One of the most obvious ways to delve into the history of the family is to make a genealogical (family tree) or, in a more modern variant of sounding, a tree. Therefore, it makes sense to consider possible ways of solving the problem in more detail.
A genealogical or family tree is a scheme that describes the family ties in several generations. An important feature becomes the possibility of locating both the ancestor and the last descendant of the family at its root. The trunk and branches of the crown in both cases are formed by representatives of the family. The greater their number, the more impressive the look of the genealogical tree.
The need for thorough knowledge of ancestors arose quite a long time ago – several millennia ago. Already at that time people realized the danger of closely related marriages. With the growth of cultural traditions drawing up genealogical tree began to solve several other tasks, for example, to confirm the antiquity and nobility of the family, which often played an important role in determining the social status of a family.
Types of genealogical tree
There are two main varieties of the family tree – ascending and descending. Each of them has its own features and recommendations for drawing up.
The ascending tree is built from descendants to ancestors, and the compiler becomes the initial or root element of the system. This scheme is best when the study of the family is just beginning and there is relatively little information. Usually it concerns the closest relatives within one or two generations – parents, their brothers and sisters, grandparents.
The descending genealogy is built in exactly the opposite way. The root becomes one of the ancestors of the compiler or his spouse. For the scheme to get a serious view, you need to have information about a sufficiently large number of relatives, preferably from several branches.
Two other criteria for classifying genealogical trees into types are:
gender of the relatives indicated (only male line, only female line, or mixed line);
Included parentage lines (direct – without nephews and brothers or lateral – including cousins and third cousins in several generations).
In addition to the classic image of the family tree, other formats of schemes are used. For example, an hourglass, a butterfly or a fan. The last of the options looks something like this.
Another alternative variant of the family tree scheme is also possible. It is a circle or part of a circle, often used in practice and has a very clear appearance.