A group composed of people descended from a common ancestor (the "apical" ancestor), traced through a same-sex descent line.
Comment:In most societies lineage membership continues after death, but many references to lineage members apply only to living lineage members.
In most societies a person's lineage membership is immutable, and if lineages are exogamous, it follows that any household will necessarily include members of more than one lineage.
In a few cases one spouse may change lineage membership at marriage. In China, for example, a woman normally transfers from her natal lineage to her husband's lineage at the time of her marriage. A small number of societies have endogamous lineages. Logical subtypes are patrilineages and matrilineages.
A specialized type of social organization is the segmentary lineage organization.
Definition Revised: 2004-09-15
Script Last Modified: 2022-05-30
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