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Abstract. The purpose of the article is to research family and marriage relations among the Don Cossacks in the early stage of their development. This problem seems to be one of the most relevant for understanding the method of reproduction of Cossack society in the analyzed period. The complex of sources used in the article includes scientific literature and documentary materials on various aspects of the life of Don Cossacks. The article uses a systematic method of analysis, involving a comprehensive analysis of social processes and events. The article suggests that along with family couples in the early stages of the development of Cossack society there could exist a group version of the family, which over time became increasingly rare. In addition, until the middle of the XVII century family-marriage relations were more widespread in the Lower Don. Later the increased influx of the population into the “upstream” towns turned this ratio into its opposite. The article concludes that the consolidation of the institution of marriage in the Cossack society was an accelerating process where the last third of the 17th century became the threshold period, during which the first mass generation of native Cossacks appeared on the Don River. This circumstance affected all aspects of life of the Cossack society, including their social practices, structures, mental and behavioral habits of the population. In the beginning of the XVIII century, married people were a significant part of Don Cossacks population, and during the first third of the century, Don Cossacks became a gender-balanced society.
Keywords: Don Cossacks, family and marriage relations, demographic dynamics, age and sex structure, natural reproduction.