A systematic review of post-marital residence patterns in prehistoric hunter-gatherers

Abstract

Background and RationalePost-marital residence patterns refer to where a couple lives after marriage, such as near or with husband's kin (patrilocality) or wife's kin (matrilocality). These patterns influence other aspects of social organization and behavior, and potentially reveal key parts of human nature. Since the 1860s, anthropologists have sought to characterize prehistoric hunter-gatherers' post-marital residence patterns by extrapolating from modern hunter-gatherers' and chimpanzees' behavior. For many reasons, these extrapolations are invalid. I summarized direct evidence of residence patterns from prehistoric huntergatherers' remains. Methods I conducted a systematic review of strontium isotope and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) studies of prehistoric hunter-gatherers and extinct hominins. I also carried out a systematic review of the reliability of classifying prehistoric hunter-gatherer individuals by sex. To evaluate assumptions underlying my analyses of residence patterns, I reviewed the ethnographic literature on huntergatherers' mortuary practices as represented in the eHRAF World Cultures database. ResultsThe archaeologic sites included in my review represent every inhabited continent except Australia, and their dates span almost the last 10,000 years. In the strontium isotope studies, most adults of both sexes were local, and women were slightly more likely to be local than men. Within sites, women and men had similar mtDNA distributions. Women in neighboring, contemporaneous communities had somewhat distinct mtDNA distributions from each other, while the mtDNA distributions of men in the different communities were less distinguishable. The statistical uncertainties for most summaries are fairly large. Taken together, the results indicate the burial communities were mostly endogamous and that exogamous marriages strained toward matrilocality. The very limited research on extinct hominins' residence patterns is consistent with these findings. In addition, there was only a moderate correspondence between morphologic and genetic estimates of sex in adult prehistoric hunter-gatherer individuals. When I corrected for this measurement error or relied on genetic estimates of sex only, the post-marital residence pattern results shifted in the direction of greater matrilocal tendencies. Modern hunter-gatherers' burial practices were consonant with the assumptions underlying my analyses. Conclusions Direct evidence from prehistoric hunter-gatherers' remains indicates very different post-marital residence patterns than those extrapolated from modern hunter-gatherers' and chimpanzees' behavior. In prehistoric hunter-gatherer settings, endogamy may be the outcome of humans' long-term mating preferences. Endogamy may have inhibited bacterial sexually transmitted diseases in prehistory and enabled the evolution of altruism in humans.Brewer -Post-marital residence patterns 2

A paleogenetic perspective of the Sabana de Bogotá (Northern South America) population history over the Holocene (9000–550 cal BP)

“…Although the social organization of the Muisca society is far from completely understood and complex kinship structure characterized the Muisca chiefdoms at different social and political levels, the strong evidence of remarkable reduction of genetic (and morphological) diversity occurring during this period agrees with past hypotheses of strong endogamy among the Muisca society (Broadbent, 1964) and disagree with the results and interpretations of more recent ethnohistoric and genetic studies (Langebaek, 1989;Correa, 2001;. Interestingly, in societies practicing both patrilocal and matrilocal residence, the local provenance of a couple (i.e., both coming from the same community) promotes endogamy (Brewer, 2016). Thus, endogamy is a process likely involved in the important reduction of genetic diversity seen during the final late Holocene although, as mentioned above, more evidence is required to test this hypothesis.…”

“…Patrilocality and matrilocality are among the most important residence practices influencing human genetic diversity (Oota et al, 2001;Brewer, 2016;Moravec et al, 2018). In the study region, the patterns of post-marital residence have been less studied for the most part of the Holocene and only for the Muisca period some studies have suggested matrilocality (Langebaek, 1989;Correa, 2001).…”

“…due to marriage practices) are known to be sex-biased (Oota et al, 2001;Musharoff et al, 2019), thus implying that cultural practices can deeply influence genetic patterns of diversity over time and space. Changes in postmarital residence patterns (PMRP) and the movements of people and genes associated with such practice are thought to be sex-biased (Brewer, 2016;Moravec et al, 2018). For instance, the hunter-gatherer to farmer transition in Europe likely was associated with changes in social organization, particularly in PMRP, indicating that such a practice can lead to different patterns of genetic diversity and differentiation (Rasteiro et al, 2012).…”

Residencia posmarital, movilidad y relaciones sociales en el Área Andina Centro-Sur

“…Es interesante la comprobación realizada en Asia interior sobre el comportamiento más estructurado del sexo masculino (Y-STRs), cuya diversidad se relaciona con una pauta patrilineal y patrilocal comparado con el femenino (HVS1), cuya variación se explica mejor geográficamente (Marchi et al 2016). En los últimos 10.000 años el análisis de una extensa muestra de poblaciones antiguas a nivel mundial determinó una tendencia hacia la residencia matrilocal, sobre la base de la información de mtDNA y de los isótopos del estroncio (87Sr/86Sr), resultado que refleja la misma tendencia en grupos cazadores y recolectores actuales (Brewer 2016).…”

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“…Sex differences in orientation to kin also may have deep evolutionary roots. Analyses of strontium isotopes and mitochondrial DNA in archaeologic human remains indicate that prehistoric hunter-gatherers were predominantly endogamous (marriage between fellow community members) and exogamous marriages strained toward matrilocality (married couples living in wife's community) (9). Cross-culturally, women's sisters, mothers, daughters, cousins, and aunts are the most likely and valued potential or actual helpers, apart from husbands, in child rearing (10).…”