WARFARE, SOCIAL-ORGANIZATION AND RESOURCE ACCESS AMONGST THE WOSERA-ABELAM OF PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA

In the precolonial period warfare was endemic amongst the Wosera Abela m and social organisation was sufficiently flexible to permit the move ment of people between villages and groups, and their full incorporati on into their host societies. In the contemporary context of increasin g population pressure, and in the absence of warfare, a significant re sponse is a general tightening of the rules governing group membership and resource access. This response, it is argued, may represent a shi ft from a patrifilial system of social organisation to one based on pa trilineal-like principles, resulting in a legacy of marginalised immig rant lineages of three generations or less of village residence.