Lineage: The Unilineal System

Determining ancestry involves various techniques of tracing your lineage. Some societies trace the ancestors on both sides of the family which is often referred to as bilateral kinship. While others just trace the ancestors who are relative to one side of the family. This is usually a unilinear descent system. In the following paragraphs, differences between two unilineal systems will be discussed and also how these systems help not just the individual but also their society.
Lineage is the tracing down of family members between different people and showing the link. Ember and Ember define lineage as a set of kin whose members trace descent from common ancestor through known links. There are two subcategories of lineage which are patrilineages, which trace genetic links through the males of that clan, and matrilineages, which traces the links through the females of that clan. Both of these lineages are variations on the unilinear descent system that states that a person is related to a certain group of kin because of links to a certain sex. …show more content…
In patrilineages, the grandfather is in charge of the three generations and the people involved in his patrilineage are his son and his son’s children. The opposite is said of the matrilineages that are in society. This means the grandmother is in charge and the people involved in her three generation matrilineage are her kids and her grandchildren produced by her daughters. Each version of lineage allows the individuals of each clan to trace their roots back to not only minor ancestors but also major ancestors that link to multiple