Practice question · True or false
In many matrilineal societies descent passes through the mother while formal authority is held by her brother.
Hints
- Descent and authority need not follow the same person.
- Look for the mother's brother.
Show the answer
True
Why
True. Matriliny traces descent and inheritance through women, but the authority position in the lineage is commonly the mother's brother, the avunculate. Matrilineal is not the same as matriarchal, and assuming it is has produced a long history of misreported ethnography.
Practise Kinship and Family Systems
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