The Ancient Maya Kinship System

This article suggests that the Maya kinship system was originally Kariera in type, based on bilateral cross-cousin marriage with cross-cutting patrilineal descent and alternate generation moieties. The quadripartite structure of the Maya kinship system was isomorphic to, and may have been the model...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of anthropological research 2003-04, Vol.59 (1), p.5-21
Main Author: Hage, Per
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropology
Clans
Cousin
Cousins
Cultural anthropology
Descent
Ethnology
Family. Family relations
Kinship
Latin America
Linguistic anthropology
Marriage
Matrilineal descent
Mayan civilization
Mexico
Paleoanthropology
Patrilineal descent
Political anthropology
Siblings
Social anthropology
Social life & customs
Social structure and social relations
Terminology
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Summary:This article suggests that the Maya kinship system was originally Kariera in type, based on bilateral cross-cousin marriage with cross-cutting patrilineal descent and alternate generation moieties. The quadripartite structure of the Maya kinship system was isomorphic to, and may have been the model for, the quadripartite structures of Maya cosmology and settlement. In this respect, the Maya kinship system was similar to Kariera systems in Australia and goes back to the small-scale communities of the Proto-Maya or Archaic period before 2000 B.C. By the Classic period, however, beginning around A.D. 250, there apparently were two different marriage systems in Maya society: a bilateral cross-cousin marriage system for commoners and a matrilateral cross-cousin marriage system for royalty and nobility. In this respect, Maya marriage practices were similar to those of the city-states in early Chinese civilization.
ISSN:0091-7710
2153-3806
DOI:10.1086/jar.59.1.3631442