The Role of the Aged in Primitive Society

Abstract

THIS study by Prof. Simmons of the treatment of the aged collects into a single volume, from a number of sources widely distributed in geography and representing varying types and stages oreulture, a very large assortment of examples of the way in which old age is treated by primitive peoples. The author states in his introductory matter that a preliminary analysis of his comparative material revealed significant contrasts on the basis of sex, and that marked difference in the treatment of the aged appeared to be correlated to varying factors in the environment, economics, kinship system, or religion of the group treated. Correlations between the physical and cultural traits described, and the environmental or other circumstances apparently determining or affecting them, are examined accordingly, and an analysis is made of the traits examined: the relative importance of each trait in its culture setting is estimated and the results indicated by a coefficient of plus or minus to two decimal points. The Role of the Aged in Primitive Society By Prof. Leo W. Simmons. Pp. viii + 317. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press; London: Oxford University Press, 1945.) 26s. 6d. net.