Surname Analysis in the Study of the Identities of two Communities in the Susa Valley (Turin) in the 18th and 19th Centuries

The surnames have been widely used in biodemographic analysis of populations as genetics markers in order to assess the isonomy degree and inbreeding within those communities. In most of the works the authors use surnames taken from religious and/or civil marriages acts; less frequent are the studies worked out from other sources such as birth and/or baptism and deaths and/or burials acts. With the present work we analyse the biodemographic evolution of two mountain communities, Chiomonte and Venaus, in Torino province, on the basis of the sumames within historical series of births, deaths and marriages. For Chiomonte continuous series have been available since the end of XVII century, while for Venaus since the second half of XIX century. Preliminary surveys based on marriages acts have highlighted a noticeable difference of surnames between the two villages even though they were not far away from each other. With reference to current inhabitants (data SEAT 1993), in both villages historical surnames from marriages are predominant which indicates how relevant the presence of the population in past centuries was. Some of these surnames have developed in other villages in Susa Valley and in the main villages of the valleys (Susa).