Seasonality of marriages in Spanish and French parishes in the Cerdanya valley, eastern Pyrenees.

The Cerdanya valley in the eastern Pyrenees has a physical unity into which a political frontier has been imposed to divide it. The social and cultural repercussions of this Franco-Spanish border have created obstacles to marriage which are not due to topography. Choice of month of marriage is under cultural control and the study of seasonality in marriages recorded in the registers of all the Cerdan parishes on both sides of the border demonstrated differences over time and between French and Spanish sectors. It is suggested that these changes demonstrate the process of distancing of the two populations. Cluster and correspondence analysis showed progressive differentiation of the seasonality patterns of the French and Spanish Cerdans despite the geographic unity of the valley. Sociocultural factors are presumed responsible.

PIP: The Cerdanya valley in the eastern Pyrenees is defined by a relatively flat valley floor of 950-1300 m surrounded by peaks up to 2900 m high. The local population could therefore easily be defined as being those people who live within the valley's natural topographical boundaries. The area held allegiance to different states until the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees created a division between village zones. A more precise demarcation was defined in the 1866-68 Treaty of Bayonne. A common identity nonetheless continued among the people of the valley given the absence of any physical barriers between them. Development, tourism, and out-migration during the 20th century have since transformed the Cerdanya. Analysis of marriage records in the valley found a decrease over time in the frequency of trans-frontier marriages, suggesting an increase in the significance of the frontier. Contemporary cultural differences in food habits have also been shown. The authors used parish record data on the seasonality of French and Spanish marriages in the Cerdanya to investigate whether there was greater social cohesion among the people of the Cerdanya 60-70 years ago. The study found the choice of month of marriage to be culturally determined and differences over time and between French and Spanish sectors in the seasonality of marriages. These changes suggest the distancing of the two populations.

Cerdanya: mountain valley, genetic highway.

In this paper the records of 7844 marriages in the parishes of French and Spanish sectors of the Cerdanya Valley have been analysed. The Cerdanya is an eastern Pyrenean valley, today divided by the Franco-Spanish border, but once united within Catalonia. The results have been reported on the one hand on a small scale using local place names, and on the other hand on a wider scale across France and Spain, because interest lies both in the geographic range from which some marital partners have come and in the relative proportions of brides and grooms from the French and Spanish parts of Cerdanya and from adjacent districts. Both mountains and the Franco-Spanish border are shown to have reduced the likelihood of marriage. Inaccessible mountain barriers appear to have been a greater obstacle to marital movement than the border. Adjacent districts and local provinces have provided a greater proportion of brides and grooms than more distant ones, but thereafter frequencies from the further regions do not decrease with greater distance. More marital partners have moved from Spain to France than vice-versa, and mobility of grooms exceeded mobility of brides. Results are relevant to genetics and the current European interest in nationality and ethnicity.

Anthropometric variation between migrants and non-migrants: Orkney Islands, Scotland.

Anthropometric measurements on a non-migrant sample consisting of 174 males and 148 females aged 21 to 75 resident in the Orkney Islands are compared with measurements on 91 males and 96 females who migrated as adults to the Aberdeen area of Scotland. Covariance analysis, adjusting for age effects, reveals differences in a number of anthropometric variables, with migrants showing smaller dimensions in several cases. For most variables the differences are more marked in females. Significantly smaller values are found in upper arm circumference, bicondylar humerus and head breadth in female migrants, and in bicondylar humerus in male migrants. Biacromial and head length dimensions are significantly greater in female migrants. There is no significant effect of duration of residence in the new environment on the anthropometric values of migrants.