Matrilineality: Encyclopedia II - Matrilineality - Introduction

Matrilineality - Introduction

A matriline is a line of descent from a female ancestor to a descendant (of either sex) in which the individuals in all intervening generations are female. In a matrilineal descent system (= uterine descent), an individual is considered to belong to the same descent group as his or her mother. This is in contrast to the more common pattern of patrilineal descent.

The uterine ancestry of an individual is a person's pure female ancestry, i.e. a matriline leading from a female ancestor to that individual.

On inheritance by matrilineal kinship (= uterine kinship), see matrilineal succession.

In some cultures, membership of a group is inherited matrilineally. For example, Jewish law holds that one is a Jew if one's mother (rather than one's father) is a Jew.

Another example of a matrilineal culture is the Minangkabau culture of West Sumatra and Nairs of Kerala, India.

The fact that mitochondrial DNA is maternally inherited enables matrilineal lines of individuals to be traced through genetic analysis.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Introduction", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki