Effects of Individual Mortality Experience on Out-of-Wedlock Fertility in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Krummhörn, Germany.

Life history theory predicts that exposure to high mortality in early childhood leads to faster and riskier reproductive strategies. Individuals who grew up in a high mortality regime will not overly wait until they find a suitable partner and form a stable union because premature death would prevent them from reproducing. Cox proportional hazard models were used to determine whether women who experienced sibling death during early childhood (0-5 years) reproduced earlier and were at an increased risk of giving birth to an illegitimate child, with illegitimacy serving as a proxy for risky sexual behavior. Furthermore, we investigate whether giving birth out of wedlock is influenced by individual mortality experience or by more promiscuous sexual behavior that is clustered in certain families. Models are fitted on pedigree data from the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Krummhörn population in Germany. The results show a relationship between sibling death in early childhood and the risk of reproducing out of wedlock, and reproductive timing. The risk of giving birth out of wedlock is linked to individual mortality experience rather than to family-level effects. In contrast, adjustments in connubial reproductive timing are influenced more by family-level effects than by individual mortality experience.

Identifying post-marital residence patterns in prehistory: A phylogenetic comparative analysis of dwelling size.

Post-marital residence patterns are an important aspect of human social organization. However, identifying such patterns in prehistoric societies is challenging since they leave almost no direct traces in archaeological records. Cross-cultural researchers have attempted to identify correlates of post-marital residence through the statistical analysis of ethnographic data. Several studies have demonstrated that, in agricultural societies, large dwellings (over ca. 65 m2) are associated with matrilocality (spouse resides with or near the wife's family), whereas smaller dwellings are associated with patrilocality (spouse resides with or near the husband's family). In the present study, we tested the association between post-marital residence and dwelling size (average house floor area) using phylogenetic comparative methods and a global sample of 86 pre-industrial societies, 22 of which were matrilocal. Our analysis included the presence of agriculture, sedentism, and durability of house construction material as additional explanatory variables. The results confirm a strong association between matrilocality and dwelling size, although very large dwellings (over ca. 200 m2) were found to be associated with all types of post-marital residence. The best model combined dwelling size, post-marital residence pattern, and sedentism, the latter being the single best predictor of house size. The effect of agriculture on dwelling size becomes insignificant once the fixity of settlement is taken into account. Our results indicate that post-marital residence and house size evolve in a correlated fashion, namely that matrilocality is a predictable response to an increase in dwelling size. As such, we suggest that reliable inferences about the social organization of prehistoric societies can be made from archaeological records.

Could consanguineous marriage provide a cultural alleviation for the obstetric dilemma?

In placental mammals, a poor fit between the physical dimensions of the fetus and maternal pelvis increases the likelihood of obstructed labour. This problem is especially relevant to humans, as our species demonstrates both unique adaptations in pelvic shape and structure associated with bipedalism, and fetal encephalization. Natural selection is expected to have favoured adaptations that reduce the chances of such mismatch within individual mother-offspring dyads. Here, I hypothesise that the cultural practice of consanguineous marriage may have been favoured, on account of increasing the genetic similarity between mothers and offspring and hence the correlation between maternal and fetal physical dimensions. These benefits could be amplified if consanguineous marriage was accompanied by assortative mating for height. An additional benefit of consanguineous marriage for childbirth is the slight reduction in birth size of such offspring compared to non-consanguineous unions. Although the offspring of consanguineous unions have elevated risks of morbidity and mortality, these risks are moderate and the practice could still have been favoured by selection if the reduction in maternal mortality was greater than the increased mortality among individual offspring. This hypothesis could be tested directly by investigating whether rates of obstructed labour are lower in individuals and populations practising consanguineous marriage. At a broader level, phylogenetic analysis could be conducted to test whether consanguineous marriage appears to have originated in the areas where intensive agriculture was first practiced, as adult height typically fell in such populations, potentially exacerbating the risk of obstructed labour.

Adapting the Own Children Method to allow comparison of fertility between populations with different marriage regimes.

The Own Children Method (OCM) is an indirect procedure for deriving age-specific fertility rates and total fertility from children living with their mothers at a census or survey. The method was designed primarily for the calculation of overall fertility, although there are variants that allow the calculation of marital fertility. In this paper we argue that the standard variants for calculating marital fertility can produce misleading results and require strong assumptions, particularly when applied to social or spatial subgroups. We present two new variants of the method for calculating marital fertility: the first of these allows for the presence of non-marital fertility and the second also permits the more robust calculation of rates for social subgroups of the population. We illustrate and test these using full-count census data for England and Wales in 1911.

Consanguineous marriages among Andalusian Gitanos/Calé: a genealogical analysis (1925-2006).

Using data from the family and genealogical reconstitutions of the Gitano population of 22 contiguous localities in eastern Andalusia, Spain, this study analysed the intensity, structure and historical evolution of consanguinity in 3056 couples formed from 1925 to 2006. Of these unions, 54.8% were consanguineous, and 28.7% involved relatives up to and including second cousins, resulting in a mean coefficient of inbreeding up to the third degree α3 = 12.4 × 10-3. The rest of the consanguineous unions (26.1% of all) involved more-distant relatives, such as third cousins, fourth cousins and so forth. When all consanguinity degrees found in the genealogical reconstitution were considered, the total mean coefficient of inbreeding was αt = 14.8 × 10-3. The merging of families and pedigrees generated a complex genealogical network with many inbreeding loops and important founder effects. This network revealed a high rate (62%) of Multiple Consanguineous Marriages (MCMs) in which second and subsequent consanguineous ties increased inbreeding levels by a fifth (20.5%). The accumulation of multiple degrees of distant relatedness, many of which had little social or biological importance, has contributed to a significant increase in inbreeding rates. Among Gitano people, intra-family marriages have remained common in the last decades, in sharp contrast to other Spanish populations. Hence the highest rates of close consanguinity (34%) and inbreeding (α3 = 14.6 × 10-3) were found in the 1960s, the decade that saw the onset of Spain's socioeconomic modernization, internationalization and massive migration. These are among the highest rates of inbreeding found in any European population, including the most endogamous Spanish isolates. They reveal marriage strategies not constrained primarily by geographical barriers, but by ethnocultural separation. Interestingly, in recent decades mixed marriages have been increasing rapidly in this minority, although they are compatible with high rates of consanguinity. Gitano secular endogamy is breaking up, but not uniformly.

Niñez y juventud del Dr. César Garavagno Burotto / Childhood and youth of Dr. Cesar Garvagno Burotto

Our principal Regional hospital take his name in honor to his profesional outstanding performance as a surgeon and director of it establishment, but existing controversiesas for the date and place of his born and marriage. We present exclusively his baptism and marriage certificate that clarifies this doubts

[Devil and God - The double role of Ted Hughes in Sylvia Plath's life and death].

The relationship of two, equally talented poets, as it can have whether a beneficient or inhibitory effect on both person's creative processes, is informative in a 'literature psychological' way. The present study aims to analyse the marriage of the poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. Sylvia Plath's life was directed by several dualities; her polarized perspective, being likely the result of her psychiatric illness, has taken control over every area of her life. Although, its most important duality is in connexion with the laureate British poet, Ted Hughes: she idealized and hated the man - being both her love and spouse - at the same time. Their marriage, fecundating the poetry of both, has led to a tempestuous ending. Soon after, the young Sylvia took her own life, and the public - more or less implicitly stating - blames it on Ted Hughes. In the present study we tend to give a literature psychological analysis of their relationship, based on their autobiographical works and, focused on the stages leading to the crisis, to question whether the personality of Plath could have an effect on the ending of their marriage? Could these phenomena have contributed to the early death of Sylvia Plath - and, especially, what was Ted Hughes's role in this process?

Gaydar, Marriage, and Rip-Roaring Homosexuals: Discourses About Homosexuality in Dear Abby and Ann Landers Advice Columns, 1967-1982.

Over the past 70 years, the history of acceptance of the lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) community within the United States has seen much change and fluctuation. One of the places that this dialogue has been preserved is through the syndicated advice columns of Dear Abby and Ann Landers, in which individuals in the United States were writing in for advice to deal with their anxiety over a newly emerging and highly visible new community of individuals once considered to be mentally ill and dangerous. Using discourse analysis, this article traces the evolution of public and scientific opinions about the LGBT community during the years leading up to the Stonewall riots all the way to right before the AIDs epidemic. This analysis sheds light on several moral panics that emerged regarding this newly visible population, especially in regard to disturbances within the domestic sphere and a stigmatization of bisexuality.

Infertility and surrogacy first mentioned on a 4000-year-old Assyrian clay tablet of marriage contract in Turkey.

Mankind has been expressing the breeding topic for thousands of years. Reproduction is the primary instinct of human beings and it is a social, cultural, medical issue. Demographic infertility is one of them, which is defined infertility as the inability to become pregnant with a live birth, within five years of regular sexual contact based upon a consistent union status in marriage maintaining a desire for a child with the lack of contraceptive use and non-lactating. A first mentions about infertility and surrogacy is discovered on a 4000-year-old clay tablet of marriage contract belonging to the Assyrian period exhibited at Istanbul Archeology Museum in Turkey. In conclusion, there are many different ways to solve infertility problems like surrogacy as mentioned even 4000 years ago in this Assyrian clay tablet of marriage contract as the first time in the literature. Medical treatments in relation to human infertility will continue to be the focus of social and cultural debates. Hence, more legislation and regulation will come in many countries to control the unauthorized exploitation of the patient.

The three-person honeymoon in the letters of Katherine Philips and Sarah Scott.

This article explores two instances of the three-person honeymoon as a popular custom among the pre-nineteenth-century English gentry and aristocracy. It argues that the presence of the bride's sister or closest companion on the holiday allowed female friendships to survive the marriage of one or both parties, albeit in a drastically changed form. The comparison of a successful and a failed marriage demonstrates that the third wheel could intervene on the bride's behalf in cases of marital incompatibility or abuse.

Campinas, uma vila colonial (1774-1822) / Campinas, a colonial village (1774-1822) / Campinas, una villa colonial (1774-1822)

A agricultura paulista apresentou uma significativa expansão durante o final do século XVIII e início do XIX. Representativa de uma região de grandes propriedades escravistas, Campinas foi a localidade estudada devido à grande riqueza documental, de tal forma que este artigo foi pautado, principalmente, pelo Mapa Geral de Habitantes existente para o período de 1798 a 1822, acrescentando-se informações provenientes das Listas Nominativas de habitantes e dos Registros Paroquiais. Os resultados do estudo mostraram um crescimento demográfico de grande intensidade, sobretudo da população cativa.

The development of agriculture in São Paulo, Brazil, presented a significant expansion during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, which is the focus of this paper. The purpose is to understand the dynamics and movements of these populations of a region of plantations (slaveholding properties). The sources for this discussion are derived from the General Map of Inhabitants existing for the period 1798-1822 in Campinas, with added data from the Nominative Lists of inhabitants and Parish Registers. Despite evident data limitation, there was a strong demographic increase, especially in captive population.

La agricultura paulista tuvo una expansión significativa durante los últimos años del siglo XVIII y los comienzos del XIX. En tanto región de grandes propiedades esclavistas, Campinas se estudia por su gran riqueza documental, de modo que este artículo fue pautado principalmente por el Mapa General de Habitantes del período 1798-1822, ampliado con información proveniente de las listas nominativas de habitantes y de los registros parroquiales. Finalmente, se verificó un crecimiento demográfico de gran intensidad, sobre todo en lo que refiere a la población esclava.

Tenancy, Marriage, and the Boll Weevil Infestation, 1892-1930.

In the early twentieth century, the cotton-growing regions of the U.S. South were dominated by families of tenant farmers. Tenant farming created opportunities and incentives for prospective tenants to marry at young ages. These opportunities and incentives especially affected African Americans, who had few alternatives to working as tenants. Using complete-count Census of Population data from 1900-1930 and Census of Agriculture data from 1889-1929, we find that increases in tenancy over time increased the prevalence of marriage among young African Americans. We then study how marriage was affected by one of the most notorious disruptions to southern agriculture at the turn of the century: the boll weevil infestation of 1892-1922. Using historical Department of Agriculture maps, we show that the boll weevil's arrival reduced the share of farms worked by tenants as well as the share of African Americans who married at young ages. When the boll weevil infestation altered African Americans' opportunities and incentives to marry, the share of African Americans who married young fell accordingly. Our results provide new evidence about the effect of economic and political institutions on demographic transformations.

The marriage boom and marriage bust in the United States: An age-period-cohort analysis.

In the 1950s and 1960s there was an unprecedented marriage boom in the United States. This was followed in the 1970s by a marriage bust. Some argue that both phenomena are cohort effects, while others argue that they are period effects. The study reported here tested the major period and cohort theories of the marriage boom and bust, by estimating an age-period-cohort model of first marriage for the years 1925-79 using census microdata. The results of the analysis indicate that the marriage boom was mostly a period effect, although there were also cohort influences. More specifically, the hypothesis that the marriage boom was mostly a response to rising wages is shown to be consistent with the data. However, much of the marriage bust can be accounted for by unidentified cohort influences, at least until 1980.

Comparison of observed and expected levels of genetic diversity based on surname frequencies: An example from historical Massachusetts.

OBJECTIVES: The inverse of random inbreeding based on surname frequencies (1/Fr ) is an estimate of genetic diversity, and its expectation is a function of the number of migrants into a population. Observed and expected values of (1/Fr ) were compared to determine if observed diversity matches theoretical expectations under conditions of rapid demographic change using data from historical Massachusetts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data on migration and surnames were taken from 6,038 marriage records from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries from five towns in north-central Massachusetts. Data for each town were broken down into a number of time cohorts defined by year of marriage, giving 33 samples based on town and year of marriage. The number of migrants (M) and the inverse of the random component of inbreeding (1/Fr ) were derived for each sample based on surname frequencies. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between observed and expected values of 1/Fr in samples where there were 100 or more migrants. However, 1/Fr was significantly higher in samples where M < 100, which is possibly due to these samples not having reached equilibrium, resulting in higher than expected values of 1/Fr . Regression of residual values of 1/Fr (observed-expected) on the number of years since settlement supports this interpretation. CONCLUSION: The number of migrants affects the level of genetic diversity inferred from surname frequencies, and the relationship between observed and expected measures depends on the number of migrants and the proximity of a given sample to an equilibrium state.

CHANGES IN THE GENETIC STRUCTURE OF A VALLEY IN THE PYRENEES (CATALONIA, SPAIN).

In some situations the use of isonymy is the best strategy for studying the genetic structure of a population and its biological history. In this study different population parameters were calculated for one of the most isolated valleys in the Pyrenees - the region of the Alta Ribagorça in Catalonia, Spain. Surnames from marriage records covering the continuous period from 1638 to 1988 were used. From 1950 onwards this region underwent important social, economic and biological changes related to the introduction of hydroelectric and mining industries, and the change from livestock farming to a society based on services. Two periods were analysed (1638-1950 and 1951-1988) allowing population changes that occurred in the region to be determined. The study focused on calculating the number of surnames by gender, diversity index (H), population sub-structure (RP-RPr)/RPr and inbreeding coefficient (F t) and detection of possible genetic barriers. The results demonstrate the importance that geography initially had in shaping the genetic structure of the population and how this was gradually replaced by other parameters such as roads or the social and economic importance of towns. An interesting phenomenon is that inbreeding has traditionally been associated with rural life, isolation and endogamy. However, for the Alta Ribagorça it was observed that in the second period, 1951-1988, inbreeding mainly depended on the composition of migrant groups and the reaction of the native population to the arrival of migrants from outside the region.