Effect of resource spatial correlation and Hunter-Fisher-Gatherer mobility on social cooperation in Tierra del Fuego

This article presents an agent-based model designed to explore the development of cooperation in hunter-fisher-gatherer societies that face a dilemma of sharing an unpredictable resource that is randomly distributed in space. The model is a stylised abstraction of the Yamana society, which inhabited...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Santos, Jose Ignacio, Pereda, María, Zurro, Debora, Alvarez, Myrian Rosa, Caro, Jorge, Galán, José Manuel, Briz Godino, Ivan
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/5583
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/5583
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:COOPERATION
AGENT-BASED MODEL
HUNTER-GATHERERS
TIERRA DEL FUEGO
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5.4
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5
Descripción
Sumario:This article presents an agent-based model designed to explore the development of cooperation in hunter-fisher-gatherer societies that face a dilemma of sharing an unpredictable resource that is randomly distributed in space. The model is a stylised abstraction of the Yamana society, which inhabited the channels and islands of the southernmost part of Tierra del Fuego (Argentina-Chile). According to ethnographic sources, the Yamana developed cooperative behaviour supported by an indirect reciprocity mechanism: whenever someone found an extraordinary confluence of resources, such as a beached whale, they would use smoke signals to announce their find, bringing people together to share food and exchange different types of social capital. The model provides insight on how the spatial concentration of beachings and agents? movements in the space can influence cooperation. We conclude that the emergence of informal and dynamic communities that operate as a vigilance network preserves cooperation and makes defection very costly.