Delayed reciprocity and tolerated theft - The behavioral ecology of food-sharing strategies

Models derived from behavioral ecology may have the potential to explain a great deal of variability in food-sharing patterns within and between human societies. We use quantitative observational data on the sharing of large animal prey among the Meriam of the Torres Strait to test specific predictions of reciprocity-based and tolerated-theft sharing models, evaluating the extent to which such models can account for the way in which prey is distributed after acquisition. We also evaluate the influence on sharing strategies of seasonal variability in the costs and benefits of pursuing prey. Prey is shared widely and unconditionally when costly to acquire and more narrowly when acquisition costs are low. Hunters receive high consumption benefits only when they hunt for their own households' consumption. We conclude that hunters seek both social and consumption benefits from prey and that these goals can be predicted according to seasonal variability in the costs of acquisition and the reproductive strategies of individual hunters.