For our purposes, we'll start with lineal kinship.

Underlying this trend is the belief that, if we move past seemingly trivial debates about terminology, we can turn to hypotheses, data and analyses of ever-increasing sophistication. - Definition & Conversion, Neutralizing Solutions with Sodium Hydroxide, Morality, Mystery & Miracle Plays in Medieval Theatre, Comparing Strong, Weak & Balanced Matrix Organizations, Haredi Judaism: History, Practices & Beliefs, How Religious Conditions Affect Science & Technological Advances, Quiz & Worksheet - Act 1 Summary of The Crucible, Quiz & Worksheet - Slaughterhouse Five Synopsis, Flashcards - Real Estate Marketing Basics, Flashcards - Promotional Marketing in Real Estate, What is Summative Assessment? The reckoning of descent effectively extends the reach of the bias beyond this subset of kin. [7–14]; see [15–17] for critical discussion). When speaking of your descendants, or those coming after you, your lineal kin are your children, your grandchildren, your great grandchildren, and so on. Similarly, the transfer of foraging skills from mother to offspring may favour the physical aggregation of matrilineally related females and their dependants. Building on the premise that ‘no society is entirely matrilineal’ [44, p. 207], in [45] I define matrilineal kinship organization as a social system that emphasizes interactions among matrilineally related kin, and thus individuals related through females only (see §§2 and 3). Relevant terms and concepts are then applied in cross-specific perspective in §3. Notably, the majority of societies with no descent rule feature uxorilocal or virilocal residence (specifically, 50 of 68 societies with no descent rule, or 74%, focusing on entries with data for both variables). [5]). I conclude by briefly outlining how the framework introduced in §4b applies in cross-specific perspective. Status in this network is relative, not absolute, in the sense that, for example, one is an offspring with respect to a given individual, and a sibling with respect to another [1,19]. Whether they be your mother-in-law, brother-in-law, or your uncle by marriage, your affinal kin are those you consider family, even though you share no biological ties. For example, a bias towards matrilineal kin in assigning group membership may favour the physical aggregation of matrilineally related women and their dependants, and/or vice versa. New Directions in Anthropological Kinship captures these recent trends and explores new avenues of inquiry in this re-emerging subfield. with other areas of inquiry have weakened. Mapping this framework onto the SCCS code [22], in neolocality there is no transfer of access to the natal household across generations [25].

Writing over a century later, Parkin [5, p. 23] notes that ‘it is rarely appropriate to characterize a whole society in terms of any particular mode of descent, for example, as “patrilineal” or “matrilineal” or “cognatic”, despite a widespread tendency to do so’. Why is kinship important from an anthropological perspective?

1964 Transcultural Studies in Cognition. ���ʃ�t#,���������g�5�f�0w~Y0����O���Z�`U�˛�/��5ZqW>âq4� r�`����A�p�M �D?,�����^;�d�z�52ܡ���K�����G��L�b�y��>�O�i Recourse to alternative labels such as ‘female-biased kinship’ does not address this issue. endobj But is it a bias in membership, in transmission or both? In doing so, it will highlight the terms lineal kin, collateral kin, and affinal kin. Next, I derive the logical implications of the definitions in cross-specific perspective (§3). This does not imply that the individuals belonging to such a group reside together—indeed, they may never even meet as a group. compared to estimates based on equivalent data for its ‘parent’ sample, the Ethnographic Atlas; [30,31]). Framed as generically as they are, the two scenarios in the example provide plausible high-level descriptions for populations in a number of species—including our own. The nine-member board holds the university’s financial, physical, and human assets and operations in trust for future generations. Another example relates to the terms used to designate descent groups. The other option is that only one of the spouses leaves the natal household. With this definition in mind, collateral kinship sounds a whole bunch like our Western idea of family.

Clearly, the factors leading to a bias towards a particular set of kin in one domain may have analogous effects in others, and there will likely be feedback across domains. [1]). They're also your sister-in-law and your brother-in-law. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Additionally, labels such as ‘female-biased/based/centred kinship’ gloss over the distinction between lateral and lineal kin (see §§2 and 3). Effectively, the reckoning of descent emphasizes a ‘chain’ of parent–child links between the ancestral individual and their descendants, and this sequence is socially and culturally salient [5,19].

You can test out of the To make it easy, we can think of them as the main trunk of your family tree. Select a purchase The book comprises contributions from primatology, evolutionary anthropology, archaeology, and cultural anthropology. All Rights Reserved. [39]). However, it just doesn't stop there. Did you know… We have over 200 college