This paper suggests that previously matrilocal and matrilineal societies which are subject to a high mortality rate when they switch to fighting internally will develop avunculocal residence. The cross-cultural data presented supports the hypothesis.

This article tests some conditions that may lead to the emergence of unilineal descent, focusing on unilocality and warfare. Unilineal descent is thought to be likely in a unilocal society without a centralized political system that is experiencing intra- or inter-societal warfare. The authors also posit that a "clan" system usually develops prior to a "lineage" system.

This paper presents empirical evidence suggesting that multilocal residence is most common in societies that have experienced depopulation, likely due to the introduction of a new infectious disease. Other potential explanatory variables—such as the presence of migratory bands, little or no agriculture, and equality of the sexes in inheritance—were not significant predictors of multilocal residence when controlling for depopulation.

This article suggests a general theory of conflict and violence that may help explain the conditions under which internal conflict co-occur or are differentiated.

This chapter explores and tests some propositions about matrilineal societies. Supplementary to that discussion, the author also explores the problems of method associated with the use of coded data on large samples of cultures.

This book is a comprehensive analysis of many aspects of social structure including family, clan, community, kinship terminology, social organization, regulation of sex, incest taboos, and sexual choice.

This study analyzes several variables that influence matrilocal versus patrilocal residence. Results indicate that the traditional assumption that division of labor determines residence was not supported. Rather, results suggest that internal warfare favors partilocal residence and matrilocal residence is favored by purely external warfare if division of labor is matridominant.

This paper suggests that polygyny may be best explained by uneven sex ratios, particularly an excess of women while men are engaged in warfare. The author also considers Whiting’s 1964 theory that used post-partum sex taboos to explain polygyny. These two theories are tested cross-culturally and results suggest that polygyny is a response to an unbalanced sex ratio in favor of women.

This article presents two evolutionary models that may explain relationships between war and socialization of children: the "environmentally contingent reproductive strategy" (ECRS) model put forward by Draper and Harpending (1982), and a model put forward by Carol and Melvin Ember. Results do not provide support for the hypotheses involving father-infant sleeping proximity derived from the ECRS model. The authors also find some inconsistencies with their own model.

Using empirical data and statistical methodology, Gouldner and Peterson aim to identify fundamental dimensions across societies, examine the relationships among these dimensions, and evaluate their importance. Data analysis is largely based on factor analysis, and the authors discuss how statistical methods fit into functional social theory.