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Low rate of population increase of the Gidra papuans in the past: A genealogical‐demographic analysis
Author(s) -
Ohtsuka Ryutaro
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330710103
Subject(s) - demography , fertility , population , prehistory , population growth , total fertility rate , reproduction , historical demography , birth rate , geography , civilization , variation (astronomy) , period (music) , ecology , biology , research methodology , archaeology , sociology , family planning , physics , astrophysics , acoustics
The population increase rate of the Gidra in lowland Papua in the past was estimated using the rate of intergenerational replacement of females based on genealogical records involving 889 women, alive or deceased, who completed reproduction. During the period from a century ago to the time of manifest influence of civilization several decades ago, the Gidra had a constant annual increase rate of about 0.2%. The discussion includes a historical assessment of this rate with reference to the local conditions and an ecological explanation for its microenvironmental variation and suggests a reassessment of the methodology for studying fertility and population growth in anthropological and prehistoric populations.