Studiet undersøger ægteskabspraksisser hos nutidige jæger-samlere for at rekonstruere tidlige menneskelige ægteskaber. Resultaterne indikerer, at arrangerede ægteskaber kan stamme tilbage til de første moderne menneskers migrationer fra Afrika. Tidlige ægteskaber havde sandsynligvis lav polygyni og inkluderede gensidige udvekslinger mellem partnerfamilier, hvilket styrkede sociale alliancer.
Titel på undersøgelse:
Evolutionary History of Hunter-Gatherer Marriage Practices.
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Hele abstrakt på originalsprog:
The universality of marriage across human societies hints at a deep evolutionary history of institutionalized pair-bonding, potentially dating back to early modern humans, though practices vary widely—from strict arranged marriages to unregulated courtship, with or without brideservice or brideprice, and ranging from polyandry to polygyny—making the ancestral state of early human marriage unclear due to limited archaeological evidence. Using comparative phylogenetic analyses with mitochondrial DNA-based hunter-gatherer phylogenies, researchers reconstructed ancestral marriage practices, inferring that arranged marriages likely emerged with the first modern human migrations out of Africa, though earlier patterns remain uncertain as some African hunter-gatherers practice courtship marriages. These reconstructions indicate early human societies had low polygyny and featured reciprocal exchanges like brideservice or brideprice between families. This suggests a long-standing tradition of regulated mate and resource exchanges, fostering complex social structures with coalitions and alliances across communities.