Fertility in Anthropological Populations

Abstract

"In this review I draw upon statistical demography and, to a lesser extent, reproductive endocrinology to formulate a coherent strategy for investigating fertility and reproduction in anthropological populations. The object, it must be emphasized, is not to reduce anthropology to demography or endocrinology, but rather to acquaint anthropologists with a powerful set of tools with which they can address issues of anthropological interest." The author first discusses the concept of natural fertility. Next, he summarizes the most significant generalizations concerning variations in fertility among preindustrial societies using the concept of proximate determinants developed by John Bongaarts. Finally, he outlines an alternative approach that might be more suited to the analysis of such fertility variations.

Demography and health of the Xavante Indians of Central Brazil

“…In other words, it may be due to mortality-fertility interaction. Wood 36 argues that, especially in populations with high mortality, fertility levels may be affected more by mortality than by reproduction itself. Wood uses the expression "reproductive compensation".…”

“…Wood uses the expression "reproductive compensation". According to him, "when a nursing child dies, lactation is terminated and the mother resumes ovulating sooner than she otherwise would have" 36 (p. 233). Therefore, paradoxically, in a situation where infant mortality is high the total fertility of a group of women may increase.…”

Fertility Changes in Rural Moroccan Berbers during the 20th Century

“…As such, it looks close to what Henry [10] identified as 'natural Table 5 Age of the mother at successive child births in the various cohorts of birth. 1888-1829 1930-1934 1935-1939 1940-1944 1945-1949 1950-1954 1955-1959 fertility', i.e., fertility that was not adjusted 'to meet some normative target family size' [20]. The situation met in the <1930 cohort combines a rather long reproductive span with moderately long birth intervals.…”

Reproductive success: Which meaning?

“…Under such conditions, the differences in marital fertility can be attributed to variations in the spacing of births, whose components are either the length of the postpartum anovulatory period, fecundability, or the frequencies of spontaneous abortions and stillbirths. The definition was later revised to only exclude the populations that adjusted their fertility ''to meet some normative target family size'' (Wood, 1990), that is, admitting as naturally fertile those who, for example, intervene in birth intervals in observing sexual taboos.…”