Unlike kids in the United States, hunter-gatherer children in the Congo Basin have often learned how to hunt, identify edible plants and care for babies by the tender age of six or seven. This rapid learning is facilitated by a unique social environment where cultural knowledge is passed down not just from parents but from the broader community, according to a new Washington State University-led study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research helps explain how many cultural traits have been preserved for thousands of years among hunter-gatherer groups across a wide range of natural environments in Africa.