Matrilineal belt

In anthropology, the matrilineal belt is an area in Africa south of the equator centered in south-central Africa where matrilineality is predominant. The matrilineal belt runs diagonally from the Atlantic to the Indian ocean, crossing Angola, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. The belt is linked to horticultural household economics, and Bantu groups that have embraced pastoralism have tended to lose matrilinearity.[1]

The region stands out for its high degree of paternity uncertainty and adolescent promiscuity both of which are alleged to be linked to matrilinearity. As inheritance is mainly through the descent of women, there is less paternal certainty. Men's inheritance therefore seldom passes to his wife's children but stays within what is unambiguously his biological family.[2]

Hypotheses linking the matrilineal belt to a supposed matrilineal Bantu expansion have been rejected as lacking evidence.[3]

References
  1. Holden, Clare–Janaki; Ruth, Mace (2003). "Spread of cattle led to the loss of matrilineal descent in Africa: a coevolutionary analysis". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 270: 2425–2433. doi:10.1098/rspb.2003.2535. PMC 1691535. PMID 14667331.
  2. Hrdy, Daniel B. (1987). "Cultural Practices Contributing to the Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Africa". Reviews of Infectious Diseases. 9 (6): 1109–1119. doi:10.1093/clinids/9.6.1109.
  3. Kuper, Adam; Van Leynseele, Pierre (1978). "Social Anthropology and the 'Bantu expansion'". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 48 (4): 335–352. doi:10.2307/1158800.
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