Vivek V. Venkataraman
@vivek123.bsky.social
Check out our new paper in the journal Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, led by Ian J. Wallace.
"Dampened inflammation and reduced risk of osteoarthritis among non-industrialized societies"
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
"Dampened inflammation and reduced risk of osteoarthritis among non-industrialized societies"
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
October 14, 2025 at 5:12 AM
Check out our new paper in the journal Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, led by Ian J. Wallace.
"Dampened inflammation and reduced risk of osteoarthritis among non-industrialized societies"
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
"Dampened inflammation and reduced risk of osteoarthritis among non-industrialized societies"
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
From a 2004 autobiographical piece by Bruce published in Before Farming (now Hunter Gatherer Research), well worth a read!
September 19, 2025 at 3:54 AM
From a 2004 autobiographical piece by Bruce published in Before Farming (now Hunter Gatherer Research), well worth a read!
Bruce Winterhalder was once asked to share some professional insights.
Here they are:
Here they are:
September 19, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Bruce Winterhalder was once asked to share some professional insights.
Here they are:
Here they are:
But...I did learn that Leda Cosmides was influenced by The Territorial Imperative early in her career.
www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
August 13, 2025 at 5:22 PM
But...I did learn that Leda Cosmides was influenced by The Territorial Imperative early in her career.
www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
"Behavior drives morphological change during human evolution"
Our new article is out in @science.org today
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Our new article is out in @science.org today
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
July 31, 2025 at 10:02 PM
"Behavior drives morphological change during human evolution"
Our new article is out in @science.org today
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Our new article is out in @science.org today
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Just like in industrialized societies, aging results in earlier wake-up times. Despite many differences between small-scale and industrialized societies in sleep behavior, this may be one way circadian rhythms are constrained across the economic spectrum.
July 31, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Just like in industrialized societies, aging results in earlier wake-up times. Despite many differences between small-scale and industrialized societies in sleep behavior, this may be one way circadian rhythms are constrained across the economic spectrum.
We recorded sleep-wake patterns via actigraphy from 1036 Orang Asli adults across 12 communities in Peninsular Malaysia undergoing market integration, marked by changes in permanent infrastructure (electricity and housing), digital technologies (smartphones), and labor practices (i.e., wage labor).
July 31, 2025 at 8:01 PM
We recorded sleep-wake patterns via actigraphy from 1036 Orang Asli adults across 12 communities in Peninsular Malaysia undergoing market integration, marked by changes in permanent infrastructure (electricity and housing), digital technologies (smartphones), and labor practices (i.e., wage labor).
Pleased to present our new preprint on sleep and circadian rhythms among the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia.
This is a fascinating system for exploring sleep biology. Lots of variation in light exposure, housing type, and subsistence.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵 below.
This is a fascinating system for exploring sleep biology. Lots of variation in light exposure, housing type, and subsistence.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵 below.
July 31, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Pleased to present our new preprint on sleep and circadian rhythms among the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia.
This is a fascinating system for exploring sleep biology. Lots of variation in light exposure, housing type, and subsistence.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵 below.
This is a fascinating system for exploring sleep biology. Lots of variation in light exposure, housing type, and subsistence.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵 below.
I revisited this after taking my kids to see Kirk and Karen last week. They are doing well.
July 27, 2025 at 7:01 PM
I revisited this after taking my kids to see Kirk and Karen last week. They are doing well.
And here's data on the percentage of calories brought back by men vs. women.
July 27, 2025 at 7:01 PM
And here's data on the percentage of calories brought back by men vs. women.
General alignment with the risk-return argument for the SDOL.
July 27, 2025 at 7:01 PM
General alignment with the risk-return argument for the SDOL.
Here's evidence for the benefit of resource-pooling at the band level. In this case, the data show protein consumption. Individual-level variance is too high to meet daily needs (red line), but requirements are easily met after widespread sharing.
July 27, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Here's evidence for the benefit of resource-pooling at the band level. In this case, the data show protein consumption. Individual-level variance is too high to meet daily needs (red line), but requirements are easily met after widespread sharing.
The data show patterns of stability and flexibility in the SDOL. Women don't hunt much but men do gather.
At the household level, spouses performed different activities on 72% of days, indicating the performance of complementary tasks.
At the household level, spouses performed different activities on 72% of days, indicating the performance of complementary tasks.
July 27, 2025 at 7:01 PM
The data show patterns of stability and flexibility in the SDOL. Women don't hunt much but men do gather.
At the household level, spouses performed different activities on 72% of days, indicating the performance of complementary tasks.
At the household level, spouses performed different activities on 72% of days, indicating the performance of complementary tasks.
Some fun unpublished data from a talk I gave years ago on the sexual division of labor (SDOL) among the Batek of Malaysia.
The Batek have been described as highly gender-egalitarian.
Kirk and Karen Endicott collected the data in 1975-76, back when the Batek were fully nomadic foragers.
The Batek have been described as highly gender-egalitarian.
Kirk and Karen Endicott collected the data in 1975-76, back when the Batek were fully nomadic foragers.
July 27, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Some fun unpublished data from a talk I gave years ago on the sexual division of labor (SDOL) among the Batek of Malaysia.
The Batek have been described as highly gender-egalitarian.
Kirk and Karen Endicott collected the data in 1975-76, back when the Batek were fully nomadic foragers.
The Batek have been described as highly gender-egalitarian.
Kirk and Karen Endicott collected the data in 1975-76, back when the Batek were fully nomadic foragers.
From our new preprint on physical activity (PA) and cardiometabolic health among the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia.
An extreme lifestyle gradient results in drastic variation in PA, w/ especially notable age-related declines in PA with urbanization
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
An extreme lifestyle gradient results in drastic variation in PA, w/ especially notable age-related declines in PA with urbanization
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
July 22, 2025 at 2:18 PM
From our new preprint on physical activity (PA) and cardiometabolic health among the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia.
An extreme lifestyle gradient results in drastic variation in PA, w/ especially notable age-related declines in PA with urbanization
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
An extreme lifestyle gradient results in drastic variation in PA, w/ especially notable age-related declines in PA with urbanization
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Our new paper on Arsi gelada feeding ecology!
This is the southernmost living population of geladas. Their envt is lower elevation and thus hotter compared to other sites.
Activity budget data suggest this is a pretty marginal envt for geladas.
brill.com/view/journal...
This is the southernmost living population of geladas. Their envt is lower elevation and thus hotter compared to other sites.
Activity budget data suggest this is a pretty marginal envt for geladas.
brill.com/view/journal...
April 28, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Our new paper on Arsi gelada feeding ecology!
This is the southernmost living population of geladas. Their envt is lower elevation and thus hotter compared to other sites.
Activity budget data suggest this is a pretty marginal envt for geladas.
brill.com/view/journal...
This is the southernmost living population of geladas. Their envt is lower elevation and thus hotter compared to other sites.
Activity budget data suggest this is a pretty marginal envt for geladas.
brill.com/view/journal...
indeed. still amazing levels of flexibility though!
Darwin wrote: “…the foot has not altogether lost its prehensile power, as shown by their manner of climbing trees, and of using them in other ways”
Darwin wrote: “…the foot has not altogether lost its prehensile power, as shown by their manner of climbing trees, and of using them in other ways”
April 23, 2025 at 4:42 PM
indeed. still amazing levels of flexibility though!
Darwin wrote: “…the foot has not altogether lost its prehensile power, as shown by their manner of climbing trees, and of using them in other ways”
Darwin wrote: “…the foot has not altogether lost its prehensile power, as shown by their manner of climbing trees, and of using them in other ways”
This preprint isn’t a defense of any of the meanings of Man the Hunter. It’s a call for clarity.
Man the Hunter can and should be critiqued, but being specific will help to achieve more productive dialogue and science communication.
Man the Hunter can and should be critiqued, but being specific will help to achieve more productive dialogue and science communication.
April 21, 2025 at 9:09 PM
This preprint isn’t a defense of any of the meanings of Man the Hunter. It’s a call for clarity.
Man the Hunter can and should be critiqued, but being specific will help to achieve more productive dialogue and science communication.
Man the Hunter can and should be critiqued, but being specific will help to achieve more productive dialogue and science communication.
At the MTH conference, Dart and Ardrey were hardly mentioned, and when they were, it was dismissively.
Edmund Leach said Ardrey’s books were ‘best left along altogether.’
Edmund Leach said Ardrey’s books were ‘best left along altogether.’
April 21, 2025 at 9:09 PM
At the MTH conference, Dart and Ardrey were hardly mentioned, and when they were, it was dismissively.
Edmund Leach said Ardrey’s books were ‘best left along altogether.’
Edmund Leach said Ardrey’s books were ‘best left along altogether.’
For their part, anthropologists were equally dismissive of Dart and Ardrey.
Sherwood Washburn, Berkeley professor and author of the ‘new physical anthropology’, was one of the earliest critics of Dart’s Killer Ape Theory.
He said Ardrey was a ‘popularizer of data he does not understand.’
Sherwood Washburn, Berkeley professor and author of the ‘new physical anthropology’, was one of the earliest critics of Dart’s Killer Ape Theory.
He said Ardrey was a ‘popularizer of data he does not understand.’
April 21, 2025 at 9:09 PM
For their part, anthropologists were equally dismissive of Dart and Ardrey.
Sherwood Washburn, Berkeley professor and author of the ‘new physical anthropology’, was one of the earliest critics of Dart’s Killer Ape Theory.
He said Ardrey was a ‘popularizer of data he does not understand.’
Sherwood Washburn, Berkeley professor and author of the ‘new physical anthropology’, was one of the earliest critics of Dart’s Killer Ape Theory.
He said Ardrey was a ‘popularizer of data he does not understand.’
Ardrey was dismissive of contemporary HG's (‘human evolution’s losers’), and thought they added little to our understanding of prehistory. He also dismissed the insights of the MTH conference, like Lee’s work on the importance of women’s gathering.
April 21, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Ardrey was dismissive of contemporary HG's (‘human evolution’s losers’), and thought they added little to our understanding of prehistory. He also dismissed the insights of the MTH conference, like Lee’s work on the importance of women’s gathering.
By the way, in 1971, Ardrey and Louis Leakey held a dialogue at Caltech. You can find the full transcript here: authors.library.caltech.edu/records/4cjg...
Leakey thought Ardrey was going too far on humanity’s violent origins.
Leakey thought Ardrey was going too far on humanity’s violent origins.
April 21, 2025 at 9:09 PM
By the way, in 1971, Ardrey and Louis Leakey held a dialogue at Caltech. You can find the full transcript here: authors.library.caltech.edu/records/4cjg...
Leakey thought Ardrey was going too far on humanity’s violent origins.
Leakey thought Ardrey was going too far on humanity’s violent origins.
These meanings are often confused.
In fact, there was little dialogue between popular writers (like Robert Ardrey and Desmond Morris) and professional anthropologists.
Ardrey was motivated by paleoanthropologist Raymond Dart’s theories, combined with the work of ethologists like Konrad Lorenz.
In fact, there was little dialogue between popular writers (like Robert Ardrey and Desmond Morris) and professional anthropologists.
Ardrey was motivated by paleoanthropologist Raymond Dart’s theories, combined with the work of ethologists like Konrad Lorenz.
April 21, 2025 at 9:09 PM
These meanings are often confused.
In fact, there was little dialogue between popular writers (like Robert Ardrey and Desmond Morris) and professional anthropologists.
Ardrey was motivated by paleoanthropologist Raymond Dart’s theories, combined with the work of ethologists like Konrad Lorenz.
In fact, there was little dialogue between popular writers (like Robert Ardrey and Desmond Morris) and professional anthropologists.
Ardrey was motivated by paleoanthropologist Raymond Dart’s theories, combined with the work of ethologists like Konrad Lorenz.
Background: our preprint argues that there are different meanings of Man the Hunter. See abstract.
April 21, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Background: our preprint argues that there are different meanings of Man the Hunter. See abstract.
What does the phrase Man the Hunter mean?
It’s everywhere in popular discourse, but rarely defined.
As a diverse group of hunter-gatherer scholars, we offer a new history and analysis of this controversial phrase.
osf.io/preprints/os...
It’s everywhere in popular discourse, but rarely defined.
As a diverse group of hunter-gatherer scholars, we offer a new history and analysis of this controversial phrase.
osf.io/preprints/os...
April 4, 2025 at 8:00 PM
What does the phrase Man the Hunter mean?
It’s everywhere in popular discourse, but rarely defined.
As a diverse group of hunter-gatherer scholars, we offer a new history and analysis of this controversial phrase.
osf.io/preprints/os...
It’s everywhere in popular discourse, but rarely defined.
As a diverse group of hunter-gatherer scholars, we offer a new history and analysis of this controversial phrase.
osf.io/preprints/os...