Evolution of Human Cooperation: An Archaeological Approach Focusing on Hunter-Gather Society

Abstract

The history and development of cooperation between people is a major topic in many areas. The most popular ideas about how cooperation started are cultural group selection and the idea of charity. Scientists have different responses to them, though. People have evolved and survived in many places over a very long time, so they must have left behind a lot of proof. This paper looks into the main reasons why people work together and how cooperation has evolved by collecting historical samples and ethnic records and analysing them along with other research. The poll results show that the main reason people work together is to get what they want. To stay alive in natural settings that are very complicated, people work together to build trust and reputation systems. The creation of ways to respond to different cultures and punish people who don't follow the rules has helped to keep socialised systems of cooperation that were formed when cultures clashed or mixed. Cooperation is something that everyone does, but different places have their own religious beliefs and cultural practices that shape how people work together. A lot of different things affect how cooperative people are, and it's hard to come up with a good theoretical model just from the studies that have been done so far.