ABSTRACT
Vital statistics, age structures, population change, and life expectancy data all reveal the human element in colonial history because they create a portrait of the "average person." Colonial statistics on the Ovimbundu of the highlands of central Angola provide insights into the way policies and opportunities altered their lives. In 1918 the tax was changed from households to persons, and the administration shifted its attention from assessments of houses to assessments of people in various age groups. The 1922 census also exhibits what might be termed less-than-honest mistakes, linked to desires of local officials to maximize revenue. A survey of the few decades before Portuguese conquest reveals an expanding population with great potential for productive development, deeply involved in trade. The Ovimbundu had long exported foodstuffs to coastal towns, and were quite capable of redirecting energy devoted to trading and carrying to farming.
