Marital residence among foragers

Current Anthropology • Vol/Iss. 45 • Published In • Pages: 277-284 •
By Marlowe, Frank W.

Abstract

This article challenges an earlier finding that hunter-gatherers are predominantly virilocal in residence. The author presents new tests of marital residence including early patterns in marital residence; results suggest that foragers are more multilocal than nonforagers. The author theorizes that bride service, food acquisition methods, small population size, little accumulated wealth, and low frequency of warfare among foragers could all influence the tendency toward multilocal residence.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
Standard Cross Cultural Sample (SCCS)Sample was limited to foraging societies

Hypotheses (2)

HypothesisSupported
Foraging will be associated with multilocal residence (279).Supported
Foraging societies will be more likely than nonforagers to have bilateral descent (279).Supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: Kate Cummings  Amelia Piazza