Re: NYTimes.com Article: Iraqi Family Ties Complicate American

What do cousin marriages of this nature do to genetic
strength? Are recessive traits overly incorporated
into these social structures?

Tim Jones


At 6:55 PM -0700 9/29/03, Charles Jannuzi wrote:
>  >>This is not a question of statistics for
> anthropologists since an expressed preference or even
> a prescription of a certain kind
> of marriage does not guarantee that this always
> happens in practice.<<
>
> Of course, but most people who write for the NYT are
> not anthropologists, nor are most of its readers.
> Moreover, biological reproduction can take place
> outside such structures, and concubinage and men
> having more than one wife (and for different purposes)
> complicates things still further.
>
> My question is how unique is the pattern of cousin
> marriage in Iraq? I'm not sure from reading the NYT,
> and will have to do further research. I'm sure most
> Iraqis are not traditional herders, though I'm also
> sure there are remnants in Iraq and Iran. Still I
> don't know about the marriage situation in Iraq but
> plan to find out.
>
> Charles J
>
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