Staff profile

Research Profile

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

I previously worked at Durham as a teaching fellow. I am currently an assistant professor in the department, working on the 'Culture of Schooling' project in collaberation with Dr Coren Apicella (UPenn). The project will investigate the impacts of Hadza engagemement with formal education.

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

Chapter in book

• Stibbard-Hawkes, Duncan N E (2020). Egalitarianism and democratized access to lethal weaponry: a neglected approach. In Social inequality before farming? Multidisciplinary approaches to the study of social organization in prehistoric and ethnograpic hunter-gatherer-fisher societies. Moreau, Luc Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. 83-102.

Journal Article

• Stibbard‐Hawkes, Duncan N. E. & Apicella, Coren L. (2022). Myopia rates among Hadza hunter‐gatherers are low but not exceptional. American Journal of Biological Anthropology 179(4): 655-667.
• Stibbard-Hawkes, Duncan N.E., Smith, Kristopher & Apicella, Coren L. (2022). Why hunt? Why gather? Why share? Hadza assessments of foraging and food-sharing motive. Evolution and Human Behavior 43(3): 257-272.
• Stagnaro, Michael N., Stibbard-Hawkes, Duncan N. E. & Apicella, Coren L. (2022). Do religious and market-based institutions promote cooperation in Hadza hunter-gatherers? Religion, Brain & Behavior 12(1-2): 171-189.
• Stibbard‐Hawkes, Duncan N. E. & Attenborough, Robert D. (2021). Some omissions, few confusions. A reply to Pinheiro 2021. American Journal of Physical Anthropology
• Stibbard‐Hawkes, Duncan N. E., Attenborough, Robert D., Mabulla, Ibrahim A. & Marlowe, Frank 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): 61.
• Stibbard-Hawkes, Duncan N. E. (2020). No Association between 2D:4D Ratio and Hunting Success among Hadza Hunters. Human Nature 31(1): 22.
• Stibbard-Hawkes, Duncan N.E. (2019). Costly signaling and the handicap principle in hunter-gatherer research: A critical review. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews
• Stibbard-Hawkes, Duncan N.E., Attenborough, Robert D. & Marlowe, Frank 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.