Staff profile

Research Profile

I am an evolutionary anthropologist and human behavioural ecologist, interested in hunter-gatherer egalitarianism, subsistance transition, and the use and abuse of signalling theory. I conduct fieldwork with the Hadza, a population in northern Tanzania who have traditionally subsisted through hunting and gathering.

I am a Leverhulme funded ECR research fellow and assistant professor in the department, investigating subsistance transition and the soceo-ecologocal correlates of forager egalitarianism. Between 2020-2022 I worked as a postdoctoral research fellow on the 'Culture of Schooling' project in collaberation with Dr Coren Apicella (UPenn) investigating the impacts of Hadza engagemement with formal education. Between 2017-2019 I worked at Durham as a teaching fellow.

More information about my research interests and my work can be found in this interview.

Short Biography

• 2020-Present: Assistant Professorship (Research), Durham University
• 2019-2020: Honourary Fellowship, Durham University
• 2017-2019: Teaching Fellowship, Durham University
• 2012-2017: PhD in Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Cambridge, supervised by Frank Marlowe and Robert Attenborough
• 2008-2011: BA/MA in Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge

• Forager Egalitarianism
• Signalling Theory
• Food Sharing
• Hunter Gatherer Subsistence Ecology
• Hunting Skill

• 2025: Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Hunter-Gatherer Reserach:
• 2023: Review Board, Evolution and Human Behaviour:
• 2022: Editorial Board, Human Nature:

Chapter in book

• Do religious and market-based institutions promote cooperation in Hadza hunter-gatherers?
  
  Stagnaro, M. N., Stibbard-Hawkes, D. N. E., & Apicella, C. L. (2023). Do religious and market-based institutions promote cooperation in Hadza hunter-gatherers?. In M. Lang, B. Grant Purzycki, J. Henrich, & A. Norenzayan (Eds.), The Evolution of Religion and Morality (pp. 171-189). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032624099-11
• Egalitarianism and democratized access to lethal weaponry: a neglected approach
  
  Stibbard-Hawkes, D. N. (2020). Egalitarianism and democratized access to lethal weaponry: a neglected approach. In L. Moreau (Ed.), Social inequality before farming? Multidisciplinary approaches to the study of social organization in prehistoric and ethnograpic hunter-gatherer-fisher societies. (pp. 83-102). McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. https://doi.org/10.17863/cam.60646

Journal Article

• Hominin cognition: The null hypothesis.
  
  Stibbard-Hawkes, D. N. E. (2025). Hominin cognition: The null hypothesis. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 48, Article e23. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X24001055
• Female foragers sometimes hunt, yet gendered divisions of labor are real: a comment on Anderson et al. (2023) The Myth of Man the Hunter
  
  Venkataraman, V. V., Hoffman, J., Farquharson, K., Davis, H. E., Hagen, E. H., Hames, R. B., Hewlett, B. S., Glowacki, L., Jang, H., Kelly, R., Kramer, K., Lew-Levy, S., Starkweather, K., Syme, K., & Stibbard-Hawkes, D. N. (2024). Female foragers sometimes hunt, yet gendered divisions of labor are real: a comment on Anderson et al. (2023) The Myth of Man the Hunter. Evolution and Human Behavior, 45(4), 106586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2024.04.014
• Foreign-language effects in cross-cultural behavioral research: Evidence from the Tanzanian Hadza
  
  Stibbard-Hawkes, D. N. E., Abarbanell, L., Mabulla, I. A., Endeko, E. S., Legare, C. H., & Apicella, C. L. (2024). Foreign-language effects in cross-cultural behavioral research: Evidence from the Tanzanian Hadza. PNAS Nexus, 3(6), Article pgae218. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae218
• Reconsidering the link between past material culture and cognition in light of contemporary hunter-gatherer material use.
  
  Stibbard-Hawkes, D. N. E. (2024). Reconsidering the link between past material culture and cognition in light of contemporary hunter-gatherer material use. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1-53. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x24000062
• Did we all go together when we went? Considering the adaptive importance of risky joint action.
  
  Stibbard-Hawkes, D. N. E. (2023). Did we all go together when we went? Considering the adaptive importance of risky joint action. Religion, Brain and Behaviour. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2023.2197983
• A cost for signaling: do Hadza hunter-gatherers forgo calories to show-off in an experimental context?
  
  Stibbard-Hawkes, D. N., Amir, D., & Apicella, C. L. (2023). A cost for signaling: do Hadza hunter-gatherers forgo calories to show-off in an experimental context?. Evolution and Human Behavior, 44(5). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.10.004
• Myopia rates among Hadza hunter‐gatherers are low but not exceptional
  
  Stibbard‐Hawkes, D. N., & Apicella, C. L. (2022). Myopia rates among Hadza hunter‐gatherers are low but not exceptional. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 179(4), 655-667. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24611
• Why hunt? Why gather? Why share? Hadza assessments of foraging and food-sharing motive
  
  Stibbard-Hawkes, D. N., Smith, K., & Apicella, C. L. (2022). Why hunt? Why gather? Why share? Hadza assessments of foraging and food-sharing motive. Evolution and Human Behavior, 43(3), 257-272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.03.001
• Do religious and market-based institutions promote cooperation in Hadza hunter-gatherers?
  
  Stagnaro, M. N., Stibbard-Hawkes, D. N., & Apicella, C. L. (2022). Do religious and market-based institutions promote cooperation in Hadza hunter-gatherers?. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 12(1-2), 171-189. https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599x.2021.2006293
• Some omissions, few confusions. A reply to Pinheiro 2021
  
  Stibbard‐Hawkes, D. N., & Attenborough, R. D. (2021). Some omissions, few confusions. A reply to Pinheiro 2021. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 174(3), 392-395. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24223
• In Memoriam: Frank W. Marlowe (April 17, 1954–September 25, 2019)
  
  Gray, P. B., Crittenden, A. N., Apicella, C. L., Berbesque, C., Stibbard-Hawkes, D. N. E., & Wood, B. (2020). In Memoriam: Frank W. Marlowe (April 17, 1954–September 25, 2019). Human Nature, 31(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-019-09357-1
• To the hunter go the spoils? No evidence of nutritional benefit to being or marrying a well‐reputed Hadza hunter
  
  Stibbard‐Hawkes, D. N., Attenborough, R. D., Mabulla, I. A., & Marlowe, F. W. (2020). To the hunter go the spoils? No evidence of nutritional benefit to being or marrying a well‐reputed Hadza hunter. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 173(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24027
• No Association between 2D:4D Ratio and Hunting Success among Hadza Hunters
  
  Stibbard-Hawkes, D. N. (2020). No Association between 2D:4D Ratio and Hunting Success among Hadza Hunters. Human Nature, 31(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-019-09359-z
• Costly signaling and the handicap principle in hunter-gatherer research: A critical review
  
  Stibbard-Hawkes, D. N. (2019). Costly signaling and the handicap principle in hunter-gatherer research: A critical review. Evolutionary Anthropology, 28(3), 144-157. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21767
• A Noisy Signal: To what extent are Hadza hunting reputations predictive of actual hunting skills?
  
  Stibbard-Hawkes, D. N. E., Attenborough, R. D., & Marlowe, F. W. (2018). A Noisy Signal: To what extent are Hadza hunting reputations predictive of actual hunting skills?. Evolution and Human Behavior, 39(6), 639-651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.06.005