ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews what we know thus far about the social and mental organization of primates and their evolution into early humans.
In monkeys, copulation outside the hormonal cycle of the female is relatively rare although there are exceptions that confirm the norm. Males are never significantly involved in raising the young. Primate groups develop from initial promiscuity to the establishment of exclusive sex partnerships that become the nucleus of the primate horde. In the beginning the only stable relations are between females and their young.
The more intelligent chimpanzees show “friendly or benevolent dominance”. Subordinates are protected rather than attacked. Dominance and prestige become associated with the service of the group. The temperance of dominance relations is continued in the forms of social organization of primitive human hordes. Leadership by a dominant male now must display qualities of intelligence, thinking, and generosity and an ability to resolve conflicts among the horde.
