ANTC09H3 Lecture : lec 3.docx
Document Summary
Cognatic descent: both male and females pass on membership in a kinship group. If property is owned, complications may arise as the indivudal has to choode which group to belong to. Such as the when a couple gets married among the iban of borneo they have to choose whose bilek to belong to. But cognatic descent is also flexible in the same sense. If descent traced through one sex only, it is called unilineal descent: can be patrilineal/matrilineal, different from cognatic descent because unilineal descent has set boundaries on membership; cognatic descent is one in which membership overlaps. Lineage: a descent group whose members trace descent from a known ancestor by demonstrated genealogical links. Clan: a descent group whose members claim common descent but cannot demonstrate genealogical links. Double descent: a descent system in which the descent group contains both patrilineal and matrilineal descent groups, but for different purposes: the yako in nigeria are known to exhibit this.
