In parts of the Himalayas, a woman may marry multiple brothers from the same family. Anthropologists predict this pattern most often arises in response to which ecological condition?
AHigh population density, requiring fewer households per family
BScarcity of agricultural land, making it adaptive for brothers to share one wife and prevent family holdings from being subdivided
CMatrilineal descent systems, where property passes through the mother's line
DReligious traditions that prohibit polygyny but permit polyandry
Fraternal polyandry — brothers sharing a wife — is an adaptive response to scarce land. If each brother married separately and had children, the family's land would be divided across multiple households over generations. By sharing a wife, all brothers' children are raised together and the land stays intact. This is not an arbitrary tradition but a structural solution to a specific economic problem, illustrating how marriage forms respond to ecological and material conditions.
Question 2 Multiple Choice
A student argues that bridewealth in many African societies demonstrates that women are treated as commodities. Based on anthropological analysis, what is the core flaw in this interpretation?
AIt is partly correct — bridewealth does assign a quantified value to women's reproductive labor
BBridewealth flows in the wrong direction to be a purchase — it is paid to the bride's family, not the bride
CBridewealth creates ongoing reciprocal obligations between kin groups, must be returned if the marriage fails, and functions as an alliance-cementing exchange — not a transaction of ownership
DThe comparison to commodities applies only in societies with market economies, not in subsistence economies
The purchase interpretation misses the relational nature of bridewealth. A purchase extinguishes obligation — once paid, the buyer owes nothing more. Bridewealth works differently: it creates an ongoing bond between families, must be returned if the union dissolves, and signals the groom's family's commitment to treat the wife well (because mistreatment risks the return of bridewealth). It is better understood as an alliance-sealing exchange, similar to the logic of reciprocal gift exchange studied in economic anthropology.
Question 3 True / False
The incest taboo — the prohibition on sexual relations between close relatives — is culturally universal, but the specific relatives classified as 'too close to marry' vary significantly across cultures.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: True
Every known society has some form of incest taboo, making it one of the few apparent cultural universals. However, what counts as 'incest' varies widely. Cross-cousin marriage is prescribed (expected and preferred) in many societies in Africa and South Asia, while it is prohibited in others. In some European traditions, marriage between second cousins was common among nobility. The taboo is universal; its boundaries are culturally specific.
Question 4 True / False
Polygyny — one husband with multiple wives — is found primarily in societies where women have low social status and few rights, because it reflects a system of male dominance.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
The association between polygyny and female subordination reflects ethnocentric assumptions rather than cross-cultural evidence. Polygyny is typically found in pastoral and horticultural societies where female agricultural and domestic labor is economically valuable — having more wives often means more labor, more children, and more economic productivity. Women in some polygynous societies have significant economic autonomy and social standing. The meaning of any marriage form depends on its social context; there is no simple universal correlation between polygyny and women's status.
Question 5 Short Answer
Why do anthropologists say that marriage functions as an 'alliance mechanism' rather than primarily as a romantic or personal arrangement? What social function does this framing explain?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Marriage creates kinship ties across family lines, linking previously unrelated groups into networks of mutual obligation, resource sharing, and reciprocity. By giving and receiving marriage partners, groups turn potential rivals into allies — Lévi-Strauss argued this exchange is the foundational act of social life. This explains why marriage has historically been a family and community affair, not just an individual choice: the union affects the political and economic relationships of entire kin groups. Economic transfers like bridewealth or dowry, rules about exogamy and endogamy, and residence patterns all make more sense when understood as managing these inter-group relationships.
The alliance framework is one of the most powerful tools in anthropological analysis of kinship. It shifts the question from 'who do individuals choose to marry?' to 'what social relationships does marriage create and maintain?' This reframing explains practices that seem puzzling from an individualistic perspective — like arranged marriage, prescribed cousin marriage, or bridewealth — as rational responses to the social needs of groups embedded in networks of kinship and exchange.