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Cited by 229Language and cultural evolutionPacific and Southeast Asian StudiesForensic and Genetic Research

Matrilocal residence is ancestral in Austronesian societies

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Jordan, Fiona M., Gray, Russell D., Greenhill, Simon J., Mace, Ruth·2009·Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
DOI 10.1098/rspb.2009.0088PMC PMC2677244
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Abstract

The nature of social life in human prehistory is elusive, yet knowing how kinship systems evolve is critical for understanding population history and cultural diversity. Post-marital residence rules specify sex-specific dispersal and kin association, influencing the pattern of genetic markers across populations. Cultural phylogenetics allows us to practise ‘virtual archaeology’ on these aspects of social life that leave no trace in the archaeological record. Here we show that early Austronesian societies practised matrilocal post-marital residence. Using a Markov-chain Monte Carlo comparative method implemented in a Bayesian phylogenetic framework, we estimated the type of residence at each ancestral node in a sample of Austronesian language trees spanning 135 Pacific societies. Matrilocal residence has been hypothesized for proto-Oceanic society (ca 3500 BP), but we find strong evidence that matrilocality was predominant in earlier Austronesian societies ca 5000–4500 BP, at the root of the language family and its early branches. Our results illuminate the divergent patterns of mtDNA and Y-chromosome markers seen in the Pacific. The analysis of present-day cross-cultural data in this way allows us to directly address cultural evolutionary and life-history processes in prehistory.

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  • Matrilocal residence accounts for half of the historical societies in the Pacific islands.

    “Similarly, matrilocal residence accounts for half of the historical societies in the Pacific islands (Jordan et al. 2009).”

    From Parasite-stress promotes in-group assortative sociality: The cases of strong family ties and heightened religiosity (2012) · cites this paper as Jordan et al. 2009

    The Material and methods section codes 37 of 135 sampled societies as matrilocal—about 27%, not half. The sample concerns Austronesian societies, so it also does not establish a proportion for all historical societies in the Pacific islands. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Authors
Jordan, F. M., Gray, R. D., Greenhill, S. J., & Mace, R.
Affiliations
  • University College London (GB)
  • University of Auckland (NZ)
Corresponding author
Jordan, Fiona M.
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Publisher
The Royal Society
Published
2009-03-04
Volume
276
Issue
1664
Pages
1957-1964
ISSN
  • 0080-4649 (ISSN-L)
  • 0962-8452
  • 1471-2954
DOI
10.1098/rspb.2009.0088
PMC
PMC2677244
OpenAlex
W2155856280
Cited by
229
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 44 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 14
FWCI
413.34
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (publishedVersion)
  • Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (submittedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • ANU Open Research (Australian National University) (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Royal Society
  • University of Reading
  • Royal Society Te Apārangi
  • Arts and Humanities Research Council
  • Marsden Fund
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
  • Social Sciences › Geography, Planning and Development › Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Forensic and Genetic Research
Keywords
matrilocal residence, postmarital residence, Austronesian languages, kinship systems, ancestral states, Pacific societies, mitochondrial DNA, Y-chromosome markers, dispersal, cultural evolution, prehistory
MeSH terms
Female, Humans, Language, Male, Markov Chains, Marriage, Monte Carlo Method, Phylogeny, Population Dynamics, Sex Factors, Social Behavior, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, History, Ancient

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