of different world sample of dance, only two fac- ordination. A high level of coordination
sexual character, kind of organization, tors emerged which varied in a unique has an adaptive function in these cul-
and type of leadership are fielded. and meaningful way along the evolu- ture zones, as I have already argued.
These ongoing, diurnal demands pro- tionary rank. (Five factors out of the re- It will be noted that this sinuous fac-

foundly affect the whole social fabric. tor moves across the evolutionary rank
maining seven varied in a random way;
For example, Barry, Child, and Bacon two minor factors varied in the same in a wavelike path which resembles that
(8) have shown that child-rearing aims way as the first of the two main fac- of the integration curve. In fact, the
and practices change with the require- tors.) two have highs and lows at most of
ments of the subsistence system. Initia- the same points. That the behavior of
The first of these two factors clusters
the differentiating, or manipulative,
tive is useful in the hunt, and therefore these pairs of factors-differentiation-
hunters cultivate independence in theiraspects of movement, and the second integration and manipulative-sinuous-
encompasses the erotic, feminine, in-
sons, while farmers train their children should so closely resemble each other
in obedience. Moreover, it seems logi- gathering aspects of movement. The is all the more striking since the sys-
cal to suggest that family structure manipulative factor involves frequent tems involved in measuring songs,

236 SCIENCE, VOL. 177

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dances, and societies are based upon 9-
different sets of concepts, each set de-
Differentiation
rived from the data being measured.
Therefore, it is highly probable that
these two pairs of factors measure the
same pair of deep attributes of culture- 7-
two forces that shape all human behav- / "- \
ior-practical, interactional, and expres- / i
sive. The main events in human evolu- 6-
tion can be explained in terms of the
interplay of these two attributes-the N
5-
differentiative and integrative-erotic, N/
both equally important in social and
communication systems. 4-

Integration
Modern Evolutionary Trends 3-

I now go beyond the data of ethnol-

ogy, considered so far, beyond the stage
of peasant agriculture and irrigation
empire, and employ the evolutionary 1-
frame and the paired factors to illumi- I I I I I I i I I
nate some of the main features of in- L) CC)
r-.- , "- (A
C
C ,(n
CL .' U
'X(UXo
(U o.
0) m -C

dustrial societies. In the first place, the

c
C
0
X 0)
o
e-0u
)n a)
) a
' o
.
t0 =)
differentiative factors continue their
N
? .4 C _ L
0) ( U >% < D
E E -= o .
ascent (Fig. 5) as science and machin- 1- 1 w O )
0<0<: -
ery multiply man's economic range. An mD ct
expanding economy and growing pop- Evolutionary culture scale
ulation are accompanied by the rise of
a monstrous administrative bureauc- Fig. 5. The weighted means of the differentiative factor (solid l
tive composite factor (broken line) are plotted along the evolutio
racy, along with an increase in the
These are the main factors from the 71 measures that were facto
range, capacity, speed, and precision of
of148 world cultures.
communications media. The solo bards
and the Salomes who entertained at
court remain, becoming entertainment 8
stars adored by millions. All this is
familiar.
Less noticed is the fact that the 7. Manipulative
coming of industry involves organiza- I ,/\ /
/
tional changes that are reflected in an /
upward swing of the integration factor. /
In the stage of plow agriculture, women
stayed largely in the harem, the home,54
\ Sensuous
or the garden, going out only in the
company of chaperoning relatives or v'/
neighbors. Modern city life tends 41to
break these ties or loosen their re-
straints. Factories and offices bring v
women back into public productive VI
function, not at first as equals, but in
an ever more complementary relation
to men. Concomitantly, performance
style grows steadily more multivoiced
as musicians experiment with polyph- 1.
ony, accept African polyrhythms in I I I I i I i i I

jazz and rock, and, nowadays, habitu- C I-

a (n c( c 0) .
CL tko a)
0 000)
ally utilize multichannel recording. <Q) .O a I N 26 ir :
LA
Certain forms of rock combine and M .s ,) C ( a) (U > <
< ( E: E E = a.) o X LaJ P.3

integrate more independent musical <C0

-'r-
cr I < < :> S Q- 0
levels than any other form of music aJ
analyzed by Cantometrics. Evolutionary culture scale
It is notorious that industrial produc-
Fig. 6. The two main factors of the multifactor a
tion and distribution depend, abovealong
all, the evolutionary culture scale; 373 dance co
upon the synchronous meshing of many Murdock sample were used in this multifactor anal
21 JULY 1972 237

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systems. A symbolic parallel can be gathering. Therefore, the thesis that to turn our backs on the gloomy view
found in the ordered sections of the man began as a bloodthirsty carnivoreof man's history that has haunted us
great 19th- and 20th-century sym- and an expert killer is a wish-fulfillmentfrom the time of Gibbon and Hegel.
phony orchestra, which spread from legend of armchair scientists that can It seems clear that human culture
Europe, across America, and into go on the shelf with Tarzan and the has progressed in one positive respect.
Japan, Australia, and now China, alongApes. However, the process has been multi-
with the industrial-managerial system Indeed, if we can believe the evi- lineal, as well as multileveled. Several
which it reinforces. Not only the sym-dence available from contemporarybranches of the human family have flow-
phony, however, but marching bands, gathering societies, the earliest culturesered in their own theaters of develop-
football, the ballet, and other massive flourished not because of superior ag- ment, each producing an independent
demonstrations of multileveled coordi- gressiveness, but because of the accu- series of brilliant civilizations. Moreover,
mulation of economic and, especially,
nation fascinate the people of industrial most of the 19 factors discovered in this
economies. communicative know-how (7, 10). Af- analysis do not increase with the dif-
This recent trend in human evolution rican Pygmies and Bushmen are famedferentiation factor. More than half of
thus seems to indicate that culture is wits and accomplished vocal polyphon-them-those that concern family and
moving into a stage where a peak ists, for their songs reflecting the harmoni- marriage, melody and rhythm, for in-
integration will match an unparalleled ous internal balance of cultures that stance-seem to have only an indirect
have endured since the dawn of human
high in differentiation. A somewhat relation to cultural evolution. Other
society. However, not only were thefactors, having to do with male-female,
similar situation prevailed once before
in man's cultural evolution-in one beginnings of culture rooted in coop- face-to-face relationships in teams, move
of its earliest stages (9). The Mbuti eration and communication, but cul- in response to the progressive differ-
Pygmies have apparently lived for tural progress has been marked, at entiative factor, but along a contrary
many millennia in remarkable balance every stage, by further development of path. This important integrative factor,
with their environment. The climate technical, administrative, and, espe- it will be recalled, draws together
in their high jungle is moderate, cially, verbal skills. I reemphasize the sexual division of labor, organization
mild, and healthful. Disease is rare, importance of vocal agility in human of groups, level of coordination, and
food is plentiful, and Mbuti society is evolution since, before it was found sinuous and synchronous movement.
to
permissive, egalitarian, supportive, fun- be an indicator of change, the very The interplay of the relatively in-
loving, and sharing. Their music is afact of cultural evolution remained in dependent factors with those bound
kind of perfectly blended, joyous vocaldoubt. It is not yet clear whether lan- directly and indirectly to technical
counterpoint-the sound of a Goldenguages can be arranged in a progressive progress gives human evolution a
Age that has somehow survived into the series, but there can be no doubt of a special, nondeterministic character.
present. We moderns may now have a rapid evolutionary development in sys- Each stage of technological develop-
tems for handling symbols. In fact, the ment produces a syndrome of com-
similar possibility, as predicted by these
curves of the evolutionary process. close parallel between the manipulative munication and organization that is, in
After twenty millennia of blood, sweat,and the differentiative factors suggests its setting, a unique and ideal adaptive
and tears, we have a technology thatthat every major human advance has pattern. Each new combination of the
can reduce environmental pressures to been made possible by an increase in basic structural factors with the other,
a minimum, if it is administered prop-manipulative finesse. In sum, the pro- less determined, factors gives rise to
erly. Man might again, like his remote gress of human culture is plainly re- a new life-style. Each of these life-
African ancestors, live in balance with flected in the degree of differential con- styles, both past and emergent, is a
his environment, with all his needs pro-trol man brings to bear upon the whole human universe, with its own logic and
vided for in a genuinely egalitarian,spectrum of his activities. its own endless and unpredictable pos-
sharing society. Some people argue that advances in sibilities. Man, the most social of the
But let us return to the known, to armaments have been the spur in evolu- animals, keeps on inventing cultures,
some of the general conclusions that tion, but weapons are merely one of each one capable of caring for people
can be drawn from this comparativemany kinds of tools. Other pessimists, from infancy to old age. Each of these
survey of the behavior of the human looking back over the period of em- emerging patterns brings forth fresh
species. First of all, the record of liv- pire, from the days of Egypt to the human solutions and ideas of lasting
ing cultures demonstrates that, at theend of the Chinese Empire, maintain value. Man's greatest achievement is
beginning of the evolutionary series, that history is a sorry circle of the here-in the sum of his cultural, his
same greedy mistakes. But these communicative know-how.
Homo sapiens lived mainly by gathering
fruits, nuts, seeds, honey, tubers, grubs,writers confuse the history of one Only part of this know-how is en-
rodents, and so on, rather than prin- stage of human evolution, that of Oldcompassed in the differentiative factor,
cipally by hunting large animals. Thus High Culture, with all of human his-which has thus far been the spur to
it was not aggressiveness, but an under- tory, which consists of at least ten maincultural evolution. In planning for the
standing of the food resources of the phases. In fact, the rise and fall of future of the entire human species, for
the children of the more than 13
terrain, and especially plant lore, that empire in classic times can be best
viewed
powered these nonauthoritarian, pacifist, as the utilization of the re- cultural subspecies, we must work with
collecting cultures. Recent studies of sources of the Old High Culture phase all aspects of culture, especially the
man's closest relatives among the greatby one people after another. Indeed, much-neglected integrative factor, and
apes show that ape societies, too, arethe rich possibilities of this stagewe of must also draw upon the full range
culture have only recently been of human solutions. Man's total heri-
ex-
peaceful, highly intrasupportive com-
munities that subsist principally by hausted. This interpretation permitstage us of life-styles can contribute to the
SCIENCE, VOL. 177
238

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 References and Notes
future,
future,without
without giving
giving
precedence
precedence
any any 7. R. B. Lee and I. DeVore, Man the Hunter
(Aldine, Chicago, 1968), pp. 3-95.
longer
longertotothe the
European
Europeansocial
social
and esthe-
and esthe-1. M. Mead, New Lives for Old (Dell, New 8. H. Barry, I. L. Child, M. K. Bacon, Amer.
tic
tic practices
practices that
that
accompanied
accompanied theofrise ofYork, 1956).
the rise Anthropol. 61, 51 (1959).
2. G. P. Murdock, Ethnographic Atlas (Univ. 9. C. M. Turbull, The Forest People (Simon &
industry.
industry.The The varied
varied
styles
styles
of industrial
of industrialof Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1967). Schuster, New York, 1961).
society
societyemerging
emerging today
today
in China,
in China, 3. A. Lomax, Ed., Folk Song Style and Culture
Japan,Japan, 10. J. F. Downs, The Two Worlds of the Washo
(AAAS, Washington, D.C., 1968). (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York, 1966);
Yugoslavia,
Yugoslavia, the
the
U.S.S.R.,
U.S.S.R.,
India,
India,
and and4. H. E. Driver and K. F. Scheussler, Amer. S. L. Marshall, Africa 31, 231.
Sweden
Swedenonly
onlyhint
hint
at the
at the
cultural
cultural
variety
varietyAnthropol. 59, 655 (1957); E. E. Erickson, 11. I thank Columbia University for sponsorship
thesis, Columbia University (1969); L. A. and the National Institute of Mental Health,
that
thatthe
thefuture
futurecancan
bring
bring
forthforth
as theas the Goodman and W. H. Kruskal, J. Amer. Stat.
National Endowment for the Humanities, The
character of cultural evolution is more Ass. 58, 310 (1963); H. F. Kaiser, Psycho- Wenner Gren Foundation, and the Rockefeller
metrika 23, 187 (1958); A. Lomax and E. E. and Ford foundations for support of this
generally understood. For almost a Erickson, Folk Song Style and Culture, A. research. I also thank Victor Grauer, co-
century, the intellectual atmosphere of Lomax, Ed. (AAAS, Washington, D.C., 1968), inventor of Cantometrics, and Roswell Rudd,
pp. 75-110; R. J. Rummel, Applied Factor musicologist, for the musical ratings; Edwin
the world has been poisoned by a false Analysis (Northwestern Univ. Press, Evanston, Erickson for his statistical guidance; Irmgaard
Darwinism that judged human social Ill., 1970); J. Sawyer and R. A. LeVine, Bartinieff and Forrestine Paulay, coinventors
Amer. Anthropol. 68, 708 (1966). with me of choreometrics for the movement
development as the survival of the 5. G. E. Swanson, The Birth of the Gods (Univ.
data; and especially Conrad Arensberg, close
fittest-that is, of the most successfully of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 1960). collaborator, mentor, and codirector of the
6. S. H. Udy, The Organization of Work research. This article may be identified as
aggressive individuals and societies. (Human Relations Area File Press, New reprint article A-661 of the Bureau of Ap-
This view can now be corrected. York, 1959). plied Social Research, Columbia University.

NEWS AND COMMENT and

and southern
southernFrance;
France;
they
they
alsoalso
occurred
occurred
in
in urban
urbanareas,
areas,including
including
Dresden
Dresden
and and
Hamburg,
Hamburg,and
andonon
at at
least
least
twotwo
occasions
occasions
in
in Tokyo
Tokyoduring
duringa 1923
a 1923
earthquake
earthquake
and and
Technology in Vietnam:
during
duringbombing
bombingraids
raids
in 1944-1945.
in 1944-1945.
In a fire storm, the area of intense
Fire Storm Project Fizzled that
Out high-speed, cyclone-like ground
burning sucks in oxygen at such a rate

winds are created, blowing into the fire

at speeds which may exceed 100 miles
The Advanced Research Projects Cong
Cong supply
supply
depots
depots
and base
and
camps
base camps
an hour. The Hamburg fire chief, for
Agency (ARPA), which is attached to were
werein in
thethe
woods.
woods.
But Senator
But Gaylord
Senator Gaylord
example, reporting on the fire storm of
the Department of Defense (DOD) Nelson
Nelson (D-Wis.)
(D-Wis.)
views views
the firethe
projects
fire projects
July 1943, said that many people died
made at least three attempts, in 1965, as
aspart
partof of
the the
U.S.'s U.S.'s
"callous"
"callous"
and "un- and "un-
from the intense heat even though they
1966, and 1967, to light what defense precedented environmental warfare" were located 150 meters from the near-
planners termed "fire storms"-the which has involved "an outrageous use est burning building.*
name used to describe the World War of technology." Both McConnell's classified paper
II holocausts at Hamburg, Dresden, and The USDA fire service role in the (which was later sanitized and pub-
elsewhere-in some of South Vietnam's project was led by Craig Chandler, a in the Air University Reviewt)
lished
most valuable timber country. All threefire storm expert who is now director and ARPA officials used the term fire
attempts, however, fizzled out. One mayof fire research for the Forest Service.
storm to describe the burning projects
have even caused rainfall instead of a The fire storm project is also discussed
in Vietnam. Chandler says he was asked
big forest fire. in a classified paper, obtained by Science,
on a number of occasions during the
The attempts were known by such written by Arthur F. McConnell, Jr., a
operation of the project whether a fire
euphemistic names as Sherwood Forest, lieutenant colonel in the Air Force who storm could be ignited in the humid,
Hot Tip, and Operation Pink Rose. was involved with the Ranch Hand de- tropical jungle. Although lighting a fire
They took place in the Mekong Terrace foliation missions. storm might be feasible under certain
section of South Vietnam-a central Two reasons were given for the proj- conditions in temperate areas, such as
plains area which contains several lux-
ect. One was that, by creating a fire the western United States, Chandler
ury timbers, such as mahogany and which would "crown," that is, burn out said he told the military it was not
rosewood, and half of South Vietnam'sdefoliated tops of trees, the fire would feasible to do so in the jungle.
sawmills. Timbering is said to be one of
remove layers of jungle canopy and Nonetheless, the fire storm project, as
the few industries that could develop make reconnaissance from the air more it came to be known, was started under
into prime importance for the South effective. A second reason was that a ARPA authorizing order 818. Its final
Vietnamese economy. Nonetheless, ex- large-scale jungle fire which reached reports are all classified, although some
perts from the U.S. Department of Ag- the tree tops would also destroy the press reports appeared at the time of
riculture (USDA) were called in by ground cover and make concealment the attempts. Chandler said he was
ARPA to advise on how to effectively and camouflage by the enemy from
burn the forests. The project's budgetU.S. bombing strikes or ground attack
was on the order of $1 million. * "Field notes on World War II German fire
impossible.
experience," title of contract No. N228(62479)-
Military sources say that the at- Fire storms can be many times more 65419 to Carl F. Miller and James W. Kerr,
tempted jungle fires took place in areas October 1965, Stanford Research Institute, Menlo
dangerous than regular fires; they have Park, Calif.
where there were no "permanent type occurred accidentally in forests in the t The sanitized version was published as: A. F.
villages," although they allow that Viet McConnell, Jr., "Mission: Ranch Hand," Air
American West, as well as in Australia Univ. Rev. 21, 89 (1970).
21 JULY 1972
239

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