EMPIRES children: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



29 



Figure 1. — Age-sex population distribution. The stippled areas represent the Tarascan-speaking population; 

 the black areas represent the Spanish-speaking population. 



In spite of these errors, and there are greater 

 ones, there appears to be a canceling out which 

 gives an age-sex pyramid which is not too far 

 off. There is no tendency to exaggerate the ages 

 of old people; in fact, only one person over 80 

 is listed. The act of dying, however, seems to 

 add to one's years. In the municipal records 

 there are recorded the death of a female at the 

 age of 105, of a male at the age of 90, and 

 numerous deaths of persons of both sexes be- 

 tween the ages of 80 and 90. Likewise, there 

 appears to be no tendency to give ages in round 

 numbers and thus throw off the normal curve of 

 a chart. 



Some irregularities in the pyramid call for 

 explanation. The 6-10 bracket of males has 

 drawn upon that just above and below; birth 

 statistics do not bear out this distribution. Like- 

 wise, some of the females in the 1-5 year brack- 

 et belong in that of 6-10. Particularly notice- 



able among males is the low figure for the ages 

 26-30 and 31-35. This suggests that some men 

 properly in these brackets have been listed as 

 from 5 to 10 years older. It may be pointed 

 out, however, that the year of birth of these 

 men corresponds to the period of the Mexican 

 Revolution, and hence a higher infant mortality 

 rate and a lowered birth rate may be reflected. 

 The left side of the pyramid bears out this 

 hypothesis to a lesser degree. The years just 

 before the Revolution were relatively stable, 

 and one might expect a higher birth rate than 

 during the unsettled years which followed. 



Very striking is the numerical superiority of 

 women to men, in the ratio of 116 to 100. For 

 persons of 50 years of age and less the ratio 

 is even higher, 118 to 100. In fact, above the 

 age of 50 men slightly outnumber women. Birth 

 rates also show this preponderance pi women. 

 Data on births, deaths, and marriages have been 



