Kinship

analysis
ANTH 2310 Cultural Anthropology
(50 points possible)

Demonstrate your ability to apply your knowledge and understanding of basic cultural anthropology concepts
such as reciprocity, kinship structures, marriage and family relationships, and use of ethnographic methods.
Analyze the following statements and construct basic kinship diagrams as requested in the information
provided.

Kinship defines a group of people as being related by either blood and/or marital ties (Krista Lewis, UALR,
2006). Kinship is an important social institution in all societies regardless of the subsistence strategy practiced
there. In non-industrial societies, however, kinship is the SINGLE most important relationship for determining
every stage of an individuals life experience. This includes position within the social stratification system,
professional and business life, work-load and type, household obligations, marital patterns, residency
patterns, siring and/or rearing offspring, economic participation (reciprocity), reverence for or worship of
ancestors, succession in extended family units, inheritance, old-age support structures, political voice, family
and social authority structures, decision-making capacity on the macro and micro levels, rites of passage,
infanticide customs, and many more.

Due to the significance kinship relations lend to daily life worldwide, one of the first ethnographic methods
cultural anthropologists employ after identifying a informant is to construct a kinship diagram with his/her
informant identified as EGO. The diagram illustrates the link the informant has to the other members of
society the anthropologist will encounter while writing field notes during his/her participant observation.

Basic Kinship symbols needed for this assignment:
1. A circle symbolizes a female.
2. Triangles symbolize males.
3. The symbol representing the person on whom the kinship diagram is centered (informant) is
a square, called Ego. An alternative way to indicate ones ego is to use the male or female symbols and
simply label the individual by color coding or writing the word ego under it.
4. Equal signs = are the symbols for marriages and/or reproductive units.
5. An overhead horizontal bar along with overhead vertical bar(s) that connects individuals
indicates a consanguineal tie within multiple generations.
6. A slash through someone indicates the person is deceased. (female example)
7. A slash through the equal sign indicates a dissolved union or divorce.

Example of a three-generation kinship diagram (no one is deceased or divorced):

This assignment was developed by Dr. Krista Lewis, UALR department of anthropology & sociology and modified by Kate Terrell, PTC instructor of
anthropology & sociology, and Allan Lemmon, instructor of anthropology, for use as an assessment tool. Modified June 2015.

Respond to the items below. Key concepts are indicated in bold.

1. Draw a kinship diagram of a monogamous nuclear family. (2 points)













2. Draw ONE kinship diagram showing Egos family of orientation and Egos family of
procreation. Draw a dotted-line circle around Egos family of orientation and draw a solid-line circle
around Egos family of procreation. (2 points)

Family of orientation



Family of procreation









3. Draw a polygynous family involving no more than THREE spouses TOTAL of BOTH SEXES and
four children. Divide the children between the sexual unions however you like. (3 points)




4. Draw a polyandrous family involving no more than THREE spouses TOTAL of BOTH SEXES and
three children of multiple sexes. Genitors are not significant in this kinship system. (3 points)














5. The following kinship chart was created to describe a culture that practices patrilineal descent
but the anthropologist forgot to identify the members of the patrilineage. Finish it for the
anthropologist by coloring in all the symbols for the individuals who are members of Egos
patrilineage. Leave the other symbols as they are. (2 points)





6. This unfinished kinship chart represents a matrilineal family unit. Help the anthropologist finish
it by coloring in the symbols for the individuals who are members of Egos matrilineage. Leave all
the other symbols as they are. (2 points)

7. In the matrilineal diagram above, there is either a polyandrous OR a polygynous marital pattern. If
it is polyandrous, circle it. If it is polygynous, put a rectangle around it. (1 point)





Note: For items 8 and 9 on the two next pages, practice on a separate
sheet until you are confident of what your diagrams should look like
BEFORE you draw them on this worksheet.













8. Draw a kinship diagram of your own family including AT LEAST THREE generations. Label
each person in your chart with the appropriate kinship term we use in the USA. Write a description
of everyones relationship to EGO (you) as someone would find it in an anthropologists notebook.
Depending on the number of people and relationships on your kinship chart, you may want to turn this
lengthwise so your chart will fit more neatly. (15 points)

Grandparents



Aunt Uncle Parents Uncle
Aunt

ego
Parallel cousins sister sister Parallel cousins




9. The following kinship information was found in an anthropologists notebook. Use the standard
symbols we learned in this unit and PRACTICE DRAWING THE DIAGRAM of the family description
ON A SEPARATE SHEET FIRST UNTIL YOUVE GOT IT. Then copy your final version of it on the
following page. (20 points)

Ego is the oldest of three brothers.
He and his first wife had five children a girl, three boys, and another girl.
His first wife divorced him and he remarried. They have no children.
Egos father and mother divorced when he was an adult. His father remarried but divorced again. His
mother remarried and remains so today. Egos stepfather has three children from a previous
marriage. Two girls and a boy.
The oldest girl is married with two children (boys) and the other children are not married nor do
they have any children.
Egos oldest daughter is divorced with two children.
Egos oldest son is married with two boys.
Egos middle son is divorced with a girl and a boy
Egos youngest son is married with two boys.
Egos youngest daughter is divorced and remarried with a son from the second marriage.
Egos oldest brother is married with two daughters and the oldest of the two is recently married.
Egos youngest brother is divorced and remarried and divorced again with a daughter from the
second marriage.
If cross-cousin marriage was a cultural practice, would there be any people in this kinship chart who
are marriageable? (Underline the individuals who are marriageable if so, or state that there are no
marriageable cross cousins.)

Ego and his brothers Ego's parents


Ego

Marriageable persons





Ego's Children


Ego's grandchildren



Ego's stepfather's
children