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

• 2022: Editorial Board, Human Nature:

Chapter in book

• 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 (83-102). McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. https://doi.org/10.17863/cam.60646

Journal Article

• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Stibbard‐Hawkes, D. N., & Attenborough, R. D. (2021). Some omissions, few confusions. A reply to Pinheiro 2021. American journal of physical anthropology, https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24223
• 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
• 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
• Stibbard-Hawkes, D. N. (2019). Costly signaling and the handicap principle in hunter-gatherer research: A critical review. Evolutionary Anthropology, https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21767
• Stibbard-Hawkes, D. N., 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