ABSTRACT
Throughout the last centuries a continuous search has been going on for ways of reliably identifying individuals. Originally this was based on the need to safeguard financial interests, but quickly developed into a need to identify individuals. This was mainly moved by an increasing population, resulting in progressively fragmented societies. In small populations, it was always going to be possible to be sure who you were dealing with. This is well demonstrated by Icelandic sagas, the Indian Mahabharata and the Bible. It was this latter example that was used by Archbishop Ussher to determine the date of creation according to his own musings. Once society had become rather larger, it was no longer possible to determine the relationships between individuals with the same clarity.
