Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, Czechia.
Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechia.
PLoS One. 2020 Feb 24;15(2):e0229363. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229363. eCollection 2020.
Post-marital residence patterns are an important aspect of human social organization. However, identifying such patterns in prehistoric societies is challenging since they leave almost no direct traces in archaeological records. Cross-cultural researchers have attempted to identify correlates of post-marital residence through the statistical analysis of ethnographic data. Several studies have demonstrated that, in agricultural societies, large dwellings (over ca. 65 m2) are associated with matrilocality (spouse resides with or near the wife's family), whereas smaller dwellings are associated with patrilocality (spouse resides with or near the husband's family). In the present study, we tested the association between post-marital residence and dwelling size (average house floor area) using phylogenetic comparative methods and a global sample of 86 pre-industrial societies, 22 of which were matrilocal. Our analysis included the presence of agriculture, sedentism, and durability of house construction material as additional explanatory variables. The results confirm a strong association between matrilocality and dwelling size, although very large dwellings (over ca. 200 m2) were found to be associated with all types of post-marital residence. The best model combined dwelling size, post-marital residence pattern, and sedentism, the latter being the single best predictor of house size. The effect of agriculture on dwelling size becomes insignificant once the fixity of settlement is taken into account. Our results indicate that post-marital residence and house size evolve in a correlated fashion, namely that matrilocality is a predictable response to an increase in dwelling size. As such, we suggest that reliable inferences about the social organization of prehistoric societies can be made from archaeological records.
婚姻居住模式是人类社会组织的一个重要方面。然而，由于史前社会几乎没有在考古记录中留下直接痕迹，因此识别这些模式具有挑战性。跨文化研究人员试图通过对民族志数据的统计分析来识别婚姻居住模式的相关性。几项研究表明，在农业社会中，大型住宅（超过约 65 平方米）与从妻居（配偶与妻子的家人一起或附近居住）相关，而较小的住宅与从父居（配偶与丈夫的家人一起或附近居住）相关。在本研究中，我们使用系统发育比较方法和全球 86 个前工业化社会的样本（其中 22 个是从妻居社会）来检验婚姻居住模式与住宅大小（平均房屋面积）之间的关联，我们还将农业、定居和房屋建筑材料耐久性作为额外的解释变量纳入分析。分析结果证实了从妻居与住宅大小之间存在很强的关联，尽管非常大的住宅（超过约 200 平方米）与所有类型的婚姻居住模式都有关联。最佳模型结合了住宅大小、婚姻居住模式和定居这三个因素，其中定居是预测房屋大小的最佳单一因素。一旦考虑到定居的稳定性，农业对住宅大小的影响就变得微不足道了。我们的结果表明，婚姻居住模式和房屋大小是相关演化的，即从妻居是对住宅大小增加的可预测反应。因此，我们认为可以从前殖民社会的考古记录中得出关于其社会组织的可靠推论。
