Some parts of human appearance seem to be adaptations to make an individual more attractive to the opposite sex. This posts investigates what they are and how reliable the research into them is. Continue reading »
Filed under Relationships …
The impersonal past and present
One of the more feared words in archaeology is “palimsest.” It refers to the principle that a single layer of sediment (or stratum) is not always made by a single event. In reality that layer could be the product of many years of deposition The net result of all this is that the actions of … Continue reading »
“Christmas parties” of the Upper Palaeolithic
I’ve previously discussed how one of the lesser known reasons forHomo sapienssuccess, particularly at higher latitudes, is our ability to divide a large group into several smaller groups to more efficiently gather resources from an area. However, an even lesser known fact is that these groups are themselves part of a large social structure which … Continue reading »
The evolution of monogomy, redux
For those of you who’ve been following this blog you should be able to recall that last week I wrote about a paper that purported to identify the development of monogamy in the human family tree. For those of you who haven’t been following I still wrote that post. And you can still read it. … Continue reading »
The evolution of monogamy
Humans have a rather bizarre relationships structure in which multiple, monogamous families live together. Whilst there may well be an “alpha” male he does not monopolise the females, instead allowing his subordinates to live within and mate with those in his group. This strategy is interesting for two main reasons; firstly because it is unique … Continue reading »
Scientific pick-up tips
Recently I examined an article that suggested we may sexually imprint on our parents and seek out mates similar to them (or at least I like to think I examined it and didn’t just waffle for 700 words). Amidst all the talk of “population homogeneity” and “assortive mating” I saw some observations about what people … Continue reading »
People sexually imprint on parents?
I recently spied an article in my Google Scholar alert feed that had a rather interesting abstract. This study investigates spousal correlation and mate preference for height in the Japanese population…It also indicates a possible role of a sexual imprinting-like mechanism in human mate choice. The research found that Japanese university students’ ideal marriage partners … Continue reading »
