Human ultrasociality began with Natufian villages scaling up 12,000 years ago

Evidence

I am using 10,000–12,000 years as a convenient starting point when the first human groups in the Middle East (known as Natufian villages) began to rapidly scale up. This is also where Diamond, 2005, p. 512, starts his survey of divergent cultural evolution. However, this process unfolded at different times in different geographic regions. Moreover, this broad pattern of history masks a great deal of fluctuation in the size and social complexity of human groups even during the Pleistocene. These details are important, but do not change the overall argument that some human societies scaled up and expanded at the expense of rival groups that did not. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 650

Categorization

• XREF: The Natufian starting point echoes Diamond’s ‘Guns Germs and Steel’ framework — a useful chronology anchor for the reader’s integration timeline. — connects to: Only humans achieved ultra-sociality within the last 12,000 years; Prosocial religions outcompeted rival groups historically and scaled up human social organization — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 479; Human ultrasociality rests on cultural moral systems and reciprocity rather than kin selection. — Nowak, M. A., & Sigmund, K, Evolution of Indirect Reciprocity by…, 6 (+7 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Only humans achieved ultra-sociality within the last 12,000 years; Prosocial religions outcompeted rival groups historically and scaled up human social organization — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 479; Human ultrasociality rests on cultural moral systems and reciprocity rather than kin selection. — Nowak, M. A., & Sigmund, K, Evolution of Indirect Reciprocity by…, 6 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Cumulative culture began over a million years ago. #complicates (0.72) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 43