Marriage Prestations, Inheritance and Descent in Pre-Industrial Societies

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Abstract
An attempt is made to explore the nature of dowry and to explain why certain features such as bilateral inheritance, bilocal marriage, endogamy and hypergamy are often associated with it. It begins by laying out the general categories of rights and goods transferred at or through marriage. It then discusses different forms of inheritance and descent, pointing out the variable factors involved and relating them in particular to the inheritance of land and hence to problems of residence. Finally, systems of inheritance are linked with the broad types of marriage payment, and it is pointed out that dowry is not the opposite of bridewealth, being a settlement on the wife, either directly from the parents, or indirectly from the husband.

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