Climate, Climate Change and the Global Diversity of Human Houses

Robert R. Dunn*: Affiliation:
Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Kathryn R. Kirby: Affiliation:
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B2, Canada and Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Human History, Jena, Germany
Claire Bowern: Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8366, USA
Carol R. Ember: Affiliation:
Human Relations Area Files at Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Russell D. Gray: Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
Joe McCarter: Affiliation:
Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA
Patrick H. Kavanagh: Affiliation:
Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1480, USA.
Michelle Trautwein: Affiliation:
California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA
Lauren M. Nichols: Affiliation:
Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Michael C. Gavin: Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand; Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1480, USA.
Carlos Botero: Affiliation:
Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712 USA
*: *Correspondence to: Robert R. Dunn (rrdunn@ncsu.edu)

Article contents

Abstract
Footnotes

Abstract

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Globally, human house types are diverse, varying in shape, size, roof type, building materials, arrangement, decoration, and many other features. Here we offer the first rigorous, global evaluation of the factors that influence the construction of traditional (vernacular) houses. We apply macroecological approaches to analyze data describing house features from 1900 to 1950 across 1000 societies. Geographic, social and linguistic descriptors for each society were used to test the extent to which key architectural features may be explained by the biophysical environment, social traits, house features of neighbouring societies, or cultural history. We find strong evidence that some aspects of the climate shape house architecture, including floor height, wall material, and roof shape. Other features, particularly ground plan, appear to also be influenced by social attributes of societies, such as whether a society is nomadic, polygynous, or politically complex. Additional variation in all house features was predicted both by the practices of neighboring societies and by a society's language family. Collectively, the findings from our analyses suggest those conditions under which traditional houses offer solutions to architects seeking to reimagine houses in light of warmer, wetter or more variable climates.

Type: Research Article
Information: Evolutionary Human Sciences , Accepted manuscript , pp. 1 - 55

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/ehs.2024.5 [Opens in a new window]
Creative Commons: This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.