Population Density, Agricultural Intensity, Land Tenure, and Group Size in the New Guinea Highlands

Abstract

The utility of employing population density as the independent variable was assessed in the prediction of each of the following dependent variables: the intensity of agriculture, the population of the exogamous local clan group, and the population of the largest political unit. Land tenure and settlement type were examined as dependent variables, in relation to some of the other variables. The functional interaction of the factors of size and complexity were examined within a region where the institutions are of the same type. How the data were gathered, problems encountered, how each scale was constructed, and the procedure for evaluating the data are explained. Population density is associated with, and is a good predictor of, all 3 dependent variables: agricultural intensity, the population of the exogamous local clan group, and the population of the largest political unit. An important relationship between group size and the other factors was shown. Distance apparently has an important role in group functions. Membership in clan groups and political-military units is generally concentrated within a limited region. Marriage, affinal and kin ties, and cooperation with kin and affines outside the local clan group are beyond clan boundaries, but accessible for visiting and mutual aid. The largest political unit often includes several clans, with much intermarriage. The kin and affinal ties support cooperation with these nearby clans. Such social and cooperative processes apply in low density and high density areas; the population of clan and political unit varies more than the area.