Aiming to better understand human demographic and dispersal history, the study uses Bayesian phylogenetic comparative methods to trace post-marital residence and cultural changes among 27 Indo-European and 135 Austronesian languages. They suggest that changes from uxorilocality to other types of residences (neolocality and virolocality) are more common than the inverse transitions. The results are generally supported with one exception: Austronesian societies have a higher rate of transition from neolocality to uxorilocality (1.5) than the other way around (0.9). Other relevant findings are that proto-Indo-European societies tend to follow virilocality, while proto-Malayo-Polynesian uxorilocality. There is a commonality for both language families to present instability of uxorilocality and unusual loss of uxorilocality.

This study explores why initiation rites for girls are observed in some societies and absent in others. Further, the author seeks to understand cross-cultural variation in the rites.

This article discusses initiation rites for girls. Specifically explored are the reasons why the ceremonies are observed in some societies and omitted in others and what the variations between societies demonstrates.

Using linguistic trees as models of population history in combination with ethnographic data on kinship, the authors of the present study reconstruct post-marital residence rules of early Austronesian societies. Analyses include a Markov-chain Monte Carlo comparative method implemented in a Bayesian phylogenetic framework.

This article presents codes for adolescent initiation ceremonies in the standard cross-cultural sample. Commonly held assumptions about initiation ceremonies were not supported. Article focuses on differences between male and female ceremonies. Statistically significant correlations between the codes are indicated.

In this study, the authors analyze the evolutionary history of female and male marital dispersal norms in Sino-Tibetan ethnic groups. They also test for the coevolution of agriculture, domesticated cattle pastoralism, and unilineal descent with these dispersal norms. Results indicate that early Sino-Tibetans were likely patrilocal, agriculture and unilineal descent coevolved with female dispersal norms, and cattle domestication did not coevolve with dispersal norms in Sino-Tibetan ethnic groups.

Textor summarizes cross-cultural male initiation rites findings pertaining to cultural, environmental, psychological, and social phenomena.

Brown's (1963) three hypotheses on female puberty rites were tested. After presenting an adjustment for data quality control, the author demonstrates that Brown's (1963) relationships became insignificant. Female physiology as symbolized by menstruation is suggested as a better predictor for female puberty rites.

The purpose of this paper is to examine female puberty rites and to suggest that such rites may be explained in terms of female physiology, as symbolized, for example, by menstruation.

This article uses signaling theory and tests for a relationship between costly male rites and frequency of warfare.