Pulotu: Database of Austronesian Supernatural Beliefs and Practices

Scholars have debated naturalistic theories of religion for thousands of years, but only recently have scientists begun to test predictions empirically. Existing databases contain few variables on religion, and are subject to Galton’s Problem because they do not sufficiently account for the non-independence of cultures or systematically differentiate the traditional states of cultures from their contemporary states. Here we present Pulotu: the first quantitative cross-cultural database purpose-built to test evolutionary hypotheses of supernatural beliefs and practices. The Pulotu database documents the remarkable diversity of the Austronesian family of cultures, which originated in Taiwan, spread west to Madagascar and east to Easter Island–a region covering over half the world’s longitude. The focus of Austronesian beliefs range from localised ancestral spirits to powerful creator gods. A wide range of practices also exist, such as headhunting, elaborate tattooing, and the construction of impressive monuments. Pulotu is freely available, currently contains 116 cultures, and has 80 variables describing supernatural beliefs and practices, as well as social and physical environments. One major advantage of Pulotu is that it has separate sections on the traditional states of cultures, the post-contact history of cultures, and the contemporary states of cultures. A second major advantage is that cultures are linked to a language-based family tree, enabling the use phylogenetic methods, which can be used to address Galton’s Problem by accounting for common ancestry, to infer deep prehistory, and to model patterns of trait evolution over time. We illustrate the power of phylogenetic methods by performing an ancestral state reconstruction on the Pulotu variable “headhunting", finding evidence that headhunting was practiced in proto-Austronesian culture. Quantitative cross-cultural databases explicitly linking cultures to a phylogeny have the potential to revolutionise the field of comparative religious studies in the same way that genetic databases have revolutionised the field of evolutionary biology.


v1. Indigenous State Time Focus
A time focus is the period of time to which information about a culture is applicable. Ideally, this section of the coding sheet should describe the culture as it was immediately prior to contact with cultures practising word religions (such as Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam). For islands with a long history of contact with the outside world, this may not be practicable -in cases such as these, the time focus should be the earliest period at which the culture can be reconstructed with a fair degree of certainty from ethnographic sources. The time focus should be stated in the form of a time interval of twenty-five years' duration, e.g. . NOTE 1: A different culture, for the purposes of this coding sheet, is any culture other than the culture being coded. NOTE 2: The distance stated should be a minimum distance. For example, if the culture being coded occupied an archipelago, and the nearest other culture occupied an archipelago located to directly to the east, the distance given should be the distance from the easternmost island of the western archipelago to the westernmost island of the eastern archipelago. NOTE 3: If there was a different culture living on the same island, code this distance as "0". Only one of these options can be selected. If more than one of these processes was involved in the formation of the island, please code the most process that is most representative.

v8. Island Size (km²)
Include any bodies of fresh water such as lakes, but do not include saltwater bodies such as lagoons. Consider atolls made up of smaller islets to be one island.

v11. Estimated population of largest political community
A political community can be defined as a group of people sharing a common jurisdiction, or if no defined leadership is present as a group that makes important decisions by consensus on a regular basis. The largest such group situated wholly within the culture, or dominated politically by people from within the culture, should be coded.
(1) 99 or fewer (2) 100-999 (3) 1,000-9,999 (4) 10,000-99,999 (5) 100,000 or more (?) Missing data v14. (No) conflict (social or political) within the local community (SCCS v 767) (VARIABLE LABEL REVERSED) Conflict within the local community can include both interpersonal and intergroup conflict. Only conflict that poses a realistic threat to the cohesiveness of the community should be considered conflict for our purposes.
(1) Endemic (Conflict is frequent, is often violent, and is a pervasive aspect of daily life, e.g. feuding).
(2) High (Conflict is frequent and often violent, but is not a pervasive aspect of daily life.) (3) Moderate (Conflict occurs frequently but is seldom violent, or is violent but occurs only occasionally.) (4) Low (Conflict seldom occurs, and is almost never violent.) (?) Missing data

v15. (No) internal warfare (between communities of the same society) (SCCS v 773)
(VARIABLE LABEL REVERSED) For the purposes of coding, internal warfare is warfare (i.e. lethal conflict between two or more groups of people) that takes place above the community level, but within the culture being coded. Thus warfare between two villages belonging to the same culture, or between two political communities (consisting of multiple villages) belonging to the same culture would be considered internal.

v16. (No) external warfare (with other societies) (SCCS v 774)
(VARIABLE LABEL REVERSED) For the purposes of coding, external warfare is warfare (i.e. lethal conflict between two or more groups of people) between members of the culture being coded and any group that is not considered part of the culture being coded. In larger cultures, the frequency of external warfare is likely to vary between subgroups. In cases such as this, the frequency that is typical for most political communities within the culture should be coded.

v17. (Low) contact with other societies (SCCS v 787)
(VARIABLE LABEL REVERSED) For the purposes of coding, contact with other societies is direct or indirect contact between one or more members of the culture being coded and one or more members of another culture. In larger cultures, the frequency of contact with other societies may vary between subgroups. In cases such as this, the frequency that is typical for most political communities within the culture should be coded.
(1) Frequent, through trade, warfare, travel, etc. (e.g. yearly or most years) (2) Occasional but not often (e.g. once in a generation) (3) Rare or never (less than once in a generation) (?) Missing data

v19. Pre-Austronesian population
Based on Bellwood, Fox and Tryon (1995, p 109). Unless contrary evidence has come to light since 1995, all areas west of this line except for Madagascar should be coded as (2), and all areas east of the line should be coded as (0).  Buddhist influence on supernatural belief, and culture is unlikely to have had contact with Hindu or Buddhist societies at or prior to to the time focus in question.) (1) No evidence of influence but in a region where contact is likely (No evidence of Hindu / Buddhist influence on supernatural belief, but culture is likely to have had contact with Hindu or Buddhist societies at or prior to the time focus in question.) (2) Evidence of influence (Evidence of Hindu / Buddhist influence on supernatural belief.) (?) Missing data
(0) No evidence of influence and not in region of known contact (No evidence of Islamic influence on supernatural belief, and culture is unlikely to have had contact with Islamic societies at or prior to the time focus in question.) (1) No evidence of influence but in a region where contact is likely (No evidence of Islamic influence on supernatural belief, but culture is known to have had (or is likely to have had) contact with Islamic societies at or prior to the time focus in question.) (2) Evidence of influence (Evidence of Islamic influence on supernatural belief.) (?) Missing data v22. Christian influence on supernatural belief (0) No evidence of influence and not in region of known contact (No evidence of Christian influence on supernatural belief, and culture is unlikely to have had contact with Christian societies at or prior to the time focus in question.) (1) No evidence of influence but in a region where contact is likely (No evidence of Christian influence on supernatural belief, but culture is known to have had (or is likely to have had) contact with Christian societies at or prior to the time focus in question.) (2) Evidence of influence (Evidence of Christian influence on supernatural belief.) (?) Missing data

v24. Agriculture / Horticulture
Agriculture and horticulture refer to the cultivation of plants for food or other uses. In many parts of the Pacific, important food plants such as bananas and coconuts are cultivated but also gathered from the wild. Coders should try to identify which of these processes is operating, and to what extent, before coding.
(0) Absent (not practiced in the culture, or practiced but not a food source) (1) Minor (forms a relatively insignificant part of diet) (2) Medium (a significant food source, but not one of the most important sources of food) (3) Major (one of the most important sources of food) (4) Principal (more important than any other source of food) (?) Missing Data

v25. Land-based gathering
Gathering is defined as the collection, as opposed to hunting, of wild foods. These foods can include parts of plants (e.g. fruits, nuts, roots), fungi, eggs, and small inverterbrates (e.g. insects, grubs, worms). Gathering does not include harvesting of fruit or nuts from trees that have been deliberately cultivated -this should instead be coded under "agriculture / horticulture".
(0) Absent (not practiced in the culture, or practiced but not a food source) (1) Minor (forms a relatively insignificant part of diet) (2) Medium (a significant food source, but not one of the most important sources of food) (3) Major (one of the most important sources of food) (4) Principal (more important than any other source of food) (?) Missing Data

v26. Animal husbandry as a source of food
Animals can be considered domestic if they are dependent, to an extent, on human care. Animals that were originally domestic but have become wild (e.g. feral pigs) should be coded under the hunting category.
(0) Absent (not practiced in the culture, or practiced but not a food source) (1) Minor (forms a relatively insignificant part of diet) (2) Medium (a significant food source, but not one of the most important sources of food) (3) Major (one of the most important sources of food) (4) Principal (more important than any other source of food) (?) Missing Data

v27. Land-based hunting performed by individuals
For the purposes of this question and the next, hunting can be considered the killing of vertebrates for food. Invertebrates such as crabs and insects should be coded under the gathering category. Ethnographic literature is not always clear about whether individual or group hunting strategies are used. In cases of uncertainty, an educated guess should be made if possible. For example, small animals such as birds can be hunted by individuals, but large animals such as pigs usually require group hunting strategies.
(0) Absent (not practiced in the culture, or practiced but not a food source) (1) Minor (forms a relatively insignificant part of diet) (2) Medium (a significant food source, but not one of the most important sources of food)

v29. Water-based gathering
For the purposes of this question, water-based gathering can be considered the collection of marine or freshwater plant foods (e.g. seaweed) and of small invertebrates such as shellfish and crustaceans.
(0) Absent (not practiced in the culture, or practiced but not a food source) (1) Minor (forms a relatively insignificant part of diet) (2) Medium (a significant food source, but not one of the most important sources of food) (3) Major (one of the most important sources of food) (4) Principal (more important than any other source of food) (?) Missing Data

v30. Fishing and water-based hunting performed by individuals
Fishing includes the harvesting of true fish as well as large, motile invertebrates such as octopus and squid. Water-based hunting involves marine or aquatic mammals (e.g. seals, dolphins), birds (e.g. ducks), amphibians (e.g. frogs) or reptiles (e.g turtles). Opportunistic feeding on beached whales etc. does not belong in this category, but rather under gathering. As with hunting, it is not always clear in the ethnographic literature whether individual or group fishing strategies are being used. In these cases, an educated guess should be made if possible. For example, nearshore fishing can be carried out by individuals, but deepwater fishing usually requires a group approach.
(0) Absent (not practiced in the culture, or practiced but not a food source) (1) Minor (forms a relatively insignificant part of diet) (2) Medium (a significant food source, but not one of the most important sources of food)

v37. Belief in nature spirits
A nature spirit is a supernatural agent of non-human origin, who is not considered to be an ancestor, who has a narrow sphere of influence and concern, and who (a) is embodied in a particular feature of the natural world or natural phenomenon and is seldom or never encountered in any other form, and / or (b) resides in a particular natural landscape or type of natural landscape, and is seldom encountered anywhere else.
(0) Absent (do not feature in the belief system of the culture) (1) Present, but not a major focus of supernatural practice (2) Present, and a major focus of supernatural practice (3) Present, and the principal focus of supernatural practice (?) Missing data

v38. Belief in nature god(s)
A nature god is a supernatural agent of non-human origin, who is not considered to be an ancestor, who has a broad sphere of influence and concern, and who (a) is embodied in a particular feature of the natural world or natural phenomenon and is seldom or never encountered in any other form, and / or (b) resides in a particular natural landscape or type of natural landscape, and is seldom encountered anywhere else.
(0) Absent (do not feature in the belief system of the culture) (1) Present, but not a major focus of supernatural practice (2) Present, and a major focus of supernatural practice (3) Present, and the principal focus of supernatural practice (?) Missing data

v39. Belief in ancestral spirits
An ancestral spirit is the spirit of a deceased ancestor who was once a human or other corporeal being and continues to influence the lives of his or her living descendants. Unlike deified ancestors, ancestral spirits have a narrow sphere of influence and concern (usually confined to a single family), and are usually, though not always, the spirits of those who lived in the recent past.
(0) Absent (do not feature in the belief system of the culture) (1) Present, but not a major focus of supernatural practice (2) Present, and a major focus of supernatural practice (3) Present, and the principal focus of supernatural practice (?) Missing data

v40. Belief in deified ancestor(s)
A deified ancestor is the spirit of a human or other corporeal being, ancestral to at least a subset of people within the culture, who acquired godlike powers after death. Unlike ancestral spirits, deified ancestors have broad spheres of influence and concern (extending beyond single families to larger units such as tribes and societies), and are usually, though not always, believed to have lived in the distant past.
(0) Absent (do not feature in the belief system of the culture) (1) Present, but not a major focus of supernatural practice (2) Present, and a major focus of supernatural practice (3) Present, and the principal focus of supernatural practice (?) Missing data

v41. Belief in culture hero(es)
A culture hero can be defined as (a) a human, or some other corporeal being, who had godlike powers while living and whose actions explain the presence of a particular feature of the physical or social world, and / or (b) the spirit of any such being. Culture heroes are usually, but not always, believed to have lived in the distant past. Some culture heroes are also deified ancestors.
(0) Absent (do not feature in the belief system of the culture) (1) Present, but not a major focus of supernatural practice (2) Present, and a major focus of supernatural practice (3) Present, and the principal focus of supernatural practice (?) Missing data

v42.Belief in God(s)
A god is a supernatural agent with a broad sphere of influence and concern, who is not restricted to any one physical form or geographical area, and is not believed to have originated as a human or other corporeal being.
(0) Absent (do not feature in the belief system of the culture) (1) Present, but not a major focus of supernatural practice (2) Present, and a major focus of supernatural practice (3) Present, and the principal focus of supernatural practice (?) Missing data

v44. Belief in supernatural punishment for impiety
Impiety is behaviour that is directly offensive to gods or other supernatural agents -examples might include blasphemy, desecration of a sacred site, or failing to carry out rituals correctly. (2) Present, and creationist (man was created by some agent in the same form as he is today) (?) Missing data

v49. Myth of a primordial pair
A primordial pair is a male-female pair of supernatural beings who were present at the beginning of the world and are believed to be the parents of the gods and/or of the human race.

v51. Social hierarchy tapu
A tapu that mandates or forbids certain behaviours between people of differing social status. (1) Considerable overlap between religious and political leaders (Most religious leaders, or the most prominent religious leaders, are also political leaders) (2) Some overlap (Some religious leaders, but not the most prominent religious leaders, are also political leaders, or religious and political leaders are distinct but political leaders exert considerable influence on religious leaders) (3) No overlap (Religious leaders are distinct from, and independent from, political leaders) (?) Missing data

v63. Headhunting
Headhunting is the practice of killing people for the sole or primary purpose of obtaining their heads.

v64. Costly sacrifices and offerings
Costly sacrifices and offerings are defined as the presentation of an object of more-than-trivial value to a supernatural agent, which involves the forfeiting of that object, or a valuable part of that object, for any further use. Costly sacrifices and offerings may involve inanimate objects or living beings, but for our purposes human sacrifices should be excluded from this category. Funeral practices which invoke the destruction of the property of the deceased or the burial of valuable objects with the deceased should be included in this category, but only if there is an explicit or clearly implied belief that the objects will benefit the deceased in some way in the afterlife.

v65. Size of largest ritual social group
A ritual social group is a group of people that (a) are under the same religious authority, or (b) conduct religious rituals together on a regular basis.
(1) Household or smaller (2) Larger than a household, no larger than the local community (e.g. village) (3) Larger than a local community, no larger than the largest political community in the culture (4) Larger than the largest political community in the culture (?) Missing data v66. Tattooing (1) Low (The cultural remained politically autonomous throughout the post-contact period.) (Skip to Q.71) (2) Medium (The culture maintained some political autonomy throughout the post-contact period, but on at least one occasion during the post-contact period the culture entered into a political relationship with a foreign power that involved some loss of autonomy.) (3) High (On at least one occasion during the post-contact period, the culture came under the political dominance of a foreign power, and this event resulted in considerable loss of autonomy.) (?) Missing data

v72. Nature of loss of autonomy -voluntary vs. forced
Was autonomy ceded voluntarily or by force? If autonomy was lost more than once and differing levels of force were involved, please code the highest level of force used.
(1) Largely voluntary (Autonomy was ceded either voluntarily or as a result of pressure from other members of the same culture, without the threat of external force being necessary.) (2) Partly voluntary (e.g. Autonomy was ceded voluntarily but under duress; some communities ceded their autonomy voluntarily but others were forced to do so by an foreign power.) (3) Largely involuntary (autonomy was lost largely as a result of external force) (?) Missing data

v73. Replacement-level immigration
Replacement-level immigration, for the purposes of coding, is migration of people from nonindigenous cultures (i.e. cultures that were not originally present in the area) into the ancestral territory of the culture being coded, at such a level that the cultural demographics of the area were changed substantially. "Immigrant population", in this case, refers both to immigrants from another culture and to their descendants, but excludes those who became absorbed into the indigenous population through intermarriage or acculturation.
(0) Absent (Replacement-level immigration did not occur -an immigrant culture was never present in the area, or was present but had a population size less than 10% of that of the indigenous culture.) (1) Low (Replacement-level immigration occurred. The immigrant culture had a population size more than 10% of that of the indigenous culture at one time or another, but this figure never exceeded 50%.) (2) Medium (Replacement-level immigration occurred. The immigrant culture had a population size more than 50% of that of the indigenous population at one time or another, but this figure never exceeded 100%.)