Appendix IV - Household structure, 1977

Summary

The following diagrams represent the structure of every household in Fontelas in mid-1977. They are based partly on Peter Laslett's ideographic scheme for the pictorial representation of domestic groups (1972:31, 41–2). A summary table of the types of domestic group drawn here is included at the beginning of Chapter 6 (Table 13): the diagrams should be viewed along with that table. All of the households have been numbered by myself and may be located in two further places in this book: in Table 3 where landholdings are listed, and on Map 3 where I have drawn the spatial organization of the hamlet.

In examining the diagrams, the following points should be noted. Firstly, the structure of each household comprises those members of the domestic group present on 1 July 1977. At that time, Fontelas consisted of 57 resident households and a total of 187 people. However, a number of individuals have been included in the diagrams with dashed lines, who were not resident on that date but who resided in the household at some time between early 1976 and late 1978. Also included are 5 people who died during my fieldwork prior to 1 July 1977, as well as a number of marriages which took place after that date. All of these inclusions are noted in the diagrams. These additions allow us a glimpse of some of the short-term changes in household structure over a 2½ year period, and thus avoid the static snapshot quality of household listings pegged to one specific date.

Secondly, all personal names have been changed. None of the names used here duplicate any of the real names of individuals currently living in Fontelas.