Structural endogamy is a network concept that provides a means of finding the boundaries of endogamy in a community, using simply the genealogical and marriage linkages. The concept is related to that of structural cohesion. The examples are made with free tool Pajek. Another name for structural endogamy is (marital) relinking, which comes out of French social anthropology, and the study of how communities are formed through couples marrying who are already linked: linked, that is, by chains of kinship and marriage, as in circles of intermarrying families, or marriages between people with one or more ancestors in common (i.e., blood relatives, such as cousins). Many of the marriages represented in the Turkish nomads figure are with cousins, for example. But relinking also occurs without blood marriages, as in the example from the Mexican village of Belén Atzitzi-mititlán within Apetatitlán de Antonio Carvajal.

Alan Donald James Macfarlane FBA FRHistS (born 20 December 1941) is a renowned anthropologist and historian and a Professor Emeritus of King's College, Cambridge. He is the author or editor of 20 books and numerous articles on the anthropology and history of England, Nepal, Japan and China. He has focused on comparative study of the origins and nature of the modern world. In recent years he has become increasingly interested in the use of visual material in teaching and research. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Royal Historical Society.

Macfarlane was educated at the Dragon School, Oxford and Sedbergh School. He then read Modern History at Worcester College, University of Oxford from 1960 to 1963 completing a Bachelor of Arts and went on to his Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy on 'Witchcraft prosecutions in Essex, 1560-1680: A Sociological Analysis' in 1967. He also completed a Master of Philosophy in Anthropology on 'The regulation of marital and sexual relationships in 17th century England' at the London School of Economics in 1968 and a second Doctorate in Anthropology on 'Population and resources in central Nepal' in 1972 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London.