More Cows, More Wives
2 days ago
- #cultural anthropology
- #marriage customs
- #human evolution
- The Nuer people of South Sudan practiced ghost marriages to ensure a deceased man's lineage continued, with children legally belonging to the ghost.
- Marriage customs vary widely across cultures, from the BaYaka's informal unions to pastoralists' polygynous systems where wealth determines the number of wives.
- Hunter-gatherer societies like the BaYaka have fluid marriage structures due to mobility, egalitarianism, and lack of material wealth.
- Farming introduced wealth accumulation, leading to polygyny and male control over women's sexuality to ensure paternity and inheritance.
- Monogamy in Europe and parts of Asia is linked to inheritance systems that favor single heirs to maintain land productivity.
- Contemporary Western marriage systems blend elements of monogamy, serial monogamy, and ethical non-monogamy, with reduced family involvement and increased individual choice.
- Changes in wealth, inheritance laws, and women's economic independence have made modern marriages more fluid and less controlled by traditional norms.