Original scientific paper
The Population of Pupnat on the Island of Korčula (1870-1880): The Beginning of Demographic Transition
Julijana Antić-Brautović
Aleksandra Piteša-Orešković
Jakov Gelo
Abstract
As a rural island settlement, Pupnat followed the demographic trends and features discernible on the islands of central Dalmatia, which in many characteristics departed sharply from the Dalmatian mainland (earlier beginning of demographic transition, large number of premarital conceptions, and equally so of consanguineous marriages). Located on the border of the former Venetian Dalmatia and the Dubrovnik Republic, Pupnat tended to adopt the positive demographic influence from the south somewhat earlier, and according to many determinants, closely correlated with the island of Lastovo, the latter also being in the borderline area but from the direction of Dubrovnik. In the period 1870-1880, Pupnat experienced the first signs of demographic transition: from mortality decline and population growth, to fairly high age at marriage and life expectancy, as evidenced by relatively high age at death. Being in embryo, the transition affected only the mortality rate of the elderly contingent, while infant mortality still remained fairly high. Unlike other parishes of the Dalmatian islands, even the neighbouring Blato, Pupnat experienced an accentuated autumn marriage peak, which could be accounted by the seasonal way of life—harvest autumns on one hand and winter months on the other, during which some inhabitants left the village with their livestock in search of pastures.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
39126
URI
Publication date:
10.6.2009.
Visits: 2.970 *