University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Anthropology Department Theses and Dissertations Anthropology, Department of Summer 7-30-2010 Exploration into Human Polyandry: An Evolutionary Examination of the Non-Classical Cases Kathrine E. Starkweather University of Nebraska at Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthrotheses Part of the Anthropology Commons Starkweather, Kathrine E., "Exploration into Human Polyandry: An Evolutionary Examination of the Non- Classical Cases" (2010). Anthropology Department Theses and Dissertations. 6. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthrotheses/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology Department Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. EXPLORATION INTO HUMAN POLYANDRY: AN EVOLUTIONARY EXAMINATION OF THE NON-CLASSICAL CASES By Kathrine E. Starkweather Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Major: Anthropology Under the Supervision of Professor Raymond B. Hames Lincoln, Nebraska August, 2010 EXPLORATION INTO HUMAN POLYANDRY: AN EVOLUTIONARY EXAMINATION OF THE NON-CLASSICAL CASES Kathrine Elizabeth Starkweather, M.A. University of Nebraska, 2010 Adviser: Raymond B. Hames Polyandry has occurred all over the world, among human societies at all levels of social stratification, employing all types of economic strategies. While the classical cases that appear in Southeast Asia among stratified, agricultural societies have been thoroughly studied, very little has been written on the non-classical cases. This thesis surveys fifty-two non-classical cases of polyandry and investigates the conditions under which non-classical polyandry most often occurs. This thesis also tests the following five sets of hypotheses, which were derived from theories related to both classical and non-classical polyandry: the Imbalanced Sex Ratio Hypotheses; the Prolonged Male Absence Hypotheses; the Adult Male Mortality Hypothesis; the Male Economic Production Hypothesis; and the Father Effect Hypothesis. Based on the results of these tests, a few trends seem to be descriptive of the non-classical polyandrous groups in this sample. First, the majority of the societies are egalitarian bands or tribes, practicing hunting and gathering and slash-and-burn horticulture. The presence of polyandry among these groups suggests that polyandry likely existed throughout human evolutionary history. Also, it seems that a skewed sex ratio in favor of males is an important factor contributing to the practice of non-classical polyandry, as are prolonged male absence, high adult male mortality, and high male economic production. Although prolonged male absence and adult male mortality seem to pose similar problems, the data and the case studies in this thesis suggest otherwise. It appears that non-classical formal polyandry is employed as a male reproductive strategy when instances of prolonged male absences occur, in that polyandry may function as a form of mate guarding while the primary husband is away. On the other hand, when adult male mortality is high, it seems that non-classical informal polyandry is a female reproductive strategy, utilized to ensure an investing father for children if the primary father should die. In all cases, however, it appears that non-classical polyandry is one possible solution for men to make the best of a bad situation. i Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction p. 1 Chapter 2: Methods p. 41 Chapter 3: Results p. 99 Chapter 4: Discussion p. 106 Chapter 5: Conclusions p. 117 Appendix p. 126 References p. 133 ii Figures and Tables Figure 1: Types of Polyandry p. 4 Figure 2: Polyandrous Classifications p. 7 Figure 3: Formal and Informal Polyandrous Groups p. 98 Table 1: Data on all variables for all fifty-two non-classical polyandrous societies p. 126 Table 2: Summary of Type of Polyandry, Social Stratification, Partible Paternity, Type of Economy, Male Relationship, Prolonged Male Absence, and Stability of Unions p. 129 Table 3: Relationship between Stability of Unions and Adult Sex Ratio p. 130 Table 4: Relationship between Prolonged Male Absence and Male Relationship p. 130 Table 5: Relationship between Prolonged Male Absence and Male Relationship among Formal Polyandrous groups p. 130 Table 6: Relationship between Prolonged Male Absence and Male Relationship for Egalitarian Bands or Tribes p. 131 iii Table 7: Relationship between Prolonged Male Absence and Male Relationship among Groups That Do Not Practice Partible Paternity p. 131 Table 8: Relationship between Adult Male Mortality and Male Relationship p. 131 Table 9: Relationship between Father Effect and Male Economic Contribution p. 132 Table 10: Relationship between Father Effect and Stability of Unions p. 132 Table 11: Relationship Between Stability of Unions and Male Relationship p. 132 1 Chapter 1 Introduction Polyandry is more common than the literature for the last eighty years has suggested. George P. Murdock’s Ethnographic Atlas (1967) classifies only four societies, out of 1167, as polyandrous: the Tibetans, the Toda of India, the Sherpa of Nepal, and the Marquesans of Polynesia. Despite other mentions of polyandry throughout the literature (Westermarck 1926, Prince Peter 1963, Berreman 1962, and many others), over the last six decades these four groups have been touted countless times in anthropological textbooks and other publications as the only four societies in the world to allow polyandry. This thesis will dispel these misconceptions and show that although “rare” remains an appropriate description for the occurrence of polyandry, it is a form of marriage and pair bonding that has been found on every continent and among peoples with varying levels of social stratification. It will do so by showing that these rather neglected cases of polyandry may occur under circumstances such as resource scarcity, imbalances of operational sex ratios, and in cases in which at least one father is necessary to enhance the likelihood of child survival. Murdock (1949) suggests that the extreme rarity of polyandry is nearly enough to regard it as an “ethnological curiosity” (p. 25), stating that only families in which the female is engaged in a socially sanctioned, culturally patterned marriage, which involves economic cooperation, residential cohabitation, and sexual rights with more than one man simultaneously may be considered polyandrous. Thus was the basis for his classification of only four societies in the Ethnographic Atlas (1967), as well as his exclusion of other 2 groups, such as the Pawnee (Murdock 1949). These four societies have been studied in- depth and share many social structural similarities, including agriculture, state-level political systems, stratified caste systems, and similar cultural expectations and rules about land and property inheritance. Also, aside from the Marquesans, these societies are geographically proximate and share similar ecologies. Berreman (1962) and Prince Peter (1963) have recorded an additional twenty- eight polyandrous societies that are similar to Murdock’s four societies on nearly all of the above accounts, in that they are state-level agriculturalists, living in the Southeast Asian regions in and around India, Tibet, and Nepal. The thirty-two total societies that share these characteristics will be referred to as “classical” polyandrous societies. This thesis will show that there are at least fifty-two societies not included in the scope of Murdock, Prince Peter, or Berreman’s studies that allow polyandry and that have at least one instance of polyandrous marriage or pair bonding, according to my definition, recorded in the literature. Westermarck (1926) mentions around fifteen groups or peoples that have been known to practice polyandry, and numerous other anthropologists recount cases as well. Although the stratification of these fifty-two groups varies somewhat, the majority of them live in small, egalitarian, band-level societies, practice foraging and slash-and-burn horticulture. These groups can be found all over the world in vastly different ecological conditions. Murdock (1949) said, “ … polyandry is so infrequent a phenomenon that there is no justification for assigning to it … an important place in the evolution of social organization.” The occurrence of polyandry among these egalitarian groups suggests that, in fact, it does hold an important place in human evolutionary history, making it crucial to understand as many aspects as 3 possible of polyandry in general, but especially the “non-classical” cases, to be examined and better understood. As of yet, a thorough account of non-classical polyandry has not been written. The purposes of this thesis are to do a complete investigation of all known cases of polyandry, drawing attention to the non-classical cases, to test some of the current theories that were developed to attempt to help explain classical polyandry. New theories, that were developed based on all known cases, will also be suggested and tested. These theories will lead to a more in-depth understanding of the conditions under which non-classical polyandry is likely to occur and will attempt to give a better understanding of the practice of polyandry as a