Language boundaries and biological differentiation of Bougainville: multivariate analysis of variance.

Blood genetic and antropometric data on Melanesians from Bougainville, Papus New Guinea, are analyzed by random-effects analysis of variance to partition the observed variation into components for the individuals, village, and language group level. Both clinial and unpatterned group differences exist. The differences between language groups appear to be substantial, even when the results are corrected for clinal effects. The amounts of variation of each level correspond roughly to a similar analysis of heterozygosity in blood polymorphisms. Observed current migration figures suggest that language and village constitute a 2-fold hierarchical subdivision of the breeding system, and this analysis shows probable random drift effects between groups at both the village and language level. Both language and genetic constitution of these villages are the result of differentiation in place.