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Oct 8 2008, 11:50 AM EDT (current) mwesch 795 words added
Oct 8 2008, 11:49 AM EDT mwesch

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Culture is integrated at all levels. Begin with a short discussion of your subsistence pattern and its notable characteristics. Your family and household structure should reflect your subsistence pattern.
FORMS OF MARRIAGE
  • Monogamy: Most common in the world but not the most preferred
  • Polygyny - marriage with more than one wife.
  • most preferred 80-85% of world societies
  • Common where women do much of the work
  • or where there is a shortage of males
  • only the richest where men do most work
  • often welcomed by women
  • Polyandry - marriage with more than one husband.
    • Common where land is scarce and passed down patrilineally (see “When Brothers Share a Wife” reading in the readings for this week)

ARRANGED OR LOVE MARRIAGE Arranged Marriage ...
  • Love is possible but not primary motivation for marriage
  • emphasis on uniting two families (not two people)
  • especially common when transfer of wealth is at stake

BRIDEPRICE, DOWRY, or NEITHER?
Brideprice/Bridewealth Dowry
Man's family gives to woman's family Woman's family gives to man's family
Common where women's work is highly valued Common where men do most of the work
Often egalitarian (e.g. Papua New Guinea) Often stratified (e.g. India)

FORMS OF THE FAMILY
  • Nuclear - parent(s) and their kids (common where mobility is important)
  • Extended - multiple nuclear families together (siblings, wives, and offspring)
  • Polygamous (commonly associated with polygyny and polyandry)

RESIDENCE PATTERNS: use the following chart for help:

patrilocal matrilocal ambilocal avunculocal neolocal natalocal
agriculture Possible. Men who work together want to stay together. Is it necessary to keep women together? Why? Do you need this kind of flexibility for some reason? Usually only with matrilineal inheritance combined with patriarchy Unlikely. Neolocal emphasizes nuclear family. Ag needs extended families for labor. Very rare worldwide, but possible. Does it fit with your values?
horticulture Is warfare prominent? Or is land held by men? Likely. Women can stay together to work together. Likely in situations where mobility is important (finding the best land where it is scarce). Usually only with matrilineal inheritance combined with patriarchy Likely only in situations where people need to be mobile. Very rare worldwide, but possible. Does it fit with your values?
foraging Likely where men have the land rights. Likely where women have the land rights. Likely if resources are scarce and mobility is necessary. Usually only with matrilineal inheritance combined with patriarchy Likely if mobility is important. Very rare worldwide, but possible. Does it fit with your values?

SPATIAL ORGANIZATION (time to build your houses, villages, etc..) What building materials are available to build a house? Who will live in each house? (Nuclear, Extended, Polygamous Family Form? Residence pattern will also affect this.)
What will the layout of the house be? How does the layout reflect your culture's values?

KINSHIP TERMINOLOGY SYSTEM

    • Cultures emphasizing the nuclear family will have words for nuclear family members that are different from other family members (as in the Eskimo system).
    • Cultures emphasizing extended families will often use the same words for parent’s siblings and their children are as used for the nuclear family (as in the Hawaiian system).
    • Iroquois system often associated with strong descent groups. Cultures encouraging cross-cousin marriage often use systems such as the Iroquois system which names your parallel cousins “brother” and “sister” but may use the words for “eligible bachelor(ette)” for cross-cousins. Note: Crow is like Iroquois but for matrilineal descent groups.

DESCENT GROUPS Do you have descent groups? What kind?
What do they do? (own land in common, help each other, war allies, inheritance, etc.?)

Important Chart: The following are common correlations we see in cultures around the world. These are not absolute, just common. This chart may be helpful as you create your culture.
Subsistence Characteristics Family Residence Kinship Descent
Indus./Foraging Mobility Nuclear Neolocal Eskimo Bilateral
Agriculture Men Work Extended Patrilocal Iroquois Patrilineal
Horticulture Women Work Extended Matrilocal Crow Matrilineal
Internal War Extended Patrilocal Iroquois Patrilineal
Scarcity Nuc/Ext Ambilocal Hawaiian Ambilineal
Pastoral Men Work Extended Patrilocal Iroquois Patrilineal

ASSOCIATIONS Are there any special associations or common-interest groups in your culture? Would it be useful to have one or some of the members of your group act on behalf of this association or common-interest group in the world simulation? (Note: Remember that these should be realistic as of 500+ years ago. New associations and political movements will hopefully occur naturally through the actual simulation. (I suppose you could plan to “simulate” these ahead of time if you want.) Smaller scale cultures might consider age sets as important to social organization (see text))
STRATIFICATION * Is your culture stratified or egalitarian? Describe and Explain. * If your culture is stratified, is there social mobility? (Do you have classes or castes?) How does it work? * How are your answers above integrated with the rest of your culture?