[Film spotlight] The Lakota Daughters examines the life of Lakota girls in South Dakota

A new documentary, titled The Lakota Daughters, takes a look at the lives of girls and women on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

"Poverty, drugs, alcohol, frequent disappearances of young women and the absence of law enforcement are all issues plaguing the Pine Ridge Native American Reservation in South Dakota. But women there are trying to make the future better and brighter as they work to create "a girl society" that is aimed at helping girls aged 10 to 18."

You can learn more about the film here.

[FCS Paper] The transition from egalitarian to non-egalitarian social structures in children

We're thrilled to share a new FCS chapter, entitled "Mobility, autonomy and learning: could the transition from egalitarian to non-egalitarian social structures start with children?" from FCS members Rachel Reckin, Sheina Lew-Levy, Noa Lavi, and Kate Ellis-Davies. This chapter is part of a larger volume, "Social inequality before farming?" edited by Luc Moreau.

Click here to access the PDF of this chapter.

[Paper spotlight] It's in the bag: mobile containers in human evolution and child development

This new paper from Thomas Suddendorf and colleagues examines the development of our understanding of mobile containers — such as baskets and bags.

Abstract: Mobile containers are a keystone human innovation. Ethnographic data indicate that all human groups use containers such as bags, quivers and baskets, ensuring that individuals have important resources at the ready and are prepared for opportunities and threats before they materialize. Although there is speculation surrounding the invention of carrying devices, the current hard archaeological evidence only reaches back some 100,000 years. The dearth of ancient evidence may reflect not only taphonomic processes, but also a lack of attention to these devices. To begin investigating the origins of carrying devices we focus on exploring the basic cognitive processes involved in mobile container use and report an initial study on young children's understanding and deployment of such devices. We gave 3- to 7-year-old children (N = 106) the opportunity to spontaneously identify and use a basket to increase their own carrying capacity and thereby obtain more resources in the future. Performance improved linearly with age, as did the likelihood of recognizing that adults use mobile carrying devices to increase carrying capacity. We argue that the evolutionary and developmental origins of mobile containers reflect foundational cognitive processes that enable humans to think about their own limits and compensate for them.