Fertility in anthropological populations.

"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. excerpt