Abstract
This paper examines the question of the nutritional value of cannibalism. Although other authors have concluded that the practice does not have such value, we argue that this cannot properly be determined except in the context of the total subsistence economy and local human ecology. The paper also presents a format for the empirical investigation of foodgetting and new ethnographic information about New Guinea cannibalism. Our major conclusion is that this practice does have nutritional value for certain human groups, specifically tropical peoples living at lowmedium population densities and exploiting a diverse range of animal foods.
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The ethnographic information reported in this paper was collected among the Gadio and Miyanmin peoples while the authors were engaged in dissertation fieldwork in New Guinea during 1967–1968. Support for this research was provided by the following grants: NSF-GS-1795, Task I (M. D.), Task II (G. M.), Principal Investigator, Professor A. P. Vayda; NSF Graduate Fellowship (G. M.); Fulbright-Hays Act Fellowship (M. D.); Department of Anthropology, Columbia University (M. D.).
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Dornstreich, M.D., Morren, G.E.B. Does New Guinea cannibalism have nutritional value?. Hum Ecol 2, 1–12 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01507342
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01507342