SURNAMES AS ALLELES: SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF SURNAMES IN A PROVINCE OF THE ITALIAN ALPS

Abstract

Summary.The present paper seeks to analyse the spatial distribution of surnames in the province of Belluno in the Italian Alps, and describes the internal mobility of the population taking into consideration one of the most important and ancient roads in the area. The study is based on the analysis of the similarity of the frequencies of some autochthonous surnames depending on their geographical distance apart. The population considered turned out to be basically sedentary. When forced to migrate, the population preferred to go far from their homeland rather than inside the area: this happened probably because the opportunities that the province of Belluno could offer were quite scarce throughout the whole territory, and people hoped to improve their economic situation by going abroad.