[elderlyold agefamily and age supportsocial and family reproduction ]] The attempt to ascertain the form and nature of familial age support in the past or, what comes to the same thing, the real degree of dependence or independence of the elderly vis-à-vis their families, relatives, and close ones, has led to a huge controversy among historians. But, throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in rural areas otherwise as disparate as those of Galicia, inland Spain, Navarre, south Italy, preindustrial England or rural Belgium, the social, and economic functions in relation to age support within the household showed themselves capable of adapting to suit the particular needs of the different type of families prevailing in each one. This adaptation capacity in turn bore a close relationship to the greater or lesser role played by elderly household heads in the social and familial reproduction processes occurring in their home areas.