Lineage (anthropology)

From Middle English linage, from Old French linage, from ligne, from Latin linea (“line”); equivalent to line + -age.

A lineage is a descent group characterized by unilineal descent. This means that lineage membership is determined by tracing ancestry through either a single line (unilineal), either maternal or paternal, or through a combination of both lines (ambilineal). This differentiates lineages from other descent groups like clans, which may have a shared ancestor but lack the demonstrably documented or traditionally accepted apical ancestor from whom all members descend.{{Cite web |title=Clans and Lineages |url=https://pages.stolaf.edu/hmg/clans-and-lineages/ |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=Between Two Worlds |publisher=St. Olaf College |language=en-US}} There are three forms of lineage, matrilineage, patrilineage, and ambilineal.

File:Baby Mother Grandmother and Great Grandmother.jpg over 4 generations]]

In matrilineage, descent is traced exclusively through the maternal line.{{Cite web |title=Definition of Matrilineage |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/matrilineage |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=Merriam-Webster Dictionary |language=en}} Children inherit lineage membership from their mother, and the lineage consists of a mother, her children, and her children's children who are all matrilineally related. The Minangkabau people of Indonesia, being a Jew in the Jewish religion,{{Cite journal |vauthors=Paz RY |date=2021-09-29 |title=The Stubborn Subversiveness of Judaism's Matrilineal Principle |url=https://verfassungsblog.de/the-stubborn-subversiveness-of-judaisms-matrilineal-principle/ |journal=Verfassungsblog |doi=10.17176/20210930-004728-0 |language=en-GB}} and the Khasi people of India are well-known examples of societies with prominent matrilineal structures.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Matrilineal society {{!}} Definition, Examples, & Facts |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/matrilineal-society |access-date=2024-04-26 |language=en}}

In patrilineage, descent is traced exclusively through the paternal line.{{Cite web |title=Definition of Patrilineage |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/patrilineage |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=Merriam-Webster Dictionary |language=en}} Children inherit lineage membership from their father, and the lineage consists of a father, his children, and his children's children who are all patrilineally related.{{Cite journal |vauthors=Strassmann BI, Kurapati NT |date=June 2016 |title=What Explains Patrilineal Cooperation? |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/685762 |journal=Current Anthropology |language=en |volume=57 |issue=S13 |pages=S118–S130 |doi=10.1086/685762 |issn=0011-3204}} Patrilineages are more common globally, with examples found in many cultures, such as much of South East Asia.{{Cite journal |vauthors=Shenk MK, Begley RO, Nolin DA, Swiatek A |date=September 2019 |title=When does matriliny fail? The frequencies and causes of transitions to and from matriliny estimated from a de novo coding of a cross-cultural sample |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences |volume=374 |issue=1780 |pages=20190006 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2019.0006 |pmc=6664135 |pmid=31303165}}{{Cite web |title=Patrilineage {{!}} sociology {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/patrilineage |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}

File:Ambilineal Descent System.png lineage]]

In ambilineal lineage, descent is traced through either the maternal and/or the paternal lines, usually meaning that the individuals choose whether to affiliate with their mother or their father's group, or both.{{Cite journal |vauthors=Coult AD |date=February 1964 |title=Role allocation, position structuring, and ambilineal descent. |journal=American Anthropologist |volume=66 |issue=1 |pages=29–40 |doi=10.1525/aa.1964.66.1.02a00030}}{{Cite web |date=2022-12-05 |title=Ambilineal Descent Definition & Explanation |url=https://sociology.plus/glossary/ambilineal-descent/ |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=Sociology Plus |language=en-US}} Ambilineal lineage can be bilineal or bilateral.{{Cite web |title=The Nature of Kinship: Glossary of Terms |url=https://www.palomar.edu/anthro/kinship/glossary.htm#cognatic_descent |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=www.palomar.edu}}{{Cite web |title=The Nature of Kinship: Glossary of Terms |url=https://www.palomar.edu/anthro/kinship/glossary.htm#bilineal_descent |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=www.palomar.edu}}{{Cite web |title=The Nature of Kinship: Glossary of Terms |url=https://www.palomar.edu/anthro/kinship/glossary.htm#bilateral_descent |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=www.palomar.edu}} Ambilineal lineages are relatively rare in more under-developed societies, such as South East Asia, and very common in modernized societies, such as the United States and Western Europe.{{Cite web |title=Reading: Lines of Descent and Family Stages {{!}} Sociology |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-intro-to-sociology/chapter/reading-lines-of-descent-and-family-stages/ |access-date=2024-04-26 |publisher=Lumen Learning |vauthors=Matresse C}}

In Bilineal lineage (also known as double descent), children are part of both their mother and their father's groups.{{Cite journal |last=Bell |first=Kenton |date=2014-12-24 |title=bilineal descent definition |url=https://sociologydictionary.org/bilineal-descent/ |journal=Open Education Sociology Dictionary |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2018-04-28 |title=10.6: Kinship |url=https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Anthropology/Cultural_Anthropology/Cultural_Anthropology_(Wikibook)/10%3A_Marriage_Reproduction_and_Kinship/10.6%3A_Kinship |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Social Sci LibreTexts |language=en}} This results in many more people in a lineage.{{Cite web |title=Types of Descent: Patrilineal, Matrilineal, and Bilateral Systems |url=https://testbook.com/ias-preparation/types-of-descent |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Testbook |language=en}} Examples of bilineal lineage include the Yako people of Nigeria.{{Cite web |date=2023-07-13 |title=Meaning of Double Descent in Anthropology {{!}} Anthroholic |url=https://anthroholic.com/double-descent |access-date=2024-05-01 |language=en}}

Lineages play a large role in social organization across cultures.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-28 |title=What is Lineage in Anthropology? |url=https://anthroholic.com/lineage |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=Anthroholic |language=en}} They influence inheritance patterns, with property and titles often passed down within the lineage.{{Cite web |date=2020-11-13 |title=Heirs' Property Landowners |url=https://www.farmers.gov/working-with-us/heirs-property-eligibility |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=Farmers.gov |language=en}} In addition, lineages often have religious significance, with one's ancestorial history often determining one's religion and position in that religion.{{Cite web |title=Links between childhood religious upbringing and current religious identity |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2016/10/26/links-between-childhood-religious-upbringing-and-current-religious-identity/ |website=Pew Research Center|date=26 October 2016 }} The structure of lineages also leads to stability, social obligations, and reciprocity among members, providing support networks and a sense of shared identity.{{Cite web |title=Tracing Roots: The Significance of Family Trees in Traditional Societies |url=https://collegeofarms.euclid.int/tracing-roots-the-significance-of-family-trees-in-traditional-societies/ |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=The Intergovernmental College of Arms and Traditional Cultures (ICATS) |publisher=Euclid University}}

• {{annotated link|Genealogy}}
• Kinship terminology

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• {{Cite journal |vauthors=Kuper A |date=1982 |title=Lineage Theory: A Critical Retrospect |journal=Annual Review of Anthropology |volume=11 |pages=71–95 |doi=10.1146/annurev.an.11.100182.000443 |jstor=2155776}}

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• {{commonscat-inline|Kinship diagrams}}

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Category:Kinship and descent