Infanticide and fertility among Eskimos: A computer simulation

• Published in: American Journal of Physical Anthropology
• Main Author: Chapman, Michael
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1980
• Subjects: eskimo*
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.1330530217; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fajpa.1330530217; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ajpa.1330530217

Abstract Until recently, certain Eskimo groups were reported to practice female infanticide in the belief that the time spent suckling a girl would delay the mother's next opportunity to bear a son, males being preferred to females because of their future role as providers in a hunting economy. From sex ratios in census data, rates of female infanticide of up to 66% for some groups have been inferred, leading some ethnographers to conclude that these groups were headed for extinction. Eskimo beliefs regarding the effects of infanticide on fertility, however, are in accord with the results of research on the relation of fertility and lactation: The cessation of lactation following infanticide would significantly shortern the expected interval until the next birth. Given this fact and available field data regarding the parameters of Eskimo population growth, the present computer simulation indicates that Eskimo populations could sustain a rate of 30% female infanticide and still survive. Higher reported rates are explained as the combined result of female infanticide plus the tendency of ethnographers to overestimate to overestimate the ages of juvenile females relative to juvenile males.