Lise Meitner Research Group BirthRites - Cultures of Reproduction
BirthRites is an Independent Lise Meitner Research Group hosted by the Department of Human Behavior, Ecology, and Culture at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. The research group started as an Independent Max Planck Research Group in December 2019 and transitioned to the Lise Meitner Excellence Programme in March 2023. Our focus is the coevolution of culture (broadly construed) and demography. We combine key questions and methods in anthropology with cultural evolutionary theory and demography.
Our aims are: to better understand the relationship between culture and demography in the past, present and future; to develop theoretical models of reproductive dynamics grounded in the field of cultural evolution, and to draw together research practices from the humanities and sciences.
Our work is interdisciplinary. We combine insights from high-resolution field research, ethnography, comparative analysis, statistical and theoretical modeling, historical and conceptual approaches to reproduction. The work is organised around three broad approaches: micro-level field research; comparative, historical and macro-level research; and theoretical and conceptual research.
Positions available
There are currently no positions available.
Group staff
Group Leader
Research Staff
- Eva Brandl
- Thomas Mitchell Holding
- Sarah Myers
- Alejandra Ramírez
- Francois Romijn
Doctoral Students
Associate Researcher
Guests
- Amy Anderson
- Sarah Johns
- Shaun Stipp
External Associated Researchers
- Pablo Varas Enriquez (affiliated PhD student, Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)
- Brigitte Laboukly (Vanuatu field manager)
- Andrzej Galbarczyk (Poland field manager, Department of Public Health, Jagiellonian University Krakow)
- Clare Mc Fadden (Guest researcher)
Publications
2026
Anderson, A., & DeWitte, S. N.(2026). Known unknowns and the osteological paradox: Why bioarchaeology needs agent-based models. International Journal of Paleopathology,52, 32-43. |
2025
Anderson, A., Blackwell, A., Sutherland, M. L., Kraft, T., Sutherland, J., Beheim, B., Cummings, D., Ghafoor, S., Hooper, P. L., Rodriguez, D. E., Irimia, A., Gatz, M., Mack, W., Rowan, C., Miyamoto, M., Buetow, K., Finch, C., Wann, L. S., Allam, A., Thompson, R. C., Thomas, G., Kaplan, H., Stieglitz, J., Trumble, B., & Gurven, M. D.(2025). Childhood skeletal lesions common in prehistory are present in living forager-farmers and predict adult markers of immune function. Science Advances,11(29): eadw3697. | |
Gibson, M. A., Gurmu, E., Alvergne, A., Redhead, D., & Myers, S.(2025). Gender-biased clustering of attitudes towards physical intimate partner violence: A social network analysis in south-central Ethiopia. PNAS Nexus,4(9): pgaf282. | |
Lu, Y.-T., & Colleran, H.(2025). Fertility transition. In J. J. Tehrani, J. Kendal, & R. Kendal ( | |
Micheletti, A., Brandl, E., & Mace, R.(2025). What is cultural evolution anyway? In M. Hammerl, S. Schwarz, & K. P. Willführ ( | |
Miu, E., & Colleran, H.(2025). Female friendship and the cultural transmission of low-fertility values: Evidence from rural Poland. PNAS Nexus, pgaf113. | |
Miu, E., Kline, M., Pretelli, I., Rawlings, B., Liebal, K., Lancy, D. F., Xu, J., Park, H., Milks, A., Reide, F., Stengelin, R., Takada, A., & Kärtner, J.(2025). Research methods: A collage. In S. Lew-Levy, & S. Asatsa ( | |
Myers, S., Gurmu, E., Alvergne, A., Redhead, D., Howard, J. A., & Gibson, M. A.(2025). Social clustering of preference for female genital mutilation/cutting in south-central Ethiopia. Nature Human Behaviour,9, 1802-1814. | |
Page, A. E., Emmott, E. H., Sear, R., Perera, N., Black, M., Elgood‑Field, J., & Myers, S.(2025). Collecting real-time infant feeding and support experience: co-participatory pilot study of mobile health methodology. International Breastfeeding Journal,20: 23. | |
Reyes-Madrid, M., Vásquez-Estay, F., Gutiérrez, V., & Montalva, N.(2025). Genetic polymorphism of 15 STR loci in agropastoral communities from central-northern Chile and relationships with other South American populations. Annals of human biology,52(1): 2486156. | |
Varas Enríquez, P. J., & Borgerhoff Mulder, M.(2025). Hierarchical relationship? Only development will tell (Commentary). Behavioral and Brain Sciences,48: e107. | |
Wyatt, B., Anderson, A., Ward, S., & Wilson, l, L. A.(2025). A generative model for exploring differences in mortality associated with stressor exposure risk in bioarchaeological contexts. Journal of Archaeological Science,180: 106275. |
Open Access2024
Brandl, E., & Colleran, H.(2024). Does bride price harm women? Using ethnography to think about causality. Evolutionary Human Sciences,6: e29, pp. 1-22. | |
Brandl, E., Micheletti, A., & Mace, R.(2024). Was ist eigentlich Kulturevolution? In M. Hammerl, S. Schwarz, & K. P. Willführ ( | |
Colleran, H.(2024). A theory of culture for evolutionary demography. In O. Burger, R. Lee, & R. Sear ( | |
Colleran, H.(2024). Fertility transitions. In J. J. Tehrani, J. Kendal, & R. Kendal ( | |
Emmott, E. H., Gilliland, A., Lakshmi Narasimhan, A., & Myers, S.(2024). The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on postpartum mothers in London, England: An online focus group study. Journal of Public Health,32, 1577-1589. | |
Gnecchi-Ruscone, G. A. *., Rácz, Z., Samu, L., Szeniczey, T., Faragó, N., Knipper, C., Friedrich, R., Zlámalová, D., Traverso, L., Liccardo, S., Wabnitz, S., Popli, D. R., Wang, K., Radzeviciute, R., Gulyás, B., Koncz, I., Balogh, C., Lezsák, G. M., Mácsai, V., Bunbury, M. M. E., Spekker, O., le Roux, P., Szécsényi-Nagy, A., Mende, B. G., Colleran, H., Hajdu, T., Geary, P., Pohl, W., Vida, T., Krause, J. *., & Hofmanová, Z. *.(2024). Network of large pedigrees reveals social practices of Avar communities. Nature,629(8011), 376-383. | |
Itao, K., & Kaneko, K.(2024). Formation of human kinship structures depending on population size and cultural mutation rate. PNAS,121(33): e2405653121. | |
McLaren, F., Mercado, M., Montalva, N., Watkins, L., Antipichun, A., Cheristil, J., & Rocha‐Jiménez, T.(2024). Ethics in Mental Health Research with Haitian Migrants: Lessons from a Community‐Based Study in Santiago, Chile. Ethics & Human Research,46, 16-25. | |
Miu, E., Rendell, L., Bowles, S., Boyd, R., Cownden, D., Enquist, M., Eriksson, K., Feldman, M. W., Lillicrap, T., McElreath, R., Murray, S., Ounsley, J., & Lala, K. N.(2024). The refinement paradox and cumulative cultural evolution: Complex products of collective improvement favor conformist outcomes, blind copying, and hyper-credulity. PLoS Computational Biology,20(9): e1012436. | |
Rivollat, M., Rohrlach, A. B., Ringbauer, H., Childebayeva, A., Mendisco, F., Barquera, R., Szolek, A., Colleran, H., Le Roy, M., Tuke, J., Aron, F., Pemonge, M.-H., Späth, E., Télouk, P., Rey, L., Goude, G., Balter, V., Krause, J., Rottier, S., Deguilloux, M.-F., & Haak, W.(2024). Inférences sur les réseaux régionaux à partir d’arbres génétiques locaux, l’exemple du site néolithique de Gurgy 'les Noisats'. Bulletins et mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris BMSAP,36(Suppl). | |
Wyatt, B., Anderson, A., Ward, S., & Wilson, L. A. B.(2024). What's luck got to do with it? A generative model for examining the role of stochasticity in age‐at‐death, with implications for bioarchaeology (advanced online). American Journal of Human Biology, e24115. | |
Zyrek, J., Klimek, M., Apanasewicz, A., Ciochoń, A., Danel, D. P., Marcinkowska, U. M., Mijas, M., Ziomkiewicz, A., & Galbarczyk, A.(2024). Social support during pregnancy and the risk of postpartum depression in Polish women: A prospective study. Scientific Reports,14: 6906. |
2023
Brandl, E., Emmott, E. H., & Mace, R.(2023). Development of teaching in ni-Vanuatu children. Child Development,94(6), 1713-1729. | |
Brandl, E., Emmott, E., & Mace, R.(2023). Adoption, fostering and parental absence in Vanuatu. Human Nature,34(3), 422-455. | |
Brandl, E., Mace, R., & Heyes, C.(2023). The cultural evolution of teaching. Evolutionary Human Sciences,5: e14. | |
Chambers, A., Emmott, E. H., Myers, S., & Page, A. E.(2023). Emotional and informational social support from health visitors and breastfeeding outcomes in the UK. International Breastfeeding Journal,18: 14. | |
Cristia, A., Gautheron, L., & Colleran, H.(2023). Vocal input and output among infants in a multilingual context: Evidence from longform recordings in Vanuatu. Developmental Science,26: e13375. | |
Du, J., Huang, Y., Bai, P.-P., Zhou, L., Myers, S., Page, A. E., & Mace, R.(2023). Post-marital residence patterns and the timing of reproduction: Evidence from a matrilineal society. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,290: 20230159, pp. 1995. | |
Itao, K., & Kaneko, K.(2023). Transition of social organisations driven by gift relationships. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications,10: 188. | |
Micheletti, A., Brandl, E., Zhang, H., Peacey, S., & Mace, R.(2023). Cultural evolution research needs to include human behavioural ecology. In A. du Crest ( | |
Page, A. E., Ruiz, M., Dyble, M., Major-Smith, D., Migliano, A. B., & Myers, S.(2023). Wealth, health and inequality in Agta foragers. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health,11(1), 149-162. | |
Passmore, S., Barth, W., Greenhill, S. J., Quinn, K., Sheard, C., Argyriou, P., Birchall, J., Bowern, C., Calladine, J., Deb, A., Diederen, A., Metsäranta, N. P., Araujo, L. H., Schembri, R., Hickey-Hall, J., Honkola, T., Mitchell, A., Poole, L., Rácz, P. M., Roberts, S. G., Ross, R. M., Thomas-Colquhoun, E., Evans, N., & Jordan, F. M.(2023). Kinbank: A global database of kinship terminology. PLoS One,18(5): e0283218. | |
Rivollat, M., Rohrlach, A. B., Ringbauer, H., Childebayeva, A., Mendisco, F., Barquera Lozano, R. J., Szolek, A., Le Roy, M., Colleran, H., Tuke, J., Aron, F., Pemonge, M.-H., Späth, E., Télouk, P., Rey, L., Goude, G., Balter, V., Krause, J., Rottier, S., Deguilloux, M.-F., & Haak, W.(2023). Extensive pedigrees reveal the social organization of a Neolithic community. Nature,620, 600-606. | |
Ross, C., Hooper, P. L., Smith, J. E., Jaeggi, A. V., Smith, E. A., Gavrilets, S., Zohora, F. t., Ziker, J., Xygalatas, D., Wroblewski, E. E., Wood, B. M., Winterhalder, B., Willführ, K. P., Willard, A. K., Walker, K., von Rueden, C., Voland, E., Valeggia, C., Vaitla, B., Urlacher, S., Towner, M., Sum, C.-Y., Sugiyama, L. S., Strier, K. B., Starkweather, K., Major-Smith, D., Shenk, M., Sear, R., Seabright, E., Schacht, R., Scelza, B., Scaggs, S., Salerno, J., Revilla-Minaya, C., Redhead, D., Pusey, A., Purzycki, B. G., Power, E. A., Pisor, A. C., Pettay, J., Perry, S., Page, A. E., Pacheco-Cobos, L., Oths, K., Oh, S.-Y., Nolin, D., Nettle, D., Moya, C., Migliano, A. B., Mertens, K. J., McNamara, R. A., McElreath, R., Mattison, S., Massengill, E., Marlowe, F., Madimenos, F., Macfarlan, S., Lummaa, V., Lizarralde, R., Liu, R., Liebert, M. A., Lew-Levy, S., Leslie, P., Lanning, J., Kramer, K., Koster, J., Kaplan, H. S., Jamsranjav, B., Hurtado, A. M., Hill, K., Hewlett, B., Helle, S., Headland, T., Headland, J., Gurven, M., Grimalda, G., Greaves, R., Golden, C. D., Godoy, I., Gibson, M., Mouden, C. E., Dyble, M., Draper, P., Downey, S., DeMarco, A. L., Davis, H. E., Crabtree, S., Cortez, C., Colleran, H., Cohen, E., Clark, G., Clark, J., Caudell, M. A., Carminito, C. E., Bunce, J. A., Boyette, A. H., Bowles, S., Blumenfield, T., Beheim, B. A., Beckerman, S., Atkinson, Q., Apicella, C., Alam, N., & Borgerhoff Mulder, M.(2023). Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,120(22): 2220124120. | |
Sibilsky, A., Colleran, H., Deffner, D., & Haun, D. B. M.(2023). Copying fidelity of functional and non-functional features in ni-Vanuatu children: A transmission chain study. PLoS One,18: e0274061. |
2022
Arauna, L. R., Bergstedt, J., Choin, J., Mendoza-Revilla, J., Harmant, C., Roux, M., Mas-Sandoval, A., Lémée, L., Colleran, H., François, A., Valentin, F., Cassar, O., Gessain, A., Quintana-Murci, L., & Patin, E.(2022). The genomic landscape of contemporary western Remote Oceanians. Current Biology,32(21), 4565-4575.e6. | |
Church, W.(2022). Factional competition, legal conflict and emerging organisational stratification around a prospective mine in Papua New Guinea. InCapital and inequality in rural Papua New Guinea (pp. 63-100). Canberra: ANU Press. | |
Colleran, H.(2022). Infertility, Pooled Reproduction and Distributed Agency Among the Big Nambas of Malakula, Vanuatu. The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology,23, 349-367. | |
Fogarty, L., Ammar, M., Holding, T. M., Powell, A., & Kandler, A.(2022). Ten simple rules for principled simulation modelling. PLoS Computational Biology,18(3): e1009917. | |
Goumas, M., Boogert, N. J., Kelley, L. A., & Holding, T.(2022). Predator or provider? How wild animals respond to mixed messages from humans. Royal Society Open Science,9: 211742. | |
Micheletti, A. J. C., Brandl, E., & Mace, R.(2022). What is cultural evolution anyway? Behavioral Ecology,33(4), 667-669. | |
Sibilsky, A., Colleran, H., McElreath, R., & Haun, D. B. M.(2022). Expanding the understanding of majority-bias in children’s social learning. Scientific Reports,12: 6723. | |
Varas Enríquez, P. J., McKerracher, L., & Montalva Rivera, N.(2022). Fertility dynamics and life history tactics vary by socioeconomic position in a transitioning cohort of postreproductive Chilean women. Human Nature,33, 83-114. | |
Varas Enríquez, P. J., Van Daalen, S., & Caswell, H.(2022). Individual stochasticity in the life history strategies of animals and plants. PLoS One,17: e0273407. | |
Yengo, L., & Colleran, H.(2022). Constrained human genes under scrutiny. Nature,603, 799-801. |
2021
Emmott, E. H., Myers, S., & Page, A. E.(2021). Who cares for women with children? Crossing the bridge between disciplines. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,376(1827): 20200019. | |
Emmott, E., & Myers, S.(2021). OP64 Communication across maternal social networks during the UK’s national lockdown and its association with postnatal depressive symptoms. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health,75(Suppl 1): A30. | |
Myers, S., Page, A. E., & Emmott, E. H.(2021). The differential role of practical and emotional support in infant feeding experience in the UK. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,376(1827): 20200034. | |
Page, A. E., Emmott, E. H., & Myers, S.(2021). Testing the buffering hypothesis: Breastfeeding problems, cessation, and social support in the UK. American Journal of Human Biology,34: e23621. | |
Sibilsky, A., Colleran, H., McElreath, R., & Haun, D. B. M.(2021). Conformity decreases throughout middle childhood among Ni-Vanuatu children: An intracultural comparison. Developmental Psychology,57(9), 1497-1509. |
2020
Broesch, T., Crittenden, A. N., Beheim, B. A., Blackwell, A. D., Bunce, J. A., Colleran, H., Hagel, K., Kline, M., McElreath, R., Nelson, R. G., Pisor, A. C., Prall, S., Pretelli, I., Purzycki, B., Quinn, E. A., Ross, C., Scelza, B., Starkweather, K. E., Stieglitz, J., & Borgerhoff Mulder, M.(2020). Navigating cross-cultural research: Methodological and ethical considerations. Proceedings of the Royal Society B,287: 20201245. | |
Brown, L. J., Myers, S., Page, A. E., & Emmott, E. H.(2020). Subjective environmental experiences and women’s breastfeeding journeys: A survival analysis using an online survey of UK mothers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,17(21): 7903, pp. 7903. | |
Colleran, H.(2020). Market integration reduces kin density in women’s ego-networks in rural Poland. Nature Communications,11: 266. |