Are Hunter-Gatherer Societies Truly Equal?

Should We Look to Hunter-Gatherer Societies as Models of Equality?

On the shores of Lake Eyasi in Northern Tanzania, a small number of people still hunt and gather their food. Today a Hadza hunter has taken down an animal—a kudu. He can’t carry it by himself, so he cuts his poisoned arrow from its flank, covers the carcass in dry grass to hide it from hyenas, and heads home to enlist help. News spreads like wildfire across the camp. Everybody rushes to the kill. They divide up the carcass, carry it back, then d…

Are Hunter-Gatherer Societies Truly Equal?

New research challenges the idea that ancient hunter-gatherer societies were perfectly egalitarian. Inequality existed, often driven by self-interest, not generosity.