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Family Size Control by Infanticide in the Great Agrarian Societies of Asia

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Abstract

An important issue in demography is whether there is evidence for premodern population control, especially control of family size. In an earlier paper we have argued that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that Palaeolithic society consciously practised population control; its approximate long-term population equilibrium is probably adequately explained by non-infanticidal mortality balancing fertility (Caldwell and Caldwell 2003a). Certainly babies were often killed when deformed or in times of crisis but not on a scale to constitute a demographically significant impact.

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Caldwell, B.K. (2006). Family Size Control by Infanticide in the Great Agrarian Societies of Asia. In: Demographic Transition Theory. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4498-4_7

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