Apr 30, 2025 07:44 PM
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1082058
INTRO: Social singing and dance are often assumed to be hard-wired into the human condition; studies have supported the conclusion that these are common across cultures. But new research from a University of California, Davis, anthropologist challenges the idea that dance and lullabies are universal among humans. The study, published April 29 in Current Biology, draws on 43 years of research with the Northern Aché, an Indigenous population in Paraguay.
“Aside from church singing introduced by missionaries, Northern Aché adults sing alone and in a limited number of contexts,” said study author Manvir Singh, an assistant professor of anthropology at UC Davis. “As far as we can tell, anthropologists have never observed dancing or infant-directed song among the Northern Aché.”
The research — stemming from detailed and longstanding ethnographic fieldwork by anthropologist, Arizona State University (ASU) professor and study second author Kim Hill — helps clarify the separate roles biology and cultural transmission play in producing and sustaining dance and lullabies in human societies.
“Dance and infant-related song are widely considered universal, a view that has been supported by cross-cultural research, including my own,” said Singh. “And this conclusion, in turn, informs evolutionary theorizing about music’s origins.”
The research supports the idea that dance and lullabies are learned behaviors that don’t arise spontaneously. Individuals must invent, tweak and culturally transmit them... (MORE - details, no ads)
INTRO: Social singing and dance are often assumed to be hard-wired into the human condition; studies have supported the conclusion that these are common across cultures. But new research from a University of California, Davis, anthropologist challenges the idea that dance and lullabies are universal among humans. The study, published April 29 in Current Biology, draws on 43 years of research with the Northern Aché, an Indigenous population in Paraguay.
“Aside from church singing introduced by missionaries, Northern Aché adults sing alone and in a limited number of contexts,” said study author Manvir Singh, an assistant professor of anthropology at UC Davis. “As far as we can tell, anthropologists have never observed dancing or infant-directed song among the Northern Aché.”
The research — stemming from detailed and longstanding ethnographic fieldwork by anthropologist, Arizona State University (ASU) professor and study second author Kim Hill — helps clarify the separate roles biology and cultural transmission play in producing and sustaining dance and lullabies in human societies.
“Dance and infant-related song are widely considered universal, a view that has been supported by cross-cultural research, including my own,” said Singh. “And this conclusion, in turn, informs evolutionary theorizing about music’s origins.”
The research supports the idea that dance and lullabies are learned behaviors that don’t arise spontaneously. Individuals must invent, tweak and culturally transmit them... (MORE - details, no ads)