Serogenetic Studies on the Kamea (Kapau) Anga of the Interior of the Gulf Province of Papua

Though the Anga or Kukukuku of Papua New Guinea have been the subjects of occasional human biological investigations in the past, these have all been directed from the north, and their largest division, the Kamea or Kapau, who occupy the southeastern half of their territory, have been substantially neglected. The present paper describes the results of serogenetic investigations of a small sample of Kamea, who are shown to resemble their fellow-Anga closely in the distribution of their genetic markers, though there are indications that the Kamea have received some gene flow from the south. On the whole, though, the relative uniformity of gene marker distribution throughout the Anga points strongly to their common origin, and the paucity of signs of immigrant gene flow from their neighbours, the victims of their raids, tends to confirm that they practised cannibalism rather than the genetic incorporation of captives.