Culture and human agro-ecosystem dynamics: the Tsembaga of New Guinea

TitleCulture and human agro-ecosystem dynamics: the Tsembaga of New Guinea
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1998
AuthorsAnderies JM
JournalJournal of Theoretical Biology
Volume192
Pagination515-530
Source DocumentAccessible with appropriate permission
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 records found.
Title
Type

Culture and Human Agro-ecosystem Dynamics: the Tsembaga of New Guinea

Model
The model of Tsembaga agro-ecology explores the coupled dynamics involving population growth, renewable resource base, resource consumption by humans, and the self-regulating effect of cultural ritual. The model demonstrates that the cultural ritual of Tsembaga (Kaiko) can stabilize the Tsembaga population and its resource level. This is achieved by attenuating wildly fluctuating limit cycles of population and resource levels down to desirable small-amplitude cycles. Anderies (1998) describes...
09 Aug 2016

The Tsembaga Maring swidden agriculture and animal husbandry, Simbai River Valley, Papua New Guinea

Case
Tsembaga Maring are a group of horticulturists who live in the highlands of New Guinea. The main resource upon which they relied on is swidden agriculture. The Tsembaga also practiced animal husbandry - the main domesticated animal being pigs. The Tsembaga derived little energetic value from pigs. Pigs did, however, play an important role in Kaiko, an important cultural ritual practiced by the Tsembaga people. Kaiko is a 5-25 year long ritual cycle that is coupled with pig husbandry and...
09 Aug 2016