Biological and Physical Anthropology | Open Access Articles

In most, if not all, societies, incest taboos -- perhaps the most universal of cultural taboos --

include prohibitions on marriage between parent and child or between siblings. This

universality suggests a biological origin, yet the considerable variation across societies in

the full range of prohibited marriage relations implies a cultural origin. Correspondingly,

theories regarding the origin of incest taboos vary from those that focus on the biological

consequences were marriage-based procreation allowed to include inbred matings, to those

that focus on social consequences such as confounding social roles, especially within the

family, or restricting networks of interfamily alliances, were …

Probably one of the most interesting—and challenging—stories in

the evolution of our species is the transition from our shared

ancestry with other primates to human societies as we know them

today. What makes us like other primates and what makes us different?

These are the evolutionary themes worked out during this crucial

transition. These themes help define what distinguishes our species

from other primate species. The odyssey from the Old World monkeys to the great apes and

then to the development of our unique forms of social organization is,

then, the overall theme of this book. The odyssey begins, as …

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