Kinship and descent

Kinship and descent is one of the major concepts of 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.

A descent group is a social group whose members claim common ancestry. With matrilineal descent individuals belong to their mother's descent group. With patrilineal descent, individuals belong to their father's descent group. With unilineal descent, individuals may belong to either their father's or mother's descent group.

A lineage is a descent group who can demonstrate their common descent from an apical ancestor.

A clan is a descent group who claims common descent from an apical ancestor but cannot demonstrate it (stipulated descent).

When a clan's apical ancestor is nonhuman, it is called a totem.

The nuclear family consists of a couple and their 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.

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

A phratry is a descent group containing at least two clans which have a supposed common ancestor.

If a society is divided into exactly two descent groups, each is called a moiety, after the French word for half.

See also: family