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Ritual harmony: Toward an evolutionary theory of music

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2008

Candace S. Alcorta ,
Richard Sosis  and
Daniel Finkel
Candace S. Alcorta
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Unit 2176, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-2176. candace.alcorta@uconn.edurichard.sosis@uconn.edudaniel.finkel@uconn.eduhttp://www.anth.uconn.edu/faculty/sosis/
Richard Sosis
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Unit 2176, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-2176. candace.alcorta@uconn.edurichard.sosis@uconn.edudaniel.finkel@uconn.eduhttp://www.anth.uconn.edu/faculty/sosis/
Daniel Finkel
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Unit 2176, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-2176. candace.alcorta@uconn.edurichard.sosis@uconn.edudaniel.finkel@uconn.eduhttp://www.anth.uconn.edu/faculty/sosis/
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Abstract

Juslin & Västfjäll (J&V) advance our understanding of the proximate mechanisms underlying emotional responses to music, but fail to integrate their findings into a comprehensive evolutionary model that addresses the adaptive functions of these responses. Here we offer such a model by examining the ontogenetic relationship between music, ritual, and symbolic abstraction and their role in facilitating social coordination and cooperation.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 31 , Issue 5 , October 2008 , pp. 576 - 577
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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