Transmission of Foraging Knowledge among BaYaka Hunter-Gatherer Children in the Republic of the Congo

` ` Transmission of Foraging Knowledge among BaYaka Hunter-Gatherer Children in Congo Basin Haneul Jang, PhD Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse 2025 December ~ Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (UMI-SOURCE) First-order kin Non-kin -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 Kin bias becomes weaker as they age, as they start foraging with non-kin peers Methods Research Questions How Foraging Knowledge is Transmitted to Children in a Hunter-Gatherer Society? Multi-Stage Learning Model Background Cultural Transmission How knowledge is passed between individuals Vertical Oblique Horizontal Parents Child Non-parents, Skilled Individuals Child Peer to Peer Learning with Peers, Skilled Individuals Learning from Parents Social Network Analysis How knowledge flows within a broader group or community BaYaka Hunter-Gatherers (Cavalli-Sforza et al., 1982; Boyd & Richerson 1985; Reyes-García et al., 2016; Hewlett 2021; Lew-Levy et al., 2023 and many more) Hewlett& Cavalli-Sforza, 1986; Richerson and Boyd 2005; Mesoudi 2011 Foraging skills Food Location Information Semi-Nomadic Lifestyle Mixed-subsistence Economy (Hunting, Gathering, Crops, Trade) Lewis 2002; Hewlett 1991; Kitanishi, 1995, 1998; Meehan 2005, 2009; Lew-Levy et al., 2019 Extensive Food Sharing Cooperative Childcare Egalitarian Social System BaYaka children start joining their mothers’ foraging trips from early age to learn foraging skills 230-days Focal Follow Observations during Women’s Foraging Trips Foraging Group Composition (Relatedness, Sex, Age Class) Observation on > 15,000 ties among 60 individuals à230 Undirected Networks Stochastic blockmodel (Redhead et al., 2023; Ross et al., 2023) Part 1 Part 2 qTo whom do you share…? qFrom whom do you receive…? Self-Reported Network Questions with all inhabitants in a BaYaka village (N = 132; 4 to 75 years) Bayesian Latent Network Model (Redhead et al., 2023) Jang & Redhead (2025) PNAS Nexus 1. Foraging Skills & Knowledge 2. Food Location Information Jang et al., (2024) Science Advances How BaYaka Children Learn During Mothers’ Foraging Trips? How Long-term Learning and Short-term Learning Compare? Part 1 Part 2 Results Children join foraging trips of their mothers, where their siblings also join Individuals from different age classes forage together, rather than adults only foraging with other adults A kin bias observed in between early childhood and middle childhood, disappears among middle childhood peers & adolescents Younger Siblings Non-kin Peers & Adolescents The Role of Middle Childhood Mixed-Age Groups Social Ties in Women’s Foraging Groups Children in middle childhood bridge knowledge transmission between adolescents and those in early childhood Children gain opportunities for both horizontal & vertical learning while joining their mothers’ foraging trips Generalized Reciprocity in Information Sharing Giver Recipient qSkills flow from adults to younger individuals, or among peers. qInformation flows mostly among peers. qInformation is shared more broadly, frequently & reciprocally than foraging skills. Recipient Giver Peer-to-Peer Across All Ages Peer-to-Peer Peer-to-Peer Older-toyounger Take-Home Messages Sharing without Immediate Return, Built on Long-Term Trust üThe importance of peer-to-peer transmission in foraging knowledge sharing within BaYaka society üChildren actively participate in knowledge sharing as both givers & receivers from an early age, learning to build and foster cooperative relationships with peers that can persist into adulthood. Children not only acquire skills from adults but also contribute to skill transmission among peers & to the broader flow of information across the community Conclusion Conclusion Skill Sharing PART 1 : Jang, H. et al. (2024) Women’s subsistence networks scaffold cultural transmission among BaYaka foragers. Science Advances,10(2), eadj2543. PART 2: Jang, H. & Redhead, D. (2025) Knowledge transmission networks in long-term and short-term learning within a foraging society. PNAS Nexus, Volume 4, Issue 9, pgaf258.