One piece of the matrilineal puzzle: the socioecology of maternal uncle investment.

ABSTRACT: Maternal uncle relationships in which men invest resources (usually in the form of inheritance of material wealth) into their sisters' children are characteristic of matrilineal systems and hypothesized to arise under certain socioecological circumstances, but little research has systematically investigated conditions that are associated with this type of investment. We quantify relationships between household-level socioeconomic variables and different types of maternal uncle investment (direct care and indirect resource investment) within a bilateral, semi-nomadic population. Shodagor people of Bangladesh allow us to consider matrilineal behaviours in an evolutionary framework owing to their flexible social structure in which 39% of families receive some investment from a maternal uncle.

SUBMITTER: Starkweather K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6664127 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature