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Dr Thomas Currie

Associate Professor in Cultural Evolution

01326 259028

Stella Turk Building L04 (lower ground)

University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, TR10 9FE

Office hours:

Monday 10-11am

Thursday 12-1pm

Overview

My research focuses on investigating human behaviour and cultural diversity using evolutionary theory. I use statistical analyses and agent-based modelling to test competing hypotheses about how cultural traits and societies change over time, and to understand what ecological and social factors drive the evolution of social and political organization. I am particularly interested in understanding how our ability to create social rules (“institutions”) affects the evolution of cooperation and collective action in humans, and how institutions evolve over time. I also apply this framework to studying community-based conservation, and work with pastoral communities in Kenya to understand the factors affecting success or failure of different community-based projects.

Broad research specialisms:

Cultural Evolution
Human Evolutionary Ecology
Community-based Conservation
Phylogenetic Comparative Methods

Qualifications

PhD Evolutionary Anthropology (University College London),
MSc Evolutionary Psychology (University of Liverpool),
BSc Biology (University of Bristol)

Career

2018-present Associate Professor in Cultural Evolution, Centre for Ecology & Conservation Biosciences, University of Exeter, UK
2015- 2018 Senior Lecturer in Cultural Evolution, Centre for Ecology & Conservation Biosciences, University of Exeter, UK
2013-2015 Lecturer in Cultural Evolution, Centre for Ecology & Conservation Biosciences, University of Exeter, UK
2010-2013 Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Human Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Anthropology, University College London, UK
2009-2010 Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Hasegawa Laboratory, Evolutionary Cognitive Science Research Center, Department of Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Japan
2007 Visiting Fellow Department of Psychology, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Research group links

Behavioural Ecology

Research

Research projects

Publications

Key publications | Publications by category | Publications by year

Key publications

Currie T, Campenni M, Ontiri E, Njagi T, Perret C, Walker L (2021). The Cultural Evolution & Ecology of Institutions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 376, 20200047-20200047. Abstract.

Currie TE, Turchin P, Turner E, Gavrilets S (2020). Duration of agriculture and distance from the steppe predict the evolution of large-scale human societies in Afro-Eurasia. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 7(1). Abstract.

Ontiri EM, Odino M, Kasanga A, Kahumbu P, Robinson LW, Currie T, Hodgson DJ (2019). Maasai pastoralists kill lions in retaliation for depredation of livestock by lions. People and Nature, 1(1), 59-69.

Turchin P, Currie TE, Whitehouse H, Francois P, Feeney K, Mullins D, Hoyer D, Collins C, Grohmann S, Savage P, et al (2018). Quantitative historical analysis uncovers a single dimension of complexity that structures global variation in human social organization. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 115(2), E144-E151. Author URL.

Turchin P, Currie TE, Turner EAL, Gavrilets S (2013). War, space, and the evolution of Old World complex societies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(41), 16384-16389. Abstract.

Currie TE, Greenhill SJ, Gray RD, Hasegawa T, Mace R (2010). Rise and fall of political complexity in island South-East Asia and the Pacific. Nature, 467(7317), 801-804. Abstract. Author URL.

Publications by category

Journal articles

Walker L, Ontiri E, Campenni M, Perret C, Currie T (In Press). Multilevel Cultural Landscapes in Natural Resource Governance: a case study of community conservancies in Northern Kenya. Institutional Evolution & Organizational Complexity

Flitton A, Currie TE (2022). Assessing different historical pathways in the cultural evolution of economic development. Evolution and Human Behavior, 43(1), 71-82. Abstract.

Savage PE, Passmore S, Chiba G, Currie TE, Suzuki H, Atkinson QD (2022). Sequence alignment of folk song melodies reveals cross-cultural regularities of musical evolution. Curr Biol, 32(6), 1395-1402.e8. Abstract. Author URL.

Turchin P, Currie T, Collins C, Levine J, Oyebamiji O, Edwards NR, Holden PB, Hoyer D, Feeney K, François P, et al (2021). An integrative approach to estimating productivity in past societies using Seshat: Global History Databank. Holocene, 31(6), 1055-1065. Abstract.

Matsumae H, Ranacher P, Savage PE, Blasi DE, Currie TE, Koganebuchi K, Nishida N, Sato T, Tanabe H, Tajima A, et al (2021). Exploring correlations in genetic and cultural variation across language families in northeast Asia. Sci Adv, 7(34). Abstract. Author URL.

Whitehouse H, François P, Savage PE, Currie TE, Feeney KC, Cioni E, Purcell R, Ross RM, Larson J, Baines J, et al (2021). Retraction Note: Complex societies precede moralizing gods throughout world history. Nature, 595(7866). Author URL.

Whitehouse H, Turchin P, François P, Savage PE, Currie TE, Feeney KC, Cioni E, Purcell R, Ross RM, Larson J, et al (2020). A New Era in the Study of Global History is Born but it Needs to be Nurtured. Journal of Cognitive Historiography, 0(0), 142-158.

Whitehouse H, François P, Savage PE, Currie TE, Feeney KC, Cioni E, Purcell R, Ross RM, Larson J, Baines J, et al (2019). Complex societies precede moralizing gods throughout world history. Nature, 568(7751), 226-229. Abstract.

Mullins DA, Hoyer D, Collins C, Currie T, Feeney K, François P, Savage PE, Whitehouse H, Turchin P (2018). A Systematic Assessment of “Axial Age” Proposals Using Global Comparative Historical Evidence. American Sociological Review, 83(3), 596-626. Abstract.

Ellis S, Franks DW, Nattrass S, Currie TE, Cant MA, Giles D, Balcomb KC, Croft DP (2018). Analyses of ovarian activity reveal repeated evolution of post-reproductive lifespans in toothed whales. Scientific Reports, 8(1). Abstract.

Peregrine PN, Brennan R, Currie T, Feeney K, François P, Turchin P, Whitehouse H (2018). Dacura: a new solution to data harvesting and knowledge extraction for the historical sciences. Historical Methods, 51(3), 165-174. Abstract.

Francis ML, Plummer KE, Lythgoe BA, Macallan C, Currie TE, Blount JD (2018). Effects of supplementary feeding on interspecific dominance hierarchies in garden birds. PLoS ONE, 13(9). Abstract.

Currie TE, Turchin P, Whitehouse H, François P, Feeney K, Mullins D, Hoyer D, Collins C, Grohmann S, Savage P, et al (2018). Reply to tosh et al.: Quantitative analyses of cultural evolution require engagement with historical and archaeological research. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(26), E5841-E5842.

Francois P, Manning JG, Whitehouse H, Brennan R, Currie TE, Feeney K, Turchin P (2016). A Macroscope for Global History: Seshat Global History Databank, a methodological overview. Digital Humanities Quarterly, 10

Turchin P, Currie TE (2016). Cultural group selection is plausible, but the predictions of its hypotheses should be tested with real-world data. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 39 Abstract.

Turchin P, Currie TE, Turner EAL (2016). Mapping the spread of mounted warfare. Cliodynamics, 7(2), 217-227. Abstract.

Currie TE, Bogaard A, Cesaretti R, Edwards N, Francois P, Holden P, Hoyer D, Korotayev A, Manning J, Moreno Garcia JC, et al (2015). Agricultural productivity in past societies: Toward an empirically informed model for testing cultural evolutionary hypotheses. Cliodynamics: the Journal of Quantitative History and Cultural Evolution, 6(1). Abstract. Author URL.

Watts J, Greenhill SJ, Atkinson QD, Currie TE, Bulbulia J, Gray RD (2015). Broad supernatural punishment but not moralizing high gods precede the evolution of political complexity in Austronesia. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 282(1804). Author URL.

Bell AV, Currie TE, Irwin G, Bradbury C (2015). DRIVING FACTORS IN THE COLONIZATION OF OCEANIA: DEVELOPING ISLAND-LEVEL STATISTICAL MODELS TO TEST COMPETING HYPOTHESES. AMERICAN ANTIQUITY, 80(2), 397-407. Author URL.

Savage PE, Matsumae H, Oota H, Stoneking M, Currie TE, Tajima A, Gillan M, Brown S (2015). How ‘Circumpolar’ is Ainu Music? Musical and Genetic Perspectives on the History of the Japanese Archipelago. Ethnomusicology Forum, 24(3), 443-467.

Turchin P, Brennan R, Currie T, Feeney K, Francois P, Hoyer D, Manning J, Marciniak A, Mullins D, Palmisano A, et al (2015). Seshat: the Global History Databank. Cliodynamics: the Journal of Quantitative History and Cultural Evolution, 6(1). Abstract. Author URL.

Savage PE, Brown S, Sakai E, Currie TE (2015). Statistical universals reveal the structures and functions of human music. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 112(29), 8987-8992. Abstract. Author URL.

Currie TE (2014). Developing Scales of Development. Cliodynamics: the Journal of Quantitative History and Cultural Evolution, 5(1). Abstract. Author URL.

Currie TE, Mace R (2014). Evolution of cultural traits occurs at similar relative rates in different world regions. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 281(1795).

Thomas E. Currie1,2⇑ and Ruth Mace21Department of Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK2Department of Anthropology, University College London, 14 Taviton St. London WC1H 0BH, UKe-mail: t.currie{at}exeter.ac.ukAbstract a fundamental issue in understanding human diversity is whether or not there are regular patterns and processes involved in cultural change. Theoretical and mathematical models of cultural evolution have been developed and are increasingly being used and assessed in empirical analyses. Here, we test the hypothesis that the rates of change of features of human socio-cultural organization are governed by general rules. One prediction of this hypothesis is that different cultural traits will tend to evolve at similar relative rates in different world regions, despite the unique historical backgrounds of groups inhabiting these regions. We used phylogenetic comparative methods and systematic cross-cultural data to assess how different socio-cultural traits changed in (i) island southeast Asia and the Pacific, and (ii) sub-Saharan Africa. The relative rates of change in these two regions are significantly correlated. Furthermore, cultural traits that are more directly related to external environmental conditions evolve more slowly than traits related to social structures. This is consistent with the idea that a form of purifying selection is acting with greater strength on these more environmentally linked traits. These results suggest that despite contingent historical events and the role of humans as active agents in the historical process, culture does indeed evolve in ways that can be predicted from general principles cultural evolutioncultural phylogeneticssocial evolutionphylogenetic comparative methodsReceived July 7, 2014.Accepted September 9, 2014.© 2014 the Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract. Author URL.

Opie C, Shultz S, Atkinson QD, Currie T, Mace R (2014). Phylogenetic reconstruction of Bantu kinship challenges Main Sequence Theory of human social evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Abstract.

Turchin P, Currie T, Turner EAL, Gavrilets S (2014). Reply to Thomas: Diffusion of military technologies is a plausible explanation for the evolution of social complexity, 1500 BCE–AD 1500. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111, E415-E415.

Currie TE (2013). Cultural Evolution Branches Out: the Phylogenetic Approach in Cross-Cultural Research. Cross-Cultural Research, 47(2), 102-130. Abstract.

Currie TE (2013). Cultural Evolution. How Darwinian Theory can Explain Human Culture and Synthesize the Social Sciences. ANTHROPOS, 108(1), 339-340. Author URL.

Currie TE, Meade A, Guillon M, Mace R (2013). Cultural phylogeography of the Bantu Languages of sub-Saharan Africa. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 280(1762). Abstract.

Currie TE (2013). Inequality and Institutions: a Review Essay on Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. Cliodynamics: the Journal of Theoretical and Mathematical History, 4(1). Abstract. Author URL.

Currie TE, Mace R (2012). Analyses do not support the parasite-stress theory of human sociality. Behav Brain Sci, 35(2), 83-85. Abstract. Author URL.

Currie TE, MacE R (2012). The evolution of ethnolinguistic diversity. Advances in Complex Systems, 15(1-2).

Humans divide themselves up into groups based on a shared cultural identity and common descent. Culturally inherited differences in dress, language, and institutions are often used as symbolic markers of the boundaries of these ethnic groups. Relatively little is known about the function of such ethnic groups, and why ethnic diversity is high in some regions yet lower in others. In this paper, we demonstrate how investigating the spatial distribution of ethnolinguistic groups can reveal the factors that affect the origin and maintenance of human ethnic group diversity. Here we describe the use of a Geographic Information System to construct a large database that integrates information about languages with a number of environmental, ecological, and ethnographic variables. Using these data on the spatial distribution of ethnolinguistic groups, we employ a hierarchical linear modeling approach to test a variety of hypotheses concerning the function of such groups. Despite revealing intriguing spatial patterns such as the latitudinal gradient in ethnolinguistic diversity, previous analyses suggested that the direct effects of environmental variables on the distribution of ethnolinguistic groups were in fact quite small. Here we show that the strength of the relationship between ethnolinguistic area and environmental variables is stronger in societies whose primary mode of subsistence is foraging. We then go on to demonstrate this same finding using the estimated native distributions of ethnolinguistic group in the Americas and Australia. In particular, Net Primary Productivity is shown to be a good predictor of the area covered by ethnolinguistic groups in foragers but not in agriculturalists. This provides support for the idea that the factors affecting ethnic diversity have changed in a systematic way with changes in subsistence strategies and social organization. We highlight future avenues for spatially explicit investigations of the evolution of ethnic diversity, and suggest that the evolutionary ecological approach adopted here may provide important insights into processes affecting ethnic diversity in the modern world. © 2012 World Scientific Publishing Company.

Abstract.

Currie TE, Mace R (2011). Mode and tempo in the evolution of socio-political organization: reconciling 'Darwinian' and 'Spencerian' evolutionary approaches in anthropology. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 366(1567), 1108-1117. Abstract. Author URL.

Currie T (2011). The natural order?. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 9(2), 195-200.

Currie TE, Greenhill SJ, Mace R (2010). Is horizontal transmission really a problem for phylogenetic comparative methods? a simulation study using continuous cultural traits. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 365(1559), 3903-3912. Abstract. Author URL.

Currie TE, Greenhill SJ, Gray RD, Hasegawa T, Mace R (2010). Rise and fall of political complexity in island South-East Asia and the Pacific. Nature, 467(7317), 801-804. Abstract. Author URL.

Currie TE (2010). Tests in Time: a Review of Natural Experiments of History, edited by Jared Diamond and James A. Robinson. Cliodynamics, 1(1). Abstract. Author URL.

Greenhill SJ, Currie TE, Gray RD (2009). Does horizontal transmission invalidate cultural phylogenies?. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 276(1665), 2299-2306. Abstract.

Currie TE, Mace R (2009). Political complexity predicts the spread of ethnolinguistic groups. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 106(18), 7339-7344. Abstract. Author URL.

Currie TE, Little AC (2009). The relative importance of the face and body in judgments of human physical attractiveness. Evolution and Human Behavior, 30(6), 409-416. Abstract.

Chapters

Currie T (2019). How the Dual Inheritance of Genes and Culture Shapes Behaviour: a Critical Review with a Focus on Human Culture and Behavioural Diversity. In Hunt J, Hosken D, Wedell N (Eds.) Genes and Behaviour: Beyond Nature‐Nurture, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 27-59. Abstract.

Currie TE, turchin P, Bednar J, Richerson PJ, Schwesinger G, Steinmo S, Wacziarg R, Wallis J (2016). Evolution of institutions and organizations. In (Ed) Complexity and Evolution Toward a New Synthesis for Economics, MIT Press.

Currie TE, Meade A (2014). Keeping Yourself Updated: Bayesian Approaches in Phylogenetic Comparative Methods with a Focus on Markov Chain Models of Discrete Character Evolution. In Garamszegi LZ (Ed) Modern Phylogenetic Comparative Methods and Their Application in Evolutionary Biology, Berlin Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.

Currie TE (2012). Using phylogenetic comparative methods to test hypotheses about the pattern and process of human social and political evolution. In Minaka N, Nakao H (Eds.) 文化系統学への招待―文化の進化パターンを探る(Cultural Genealogy - Exploring the Evolutionary Patterns of Culture), Keiso Shobo.

Conferences

Brennan R, Feeney K, Mendel-Gleason G, Bozic B, Turchin P, Whitehouse H, Francois P, Currie TE, Grohmann S (2016). Building the Seshat ontology for a global history databank. Abstract.

Reports

Walker L, Avery K, Borgerhoff Mulder M, Gohil D, King J, Lalampaa T, Letaapo T, Moiko S, Njeru Njagi T, Ontiri E, et al (2019). Supporting community-based natural resource management in pastoralist societies in East Africa to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Abstract.

Publications by year

In Press

2022

Flitton A, Currie TE (2022). Assessing different historical pathways in the cultural evolution of economic development. Evolution and Human Behavior, 43(1), 71-82. Abstract.

Gavrilets S, Currie TE (2022). Mathematical models of the evolution of institutions.

2021

Currie T, Campenni M, Ontiri E, Njagi T, Perret C, Walker L (2021). Code supporting the Cultural Evolution & Ecology of Institutions. Abstract.

2020

Collins C, Oyebamiji O, Edwards NR, Holden PB, Williams A, Jordan G, Hoyer D, Grohman S, Savage PE, Francois P, et al (2020). Combining historical and archaeological data with crop models to estimate agricultural productivity in past societies.

Savage PE, Passmore S, Chiba G, Currie TE, Suzuki H, Atkinson Q (2020). Sequence alignment of folk song melodies reveals cross-cultural regularities of musical evolution.

2019

Whitehouse H, François P, Savage PE, Currie TE, Feeney K, Cioni E, Purcell R, Ross RM, Larson J, Baines J, et al (2019). A new era in the study of global history is born but it needs to be nurtured.

Turchin P, Currie TE, Collins C, Levine J, Oyebamiji O, Edwards NR, Holden PB, Hoyer D, Feeney K, Francois P, et al (2019). An Integrative Approach to Estimating Productivity in Past Societies using Seshat: Global History Databank.

Matsumae H, Ranacher P, Savage PE, Blasi DE, Currie TE, Kognebuchi K, Nishida N, Sato T, Tanabe H, Tajima A, et al (2019). Exploring correlations in genetic and cultural variation across language families in Northeast Asia.

Currie TE, Turchin P, Gavrilets S (2019). History of agriculture and intensity of warfare shaped the evolution of large-scale human societies in Afro-Eurasia.

Savage PE, Whitehouse H, François P, Currie TE, Feeney K, Cioni E, Purcell R, Ross RM, Larson J, Baines J, et al (2019). Reply to Beheim et al.: Reanalyses confirm robustness of original analyses.

Flitton A (2019). The Cultural Evolution of Economic Development. Abstract.

2018

Francis ML, Plummer KE, Lythgoe BA, Macallan C, Currie TE, Blount JD (2018). Effects of supplementary feeding on interspecific dominance hierarchies in garden birds. PLoS ONE, 13(9). Abstract.

Turchin P, Whitehouse H, Korotayev A, Francois P, Hoyer D, Peregrine P, Feinman G, Spencer C, Kradin N, Currie TE, et al (2018). Evolutionary Pathways to Statehood: Old Theories and New Data.

Flitton A, Currie TE (2018). Long-run historical and ecological determinants of economic development mediated by the cultural evolution of effective institutions.

2017

Mullins DA, Hoyer D, Collins C, Currie TE, Feeney K, François P, Savage PE, Whitehouse H, Turchin P (2017). A systematic assessment of 'Axial Age' proposals using global comparative historical evidence.

2016

Brennan R, Feeney K, Mendel-Gleason G, Bozic B, Turchin P, Whitehouse H, Francois P, Currie TE, Grohmann S (2016). Building the Seshat ontology for a global history databank. Abstract.

Turchin P, Currie TE (2016). Cultural group selection is plausible, but the predictions of its hypotheses should be tested with real-world data. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 39 Abstract.

Turchin P, Currie TE, Turner EAL (2016). Mapping the spread of mounted warfare. Cliodynamics, 7(2), 217-227. Abstract.

2015

Savage PE, Brown S, Sakai E, Currie TE (2015). Statistical universals reveal the structures and functions of human music. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 112(29), 8987-8992. Abstract. Author URL.

2014

Currie TE (2014). Developing Scales of Development. Cliodynamics: the Journal of Quantitative History and Cultural Evolution, 5(1). Abstract. Author URL.

Abstract. Author URL.

2013

Currie TE (2013). Cultural Evolution Branches Out: the Phylogenetic Approach in Cross-Cultural Research. Cross-Cultural Research, 47(2), 102-130. Abstract.

Currie TE (2013). Cultural Evolution. How Darwinian Theory can Explain Human Culture and Synthesize the Social Sciences. ANTHROPOS, 108(1), 339-340. Author URL.

2012

Currie TE, Mace R (2012). Analyses do not support the parasite-stress theory of human sociality. Behav Brain Sci, 35(2), 83-85. Abstract. Author URL.

Currie TE, MacE R (2012). The evolution of ethnolinguistic diversity. Advances in Complex Systems, 15(1-2).

Abstract.

2011

Currie T (2011). The natural order?. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 9(2), 195-200.

2010

Currie TE, Greenhill SJ, Gray RD, Hasegawa T, Mace R (2010). Rise and fall of political complexity in island South-East Asia and the Pacific. Nature, 467(7317), 801-804. Abstract. Author URL.

Currie TE (2010). Tests in Time: a Review of Natural Experiments of History, edited by Jared Diamond and James A. Robinson. Cliodynamics, 1(1). Abstract. Author URL.

2009

Currie TE, Mace R (2009). Political complexity predicts the spread of ethnolinguistic groups. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 106(18), 7339-7344. Abstract. Author URL.

Currie TE, Little AC (2009). The relative importance of the face and body in judgments of human physical attractiveness. Evolution and Human Behavior, 30(6), 409-416. Abstract.

Thomas_Currie Details from cache as at 2023-03-21 20:20:54

Refresh publications

External Engagement and Impact

Awards/Honorary fellowships

2007 New Investigator Award, Human Behavior and Evolution Society
Explaining the Latitudinal Gradient in Human Cultural Diversity

Committee/panel activities

2006-2008 Treasurer of the London Evolutionary Research Network; society for post-graduate students engaged in evolutionary research

Editorial responsibilities

2014 - present Book Review Editor. Cliodynamics: The Journal of Theoretical and Mathematical History

2013 - present Thematic Editor for Resources, Seshat: A Historical Database of Cultural Evolution

2006 - present Academic Journal Reviewer
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS), Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Current Anthropology, Evolution and Human Behavior, American Anthropologist, PLOS One, Human Nature: An Interdisciplinary Biosocial Perspective,

Invited lectures

2014 Department of Biology, University of Edinburgh, UK (invited seminar)

2013 Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Cambridge, UK. Student Conference. (Keynote talk)

2013 NIMBioS, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA. (invited seminar)
2013 phyloseminar.org, (invited online seminar)
2012 Royal Society, Kavli Centre, Bucks, UK (invited workshop presentation)
2012 AnthroTree workshop. University of Amherst, MA, USA. (invited lecture)
2012 NIMBioS, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA. (invited conference presentation)
2012 Department of Anthropology, University College London, University College London, UK. (invited seminar)
2010 AHRC Centre for the Evolution of Cultural Diversity, UCL, UK. (invited conference presentation)
2010 Tokyo Institute of Technology, Ookayama Campus, Tokyo, Japan (invited conference presentation)
2010 Department of Environmental Science & Policy, University of California, Davis, USA. (invited seminar)
2010 Human Behavior and Evolution Society of Japan, University of Kyoto, Japan. (invited workshop presentation)
2010 Graduate University for Advanced Studies: Sokendai, Hayama, Japan. (invited workshop presentation)
2009 Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems. The Graduate University for Advanced Studies: Sokendai, Hayama, Japan. (invited seminar)
2009 National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Japan. (invited seminar)
2008 British Association for the Advancement of Science Festival of Science, University of Liverpool, UK. (invited conference presentation)

Media Coverage

Nature (News & Views) - “Political Evolution” by Jared Diamond. From Nature issue 467. Published 14 October, 2010. Link

Nature (Podcast) – Interview about the paper Rise and fall of political complexity in island South-East Asia and the Pacific by Currie et al. Published October 14, 2010. Link

Nature (News) – “Societies evolve in steps” by Kerri Smith. Published online October 13, 2010. Link

Discover Magazine - “How Societies Slowly Rise—and Suddenly Fall” by Andrew Curry. From the April 2011 issue; published online June 16, 2011 Link

Wired - “Culture Evolves Slowly, Falls Apart Quickly” by Brandon Keim. Published October 13, 2010. Link

TPM (The Philosopher’s Magazine) – “Do Societies Evolve?” by Mat Iredale. From issue 52. Published February 7, 2011. Link

The Columbus Dispatch – “Measuring a society's political evolution” by Bradley T. Lepper. Published December 5, 2010. Link

PlanetEarth Online – “Faces more important than bodies in mating game” by Tom Marshall. Published September 25, 2009 Link

Workshops/Conferences organised

2014 Workshop Organizer 'Modelling Agricultural Productivity in Historic and Prehsitoric Societies', University of Oxford

2008 Symposium Organizer ‘Cultural Phylogenetics: Cultural Evolution branches out’
Symposium, Human Behaviour & Evolution Society, University of Kyoto, Japan

2007 Workshop Organizer ‘Modern Approaches to Investigating Cultural Evolution’
one-day workshop, University College London, UK

profile

Dr Thomas Currie

Associate Professor in Cultural Evolution

Overview

Broad research specialisms:

Qualifications

Career

Research group links

Research

Research projects

Publications

Key publications

Abstract:The Cultural Evolution & Ecology of Institutions

Abstract:Duration of agriculture and distance from the steppe predict the evolution of large-scale human societies in Afro-Eurasia

Abstract:War, space, and the evolution of Old World complex societies

Abstract:Rise and fall of political complexity in island South-East Asia and the Pacific.

Publications by category

Journal articles

Abstract:Assessing different historical pathways in the cultural evolution of economic development

Abstract:Sequence alignment of folk song melodies reveals cross-cultural regularities of musical evolution.

Abstract:An integrative approach to estimating productivity in past societies using Seshat: Global History Databank

Abstract:Exploring correlations in genetic and cultural variation across language families in northeast Asia.

Abstract:The Cultural Evolution & Ecology of Institutions

Abstract:Duration of agriculture and distance from the steppe predict the evolution of large-scale human societies in Afro-Eurasia

Abstract:Complex societies precede moralizing gods throughout world history

Abstract:A Systematic Assessment of “Axial Age” Proposals Using Global Comparative Historical Evidence

Abstract:Analyses of ovarian activity reveal repeated evolution of post-reproductive lifespans in toothed whales

Abstract:Dacura: a new solution to data harvesting and knowledge extraction for the historical sciences

Abstract:Effects of supplementary feeding on interspecific dominance hierarchies in garden birds

Abstract:Cultural group selection is plausible, but the predictions of its hypotheses should be tested with real-world data

Abstract:Mapping the spread of mounted warfare

Abstract:Agricultural productivity in past societies: Toward an empirically informed model for testing cultural evolutionary hypotheses

Abstract:Seshat: the Global History Databank

Abstract:Statistical universals reveal the structures and functions of human music.

Abstract:Developing Scales of Development

Abstract:Evolution of cultural traits occurs at similar relative rates in different world regions

Abstract:Phylogenetic reconstruction of Bantu kinship challenges Main Sequence Theory of human social evolution

Abstract:Cultural Evolution Branches Out: the Phylogenetic Approach in Cross-Cultural Research

Abstract:Cultural phylogeography of the Bantu Languages of sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract:Inequality and Institutions: a Review Essay on Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson

Abstract:War, space, and the evolution of Old World complex societies

Abstract:Analyses do not support the parasite-stress theory of human sociality.

Abstract:The evolution of ethnolinguistic diversity

Abstract:Mode and tempo in the evolution of socio-political organization: reconciling 'Darwinian' and 'Spencerian' evolutionary approaches in anthropology.

Abstract:Is horizontal transmission really a problem for phylogenetic comparative methods? a simulation study using continuous cultural traits.

Abstract:Rise and fall of political complexity in island South-East Asia and the Pacific.

Abstract:Tests in Time: a Review of Natural Experiments of History, edited by Jared Diamond and James A. Robinson

Abstract:Does horizontal transmission invalidate cultural phylogenies?

Abstract:Political complexity predicts the spread of ethnolinguistic groups.

Abstract:The relative importance of the face and body in judgments of human physical attractiveness

Chapters

Abstract:How the Dual Inheritance of Genes and Culture Shapes Behaviour: a Critical Review with a Focus on Human Culture and Behavioural Diversity

Conferences

Abstract:Building the Seshat ontology for a global history databank

Reports

Abstract:Supporting community-based natural resource management in pastoralist societies in East Africa to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Publications by year

In Press

2022

Abstract:Assessing different historical pathways in the cultural evolution of economic development

Abstract:Sequence alignment of folk song melodies reveals cross-cultural regularities of musical evolution.

2021

Abstract:An integrative approach to estimating productivity in past societies using Seshat: Global History Databank

Abstract:Code supporting the Cultural Evolution & Ecology of Institutions

Abstract:Exploring correlations in genetic and cultural variation across language families in northeast Asia.

Abstract:The Cultural Evolution & Ecology of Institutions

2020

Abstract:Duration of agriculture and distance from the steppe predict the evolution of large-scale human societies in Afro-Eurasia

2019

Abstract:Complex societies precede moralizing gods throughout world history

Abstract:How the Dual Inheritance of Genes and Culture Shapes Behaviour: a Critical Review with a Focus on Human Culture and Behavioural Diversity

Abstract:Supporting community-based natural resource management in pastoralist societies in East Africa to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract:The Cultural Evolution of Economic Development

2018

Abstract:A Systematic Assessment of “Axial Age” Proposals Using Global Comparative Historical Evidence

Abstract:Analyses of ovarian activity reveal repeated evolution of post-reproductive lifespans in toothed whales

Abstract:Dacura: a new solution to data harvesting and knowledge extraction for the historical sciences

Abstract:Effects of supplementary feeding on interspecific dominance hierarchies in garden birds

2017

2016

Abstract:
The Cultural Evolution & Ecology of Institutions

Abstract:
Duration of agriculture and distance from the steppe predict the evolution of large-scale human societies in Afro-Eurasia

Abstract:
War, space, and the evolution of Old World complex societies

Abstract:
Rise and fall of political complexity in island South-East Asia and the Pacific.

Abstract:
Assessing different historical pathways in the cultural evolution of economic development

Abstract:
Sequence alignment of folk song melodies reveals cross-cultural regularities of musical evolution.

Abstract:
An integrative approach to estimating productivity in past societies using Seshat: Global History Databank

Abstract:
Exploring correlations in genetic and cultural variation across language families in northeast Asia.

Abstract:
The Cultural Evolution & Ecology of Institutions

Abstract:
Duration of agriculture and distance from the steppe predict the evolution of large-scale human societies in Afro-Eurasia

Abstract:
Complex societies precede moralizing gods throughout world history

Abstract:
A Systematic Assessment of “Axial Age” Proposals Using Global Comparative Historical Evidence

Abstract:
Analyses of ovarian activity reveal repeated evolution of post-reproductive lifespans in toothed whales

Abstract:
Dacura: a new solution to data harvesting and knowledge extraction for the historical sciences

Abstract:
Effects of supplementary feeding on interspecific dominance hierarchies in garden birds

Abstract:
Cultural group selection is plausible, but the predictions of its hypotheses should be tested with real-world data

Abstract:
Mapping the spread of mounted warfare

Abstract:
Agricultural productivity in past societies: Toward an empirically informed model for testing cultural evolutionary hypotheses

Abstract:
Seshat: the Global History Databank

Abstract:
Statistical universals reveal the structures and functions of human music.

Abstract:
Developing Scales of Development

Abstract:
Evolution of cultural traits occurs at similar relative rates in different world regions

Abstract:
Phylogenetic reconstruction of Bantu kinship challenges Main Sequence Theory of human social evolution

Abstract:
Cultural Evolution Branches Out: the Phylogenetic Approach in Cross-Cultural Research

Abstract:
Cultural phylogeography of the Bantu Languages of sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract:
Inequality and Institutions: a Review Essay on Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson

Abstract:
War, space, and the evolution of Old World complex societies

Abstract:
Analyses do not support the parasite-stress theory of human sociality.

Abstract:
The evolution of ethnolinguistic diversity

Abstract:
Mode and tempo in the evolution of socio-political organization: reconciling 'Darwinian' and 'Spencerian' evolutionary approaches in anthropology.

Abstract:
Is horizontal transmission really a problem for phylogenetic comparative methods? a simulation study using continuous cultural traits.

Abstract:
Rise and fall of political complexity in island South-East Asia and the Pacific.

Abstract:
Tests in Time: a Review of Natural Experiments of History, edited by Jared Diamond and James A. Robinson

Abstract:
Does horizontal transmission invalidate cultural phylogenies?

Abstract:
Political complexity predicts the spread of ethnolinguistic groups.

Abstract:
The relative importance of the face and body in judgments of human physical attractiveness

Abstract:
How the Dual Inheritance of Genes and Culture Shapes Behaviour: a Critical Review with a Focus on Human Culture and Behavioural Diversity

Abstract:
Building the Seshat ontology for a global history databank

Abstract:
Supporting community-based natural resource management in pastoralist societies in East Africa to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract:
Assessing different historical pathways in the cultural evolution of economic development

Abstract:
Sequence alignment of folk song melodies reveals cross-cultural regularities of musical evolution.

Abstract:
An integrative approach to estimating productivity in past societies using Seshat: Global History Databank

Abstract:
Code supporting the Cultural Evolution & Ecology of Institutions

Abstract:
Exploring correlations in genetic and cultural variation across language families in northeast Asia.

Abstract:
The Cultural Evolution & Ecology of Institutions

Abstract:
Duration of agriculture and distance from the steppe predict the evolution of large-scale human societies in Afro-Eurasia

Abstract:
Complex societies precede moralizing gods throughout world history

Abstract:
How the Dual Inheritance of Genes and Culture Shapes Behaviour: a Critical Review with a Focus on Human Culture and Behavioural Diversity

Abstract:
Supporting community-based natural resource management in pastoralist societies in East Africa to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract:
The Cultural Evolution of Economic Development

Abstract:
A Systematic Assessment of “Axial Age” Proposals Using Global Comparative Historical Evidence

Abstract:
Analyses of ovarian activity reveal repeated evolution of post-reproductive lifespans in toothed whales

Abstract:
Dacura: a new solution to data harvesting and knowledge extraction for the historical sciences

Abstract:
Effects of supplementary feeding on interspecific dominance hierarchies in garden birds

Abstract:
Building the Seshat ontology for a global history databank

Abstract:
Cultural group selection is plausible, but the predictions of its hypotheses should be tested with real-world data

Abstract:
Mapping the spread of mounted warfare

Abstract:
Agricultural productivity in past societies: Toward an empirically informed model for testing cultural evolutionary hypotheses

Abstract:
Seshat: the Global History Databank

Abstract:
Statistical universals reveal the structures and functions of human music.

Abstract:
Developing Scales of Development

Abstract:
Evolution of cultural traits occurs at similar relative rates in different world regions

Abstract:
Phylogenetic reconstruction of Bantu kinship challenges Main Sequence Theory of human social evolution

Abstract:
Cultural Evolution Branches Out: the Phylogenetic Approach in Cross-Cultural Research

Abstract:
Cultural phylogeography of the Bantu Languages of sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract:
Inequality and Institutions: a Review Essay on Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson

Abstract:
War, space, and the evolution of Old World complex societies

Abstract:
Analyses do not support the parasite-stress theory of human sociality.

Abstract:
The evolution of ethnolinguistic diversity

Abstract:
Mode and tempo in the evolution of socio-political organization: reconciling 'Darwinian' and 'Spencerian' evolutionary approaches in anthropology.

Abstract:
Is horizontal transmission really a problem for phylogenetic comparative methods? a simulation study using continuous cultural traits.

Abstract:
Rise and fall of political complexity in island South-East Asia and the Pacific.

Abstract:
Tests in Time: a Review of Natural Experiments of History, edited by Jared Diamond and James A. Robinson

Abstract:
Does horizontal transmission invalidate cultural phylogenies?

Abstract:
Political complexity predicts the spread of ethnolinguistic groups.

Abstract:
The relative importance of the face and body in judgments of human physical attractiveness