ABSTRACT
This chapter describes some relationships between resource availability and population growth. When shortages occurred too frequently, reproduction or infant survival would be curtailed via any number of population regulation techniques. Competition over ritual knowledge or expertise may have little direct effect on reproduction whereas competition over economic resources may have dramatic effects on reproductive behavior. The chapter argues that Pleistocene hunter/gatherers probably exhibited reproductive strategies very similar in some respects to some animals. Once individuals reach reproductive age, they expect to be able to enjoy a considerable post-reproductive life, but they are faced with the problem of how to insure that they will be cared for. In situations where sharing and cooperation are strongly developed, such as Pleistocene-type hunter/gatherer societies, support of post-reproductive aged persons would be assured for the most part, even if they had no offspring.
