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Encyclopedia > Lineage (anthropology)
It has been suggested that Kinship be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

Kinship and descent is one of the major concepts of cultural anthropology. Cultures worldwide possess a wide range of systems of tracking kinship and descent. Anthropologists break these down into simple concepts which are common among many different cultures. Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... Kinship is the most basic principle of organizing individuals into social groups, roles, and categories. ... Cultural anthropology, also called social anthropology or socio-cultural anthropology, forms one of four commonly-recognized fields of anthropology, the holistic study of humanity. ... Kinship is the most basic principle of organizing individuals into social groups, roles, and categories. ...

Contents

Descent groups

A descent group is a social group whose members claim common ancestry. A unilineal society (such as the Iroquois system) is one in which the descent of an individual is reckoned either from the mother's or the father's descent group. With matrilineal descent individuals belong to their mother's descent group (Not however through the mother directly. Usually descent is counted through the mothers brother, along with inheritance). With patrilineal descent, individuals belong to their father's descent group. // INTRODUCTION In sociology, a group is usually defined as a collection consisting of a number of humans or animals, who share certain aspects, interact with one another, accept rights and obligations as members of the group and share a common identity. ... Unilineality is a system of determining descent groups in which one belongs to ones fathers or mothers lineage. ... Iroquois kinship (also known as Bifurcate merging) is a kinship system used to define family. ... Matrilineality is a system in which one belongs to ones mothers lineage. ... Patrilineality (a. ...


In a society which reckons descent bilineally, or bilaterally (such as the Eskimo system), descent from both father and mother is equally important. Eskimo kinship (also referred to as Lineal kinship) is a kinship system used to define family. ...


Some societies reckon descent patrilineally for some purposes, and matrilineally for others. For instance, certain property and titles may be inherited through the male line, and others through the female line. This arrangement is sometimes called double descent.


Societies can also consider descent to be ambilineal (such as Hawaiian system) where offspring determine their lineage through the matrilineal line or the patrilineal line. Ambilineality is a system of determining descent groups in which one belongs to ones fathers or mothers lineage. ... Hawaiian kinship (also referred to as the Generational system) is a kinship system used to define family. ... Matrilineality is a system in which one belongs to ones mothers lineage. ... Patrilineality (a. ...


Lineages, clans, phratries and moieties

A lineage is a descent group that can demonstrate their common descent from an apical ancestor. Lineages can be matrilineal or patrilineal, depending on whether they are traced through mothers or fathers, respectively. Whether matrilineal or patrilineal descent is considered most significant differs from culture to culture. In kinship and descent, an apical ancestor is a common ancestor from whom a lineage or clan may trace its descent. ...


A clan is a descent group that claims common descent from an apical ancestor (but often cannot demonstrate it, or "stipulated descent"). If a clan's apical ancestor is nonhuman, it is called a totem. Examples of clans are Scottish, Irish, Tlingit, Chechen, Chinese and Japanese clans. A clan is a group of people united by kinship and descent, which is defined by perceived descent from a common ancestor. ... A totem is any natural or supernatural object, being or animal which has personal symbolic meaning to an individual and to whose phenomena and energy one feels closely associated with during ones life. ... Clan map of Scotland Scottish clans give a sense of Scottish Highland identity and shared descent both to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Clan Chiefs officially registered with the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which controls the... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... A Teip is a Chechen tribal organization consisting of tribal communes and self-identifying through descent from the same ancestor. ... Grave of Iwakuni Kikkawa clan at Mount Koya. ...


A phratry is a descent group containing at least two clans which have a supposed common ancestor. A phratry (Greek φρατρία, brotherhood, kinfolk, derived from φρατήρ - brother, see also frater) is an anthropological term for a kinship division consisting of two or more distinct clans which are considered a single unit, but which retain separate indentities within the phratry. ...


If a society is divided into exactly two descent groups, each is called a moiety, after the French word for half. Look up moiety in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...


The nuclear family

The Western model of a nuclear family consists of a couple and its children. The nuclear family is ego-centered and impermanent, while descent groups are permanent (lasting beyond the lifespans of individual constituents) and reckoned according to a single ancestor. The term nuclear family was developed in the western world to distinguish the family group consisting of parents and their children, usually a father, mother, and children, from what is known as an extended family. ...


Kinship calculation is any systemic method for reckoning kin relations. Kinship terminologies are native taxonomies, not developed by anthropologists.


Legal ramifications

Kinship and descent have a number of legal ramifications, which vary widely between legal and social structures. Weighing scales represent the way law balances peoples interests For other senses of this word, see Law (disambiguation). ...


Most human groups share a taboo against incest; which relatives are forbidden from marriage but the rules tend to vary widely once one moves beyond the nuclear family. At common law, the prohibitions are typically phrased in terms of "degrees of consanguinity." The incest taboo refers to the prohibition, both formal and unstated, against incest in many societies. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... Matrimony redirects here. ... This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ...


More importantly, kinship and descent enters the legal system by virtue of intestacy, the laws that at common law determine who inherits the estates of the dead in the absence of a will. In civil law countries, the doctrine of legitime plays a similar role, and makes the lineal descendants of the dead person forced heirs. Rules of kinship and descent have important public aspects, especially under monarchies, where they determine the order of succession, the heir apparent and the heir presumptive. Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies owning property greater than the sum of his or her enforceable debts and funeral expenses without having made a valid will or other binding declaration; alternatively where such a will or declaration has been made, but only applies... In the common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the testator) regulates the rights of others over his property or family after death. ... Civil law is the predominant system of law in the world, with its origins in Roman law, and sets out a comprehensive system of rules, usually codified, that are applied and interpreted by judges. ... In civil and Roman law, the legitime, or forced share, of a decedents estate is that portion of the estate from which he cannot disinherit his children, or his parents, without sufficient legal cause. ... For other uses, see inheritance (disambiguation). ... Places where monarchies maintain rule appear in blue. ... An order of succession is a formula or algorithm that determines who inherits an office upon the death, resignation, or removal of its current occupant. ... Contrasting with heir presumptive, an heir apparent is one who cannot be prevented from inheriting by the birth of any other person. ... An Heir Presumptive (capitalised) is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honor, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an Heir Apparent or of a new Heir Presumptive with a better claim to the throne. ...


Kinship systems

The six major kinship systems identified by Louis Henry Morgan in his 1871 work Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Family are: Lewis H. Morgan Lewis Henry Morgan (November 21, 1818 – December 17, 1881) is considered to be the Father of American anthropology, although his professional life was in the field of law. ... 1871 (MDCCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Crow kinship is a kinship system used to define family. ... Eskimo kinship (also referred to as Lineal kinship) is a kinship system used to define family. ... Hawaiian kinship (also referred to as the Generational system) is a kinship system used to define family. ... Iroquois kinship (also known as Bifurcate merging) is a kinship system used to define family. ... Omaha kinship is a kinship system used to define family. ... Sudanese kinship (also referred to as the Descriptive system) is a kinship system used to define family. ...

See also

Kinship terminology refers to the words used in a specific culture to describes a specific system of familial relationships. ... Australian Aboriginal kinship refers to the system of law governing social interaction, particularly marriage, in traditional Aboriginal culture. ... A family of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in 1997 A family consists of a domestic group of people (or a number of domestic groups), typically affiliated by birth or marriage, or by analogous or comparable relationships — including domestic partnership, cohabitation, adoption, surname and (in some cases) ownership (as occurred in the... Family history is the study of multiple generations of people who appear to be related. ... This is a presentation of individuals and dynasties from which the current monarch of the United Kingdom and her heirs descend. ...

Bibliography

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