Warfare, sex ratio and polygyny

Ethnology Vol/Iss. 13 Published In Pages: 197-206
By Ember, Melvin

Abstract

This paper suggests that polygyny may be best explained by uneven sex ratios, particularly an excess of women while men are engaged in warfare. The author also considers Whiting’s 1964 theory that used post-partum sex taboos to explain polygyny. These two theories are tested cross-culturally and results suggest that polygyny is a response to an unbalanced sex ratio in favor of women.

Samples

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Ethnographic Atlas (EA)

Documents and Hypotheses Filed By:mas Amelia Piazza