Did tales told over fires aid our social and cultural evolution?

[cally]

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-09/uou-fto091814.php

After human ancestors controlled fire 400,000 to 1 million years ago, flames not only let them cook food and fend off predators, but also extended their day.

A University of Utah study of Africa's Kalahari Bushmen suggests that stories told over firelight helped human culture and thought evolve by reinforcing social traditions, promoting harmony and equality, and sparking the imagination to envision a broad sense of community, both with distant people and the spirit world....

...Day conversation has a lot to do with economic activities – working, getting food, what resources are where," she says. "It has a lot to do with social issues and controls: criticism, complaints and gripes."

"At night, people really let go, mellow out and seek entertainment. If there have been conflicts in the day, they overcome those and bond. Night conversation has more to do with stories, talking about the characteristics of people who are not present and who are in your broader networks, and thoughts about the spirit world and how it influences the human world. You have singing and dancing, too, which bonds groups."