Hagskýrslur um manntöl - 01.01.1975, Page 42

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Manntal 1729
found in age 29—52 weeks. Contrary to the census of 1729 tliere does not appear to liave been any
general motivc for misinformation of age in the census of 1703. Thougli impossible to certify in details
the quality of tlie age reportings of the 1729 census is not likely to be liighly inferior to that of the
1703 census. In botli censuses an increasing surplus of females aliove age 15 does indicate that the
general level of mortality must liave been vrery liigh. Tlie age-specific proportions inarried of each
sex tend to be significantly higlier in thc 1729 census tlian in the 1703 census, especially in the younger
ages. In 1703 a proportion of c. 27% (1729: c. 35%) of the population was below age 15 and 4,7%
(1729: c. 11%) above age 65. In botli censuses status as married, whether stated explicitly or implicitly,
to a very wide extcnt implies status as head of household (housewife) and vice versa. Tlie economically
active eleincnt of the Icclandic household appears to have bccn reinarkably independent of changes
in climatc and lcvel of mortality in tlie carly 18th century.
Prior to c. 1860 thc lcelandic society was entircly rural in character. There was no significant
change in thc niunbcr of habitations capable of providing the living of a family. All habilable farms
wcrc occupicd in about 1703. Formation of young families, therefore, must have bceu cxtremcly
limited at that time. Marriagc liad to be postponed, and population growth is likely to have been
stagnant or even ncgative for some years prior to 1703. In the ycars 1707—08 an extremcly severc
disastcr descended upon the population in the shape of a smallpox epidemic. The marital birth spaces,
the incrcase of the proportion of population married, especially in the young age groups, and tlie
enlarged proportion of the population below age 15, altogether discernible in the 1729 census, indicates
tlie existence of an cxtremely higli level of marital fertility, intensive formation of young families,
i. e. a drastical fall in the age at marriage, and consequently an immediate and explosive growtli of
the population through tlie birtli rate just after thc crisis. Demographic expericnces from otlxer Nordic
areas and froin lceland in the 19th century seem to support the notion, tliat the dramatic increasc
of the population above age 65, i. e. aging of the age structure in the census of 1729, is likely to be
caused by specific agc patterns of inortality linked up witli demograpliic crises in pre-transitional
societies. Detailed proof of this intcrpretation, however, is beyond thc limits of tliis work.
Áður út gefnar skýrslur um mauntöl.
Earlier publicalions on population censuses.
1703. Manntal á íslandi árið 1703 (sjálfar nafnaskrár manntalsins). Rvík 1923—1947. Manntalið
1703. Hagskýrslur íslands II, 21. Þursteinn Þorstcinsson: Manntalið 1703. Andvari 72.
árg. Enn fremur Laiulshagsskýrslur fyrir ísland 1903, bls. 70—80 og 108—111. Pétur
Zóphóníasson: Manntöl á Islandi á 18. öld. Eimreiðin 21. árg.
1762. Pélur Zóphóníasson: Manntöl á 18. öld.
1769. Olaus Olavius: Ökonomisk Reisc igiennem Island, Kpli. 1780, bls. 657—658.
1785. Pétur Zóphóníasson: Manntöl á 18. öld.
1801. Magnús Stephenscn: Island i det 18. Aarhundrede, Kph. 1808, bls. 270.
J. Johnsen: Jarðatal á íslandi, Kpli. 1847, bls. 397—403.
1835, 1840 og 1845. Johnsens Jarðatal, bls. 397—403.
1850. Skýrslur um landshagi á íslandi I. bd., bls. 1—49.
1855. Skýrslur um landsliagi á íslandi I. bd., bls. 405—479.
1860. Skýrslur um landsliagi á íslandi III. bd., bls. 45—167.
1870. Skýrslur um landshagi á íslandi V. bd., bls. 233—362.
1880. Stjórnartíðindi fyrir ísland, C. deild 1884, bls. 12—63.
1890. Stjórnartíðindi fyrir ísland, C. deild 1893, bls. 6—73.
1901. Manntal á íslandi liinn 1. nóvember 1901, Kph. 1904, og Landshagsskýrslur fyrir Island 1903,
bls. 123—222.
1910. Manntal á íslandi 1. desember 1910. Rvík 1913.
1920. Manntal á íslandi 1. desember 1920. Hagskýrslur lslands 46.
1930. Manntal á íslandi 2. desembcr 1930. Hagskýrslur íslands 92.
1940. Manntal á íslandi 2. desember 1940. Hagskýrslur Islands 122.
1950. Manntal á íslandi 1. desember 1950. Hagskýrslur Islands II, 18.
1960. Manntal á íslandi 1. desemdcr 1960. Hagskýrslur lslands II, 47.