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Remains of An Iron Age Tribe Reveal A Matrilocality Community
In this community and other early British societies, men left home to join their wives’ families
Since the dawn of humanity, every couple has had to make the same decision — where to live. In today’s world of advanced technology, high-speed travel, and (slightly) more gender equality, where a couple sets down roots may seem inconsequential, but entire societies are and always have been, shaped by this decision.
While workplace location is a major factor for modern couples when choosing where to live, deciding whose family to live with or near is historically the most significant one. Modern couples come in many forms, but married couples traditionally consisted of a man and a woman. This binary also formed two cultural traditions for where couples lived, which social anthropologists call patrilocal or matrilocal residences.
About 70 percent of known cultures throughout time practiced patrilocal residence, which is when couples primarily reside with or near the husband’s family. Meanwhile, records of matrilocal residences, when couples more often live with or near the wife’s family, are less common. However, recent research suggests there may have been more matrilocal communities throughout history than we thought.
