Inbreeding secular changes in the Riomaggiore and Silla Valleys, Italy, from 1565 to 1980.
Variations in the frequency of consanguineous marriages and inbreeding secular changes have been examined in an Italian mountain population from 1565 up to 1980. Wide microgeographic differences in inbreeding values related to the different altitude of the villages and their geographic location have been detected. A close parallelism between demographic variations and inbreeding secular changes has been pointed out. The dependence of the frequency increase in first cousin marriages observed in the second half of the XIX cent. On the increase in sibship size is suggested.
D000531:Altitude; D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D003241:Consanguinity; D005828:Genetics, Population; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy