Population dynamics among Asmat hunter-gatherers of New Guinea: Data,methods, comparisons

Asmat hunter-gatherers of Irian Jaya have been experiencing rapid culture change since 1953, yet demographically still can be classified as living primitives. Methods of nonstandard data analysis are utilized in an attempt to provide specific information on age-sex structure, fertility, birth rates, death rates, population growth, internal migration, and life expectancy in the contact era, and to aid in the development of a two-part model of population growth encompassing the immediate precontact and contact eras. Special attention is paid to the continuing albeit reduced impact of infanticide. Brief comparisons with other Melanesian and Third World societies are presented; the Asmat average annual growth rate of 1.5% since first permanent contact in 1953 contrasts with the generally higher rates reported for most of these other groups.