University of Pittsburgh- Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education

Dowry Systems in Complex Societies

Author(s): Stevan Harrell and Sara A. Dickey
Source: Ethnology, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Apr., 1985), pp. 105-120
Published by: University of Pittsburgh- Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education
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DOWRY

SYSTEMS

IN

COMPLEX
SOCIETIES1

University

University

Stevan
Harrell
of Washington

Sara
of California,

A.

Dickey
San Diego

of the occurrence
of dowry.
A puzzling
Dowry
gap exists in current explanations
as one type of marriage
as a form of
for example,
has been regarded,
transaction,
for the acquisition
of a so-called
and as compensation
devolution,
diverging
and analyses
that we have
woman.
of the descriptions
None
nonproductive
or
occurs
where and
encountered,
however,
sufficiently
explains
why dowry
fully
of dowry we
other writers' views of the functions
when it does. After reviewing
will offer our own proposal.
of significant
of goods
from the
amounts
We define
as the transfer
dowry
the
from the groom's
bride's
bride's family (or, indirectly,
family through
family)
fund ofthe
new couple.2
This sort of transaction
has a rather narrow
to a conjugal
at
with other
of goods
that are exchanged
in comparison
forms
distribution
in the Atlas of World Cultures
listed
Of the 563 societies
(Murdock
marriage.
trans?
this form of marriage
4 per cent?have
1981),
only 24?approximately
or
for example,
with the 226 societies
that give bridewealth,
in contrast
action,
the 63 that require
brideservice.
out, to
Yet, as Goody
1976) has pointed
(1972,
transactions
is misleading.
as an aspect of marriage
see dowry merely
is,
Dowry
in
a
of
inheritance
form
of
one
devolution,"
type
property
rather,
"diverging
estate.
inherit some share of the parental
which both sons and daughters
Dowry
in which
their
receive
devolution
that mode
of diverging
is simply
daughters
shares upon marriage.
is prevalent
has demonstrated,
as Goody
devolution,
(1976:13)
Diverging
and Asia. Indeed,
of Europe
societies
in the highly complex,
stratified
primarily
we
of dowry in the Atlas of World Cultures
if we look at the distribution
sample,
listed as giving dowry are also listed as having
of the 24 societies
find that sixteen
dif?
into
classes
social
stratification
occupational
largely
reflecting
complex
"in surveying
the major Eurasian
In addition,
ferentiation
(Murdock
1981:101).
devolution"
to be characterized
all . . . were found
by diverging
civilizations,
incidence
of dowry
to
the
From
this
then,
explain
1976:21).
perspective,
(Goody
in complex
societies.
devolution
of diverging
to explain
the incidence
is simply
of plough
in terms of the greater productivity
has done convincingly
This Goody
over
and
social
stratification
and
of
the
competition
consequent
agriculture
in
resources
to retain valuable
a tendency
all of which produce
productive
wealth,
the

direct

family

line

(Goody

1976:20).

105

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106

Ethnology

has demonstrated
the association
between
Goody
dowry and social stratiflca?
tion in two ways:
of statistical
tests that associate
and/or
by a series
dowry
devolution
with
other
factors
that
tend
to
in
occur
stratified
diverging
complex,
and by a group of descriptive
studies that place diverging
in
devolution
societies;
set of associated
the context
of a whole
social
such as plough
institutions,
with someone
of the
stratification,
agriculture,
complex
(marriage
homogamy
same economic
and separate
kin terms for
level), monogamy,
premarital
chastity,
siblings.
As far
assertion.

as it goes,
there
to be little problem
seems
with Goody's
(1976)
If all major civilizations
But a question
remains.
are characterized
by
there is still considerable
variation
devolution,
diverging
among and within these
civilizations
as to whether
is given,
and in the size and content
of the
dowry
and in some communities
within
dowry.
Why do we find that in some societies,
these societies,
a daughter
while in others
gets her share at the time of marriage,
must wait until her parents die or retire to be able to claim
she, like her brothers,
her share? We are up against the dual nature of dowry here. Dowry
is not simply
a form of inheritance
in a complex
with lineal
concerned
by females
society
of property.
It is also a form of marriage payment.
transmission
But again, it is not
No explanation
of the occurrence
of dowry
simply a form of marriage
payment.
or of the variation
in its size and importance
will be satisfactory
unless it takes into
account
both aspects
of dowry
as an institution?that
it transfers
to a
wealth
and
and/or
her
marital
that
it
does
so
at
the
of
time
her
daughter
family,
marriage.
The problem
with Goody's
is that it is incomplete.
has
(1976)
explanation
Goody
failed to distinguish
the situations
in which families
in complex
societies
practice
inheritance
inherit
through
dowry from those in which both sons and daughters
on
the
death
or
retirement
of
their
only
parents.
The difficulty
when we take into consideration
not only the presence
expands
or absence
of some goods that the bride takes with her at the time of marriage
but
the amount
and value of such goods.
We find several case studies of communities
in the major
in which,
Eurasian
civilizations
a bride
a
although
may bring
or other small portion with her at the time of marriage,
trousseau
she gets nothing
is small, and makes up the daughter's
else (dowry
entire inheritance)
or she gains
a considerably
often including
land or other productive
larger portion,
property,
at the time of her parents'
death (dowry
is small, and does not constitute
the
entire inheritance).
daughter's
For either
situation
we find cases in which communities
type of small-dowry
with small dowries
can be contrasted
with communities
in the same society,
either
or separated
coexistent
dowries.
of
the
Cases
by time, and characterized
by large
first type (a small dowry comprising
the entire inheritance)
include
the villages
of
Edo period Japan (Nakane
which can be contrasted
to the villages
of
1967:153),
modern
the lineage
of rural Serbia in the
communities
1978:193);
Japan (Smith
which
nineteenth
can be contrasted
to those
of the present
century,
century
and Halpern
and the communes
of rural Guangdong
1972:18);
(Halpern
prov?
ince in China in the 1970s,
as contrasted
with the 1930s and 1940s,
when dowry
was much
and Whyte
in the twentieth
(Parish
larger
1978:181-88).
Bulgaria
also seems
to have followed
this pattern
century
(Sanders
1949:55).
Cases of the second
the daughter's
type (a small dowry that does not constitute
entire inheritance),
include
less commercialized
mountain?
villages in most ofthe
of Spain, as contrasted
ous regions
with wealthier
(Brandes
plains villages
1975;
Pitt-Rivers
Freeman
Lison-Tolosana
and certain
in
towns
1961;
1970;
1966),
there
are
in
communities
(Gower
Sicily
1961:97).
Chapman
Clearly,
many
stratified
societies
in which dowry payments
are rather insignificant,
and
complex,
to show that the hypothesis
that dowry can be explained
as a way to transmit
part
of the inheritance
to daughters
in complex
societies
is inadequate.
Not only is
there huge variation
within complex
in terms of the size of the dowry?
societies

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Dowry

in

Systems

Complex

Societies

107

to a major part of a family's

estate?there
is also
from just a few clothes
varying
her share of her family's
in the time at which a daughter
receives
great variation
will take both
of variation
kinds
into
A satisfactory
inheritance.
explanation
account.
Alternative

the

Explanations

of

Dowry

Systems

who has tried to explain

is not the only theorist
1976), of course,
(1972,
Goody
of dowry.
Marvin Harris (1979:306)
has stated:
nature and occurrence

This institution cannot be understood merely as a mechanism of property devolution. Men pay
dowry on behalf of daughters, not on behalf of sons; almost everywhere in Eurasian peasant
societies the woman's share of family property is inferior to that of her brothers and usually consists
of movable wealth instead of land. It is therefore incorrect to say that dowry is a form of
pre-mortem inheritance; in many instances it is a form of female pre-mortem disinheritance,
functioning not to devolve landed property but to consolidate its control among the senior male
heirs.
In many Eurasian
such as Thailand
societies,
1975; Potter
1977),
(Keyes
peasant
Allen
& Valavanes
much of Greece
1976),
(Bernard
1976;
1976;
Casselberry
and in
1976),
1976) and France (Le Roy Ladurie
parts of Spain (Lison-Tolosana
or on
shares
the Basque
however,
1975),
equal
daughters'
(Douglass
country
In these
cannot
those
of their brothers.
occasion
even
exceed
cases,
dowry
And
in the sense that Harris
seems
to claim.
the female
function
to disinherit
share is less than that received
even in cases where the daughter's
by her brother
or goods
that
land or other productive
it may still include
or brothers
property
for
in terms of cash value into productive
would
be convertible
Such,
property.
in Maronite
and
was the case in much of Galicia (Lison-Tolosana
1976),
example,
in central
in Lebanon
Shiite villages
(Peters
1976),
Italy in the early twentieth
of
Sarakatsani
and in recent times among the pastoral
(Silverman
1975),
century
northwestern
Greece
1964).
(Campbell
Harris's
do not necessarily
a few counter-examples
While
(1979)
disprove
in Eurasian
almost everywhere
that dowry operates
contention
societies,
peasant
In most of subsaharan
of dowry.
for the incidence
fails to account
this function
natal family
from
her
or
little
woman
the
upon
Africa,
nothing
very
gets
while
the Eurasian
later on. In contrast,
and ordinarily
her marriage
nothing
and often
excludes
less
than her brother's,
is commonly
share
daughter's
The problem
remains
receives
she nonetheless
something.
productive
property,
claims by giving
settle their daughters'
societies
Eurasian
as to why the complex
to disinherit
at all; that is, why does it take some kind of dowry
them anything
from the beginning,
are disinherited
the daughters
them while in African societies
in most societies?
We have
whatsoever
and nothing
very little any where
getting
in those societies
than Goody's
come no further
assertion;
(1972,
1976) original
it
to a great extent
is determined
in which
a family's
by the wealth
standing
to all of its children
must be able to pass on that wealth
that family
controls,
as a
of dowry
the function
of sex. We have still said little about
regardless
marriage
payment.
to dowry as a mechanism
forms a more serious
alternative
A second
objection
of dowry
as a transaction
the aspect
and concerns
devolution
of property
Until
dowry as
regarded
anthropologists
fairly
recently,
marriage.
accompanying
the
from
was a marriage
Bridewealth
of bridewealth.
the inverse
payment
from
the
was
while
to
the
bride's
opposite?a
payment
just
dowry
family
groom's
In actuality,
these two forms of
the bride's family to the groom's
(White
1948).
of payments.
the direction
differ in ways other than merely
transaction
marriage
has
as
The most
out, is that
(1972:5)
difference,
pointed
Goody
important
to
be passed
least
fund
of
a
becomes
bridewealth
(at
likely
legally)
circulating
part
In most African
for the recipient
on as bridewealth
family's own daughters-in-law.

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108

Ethnology

from the subsistence

to the
cases, at any rate, it remains
separate
goods necessary
and growth
of the newly established
survival
family. Even in those cases where
cattle function
as both bridewealth
and subsistence
there are different
goods,
rules of access to cattle for milk and for bridewealth
(Gulliver
1955:132-33).
a conjugal
fund legally
not to the
creates
by contrast,
Dowry,
belonging
extended
itself. It is an
family of which the new couple is a part but to the couple
estate in both subsistence
and wealth,
which
integral
goods
part of the couple's
in
in
are in any case not so clearly
as
African
societies.
distinguished
complex
that this distinction
and circulating
we believe
between
can
Nonetheless,
conjugal
if
for the dowry,
since in many cases it is possible
be overemphasized
especially
it includes
productive
goods such as land, to be used, if not sold, by the extended
and for its conjugal
aspect to come into play only
family as part of its resources
it is inherited
when
This was certainly
the case, for
by the next generation.
farmers
and herders
both
(E. Friedl
1962:55)
among
example,
(Campbell
in Greece
as well as among
the Himalayan
Fiirer(von
1964:302)
Sherpas
Haimendorf
1964:67).
from a bride's dowry is used for the support
of the family
As long as the income
into we can speak of a dowry as at least partially
a payment
she marries
to the
With reference
is patrilocal.
to such cases
family when marital residence
groom's
a third alternative
we can consider
that dowry is in effect compensa?
explanation;
tion paid to a bride's family for taking in a "non-productive"
female member.
This
has been
and Harris
stated
who describe
(1976:523),
explanation
by Divale
for the cost of maintaining
an economically
burdensome
dowry as "compensation
woman
or as payment
for the establishment
of political,
economic,
caste, or ethnic
to the bride's family." In other words,
alliances
valuable
the bride's family stands
to gain from the marriage
and the groom's
has to
family loses, so compensation
has sounded
a similar note in trying to explain
be paid. Spiro (1975:98)
marriage
but also the rarer "male dower" that
only dowry and bridewealth
prestations?not
in Burma?as
he found in his own field research
where "the cost-benefit
occurring
ratio of marriage
to its principals
is unbalanced."
Such explanations?that
transaction
between
is, of dowry as a simple economic
to even
two
out the economic
imbalance
created
families,
functioning
by
been criticized
as an "economistic"
(1980:7)
marriage?have
by Comaroff
ap?
to "illuminate
the meaning
unable
to marriage
we
While
proach,
payments."
to
of
materialist
cultural
such
as
prefer symbolic
purely
explanations
phenomena
our principal
task is to demonstrate
that hypotheses
of dowry
as
dowry,
are inadequate
on empirical
In many cases, neither
the
compensation
grounds.
occurrence
nor the size of dowry
is associated
with
a manifest
economic
in the value of the marriage
imbalance
to the two parties.
To demonstrate
that hypotheses
of dowry
as compensation
are empirically
we must divide
them into two parts. Consider
first the second
of
inadequate,
and Harris's
two assertions,
Divale
that dowry sometimes
serves as "payment
for
the establishment
of political,
to the
valuable
economic,
caste, or ethnic alliances
and Harris 1976:523)
bride's family" (Divale
where the value of these alliances
to
the bride's family is not balanced
value to the groom's
by a comparable
family. If
it were balanced
this way, then this kind of social value to the groom's
family
as repayment
would
serve
for the social
value
to the bride's
This
family.
could
where
the dowry
or
comes
however,
explanation
only
apply,
wholly
from
the bride's
and does
not have
a large
indirect
predominantly
family
It could not apply, for example,
to the Chinese
and Japanese
component.
cases,
both of which include
of indirect
sizable portions
dowry (Freedman
1966; Smith
to the Serbians,
whose
an indirect
since its
1978);
dowry has included
portion
introduction
in the late nineteenth
or
to
century
(Halpern
1972:190-92);
many
in India, where
bridewealth
and dowry payments
in fact occur together
groups
time (Tambiah
most ofthe
It does not apply to cases such as the village
1972:71).

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Dowry

Systems

in

Complex

Societies

109

in Cyprus
and the community
of Alona
of "Belmonte
de los
1968),
(Peristiany
in Aragon
where both husband
and wife
Caballeros"
(Lison-Tolosana
1966:158),
In none of these cases can dowry serve
to the marriage.
bring important
property
for the bride's family
for the greater value of affinal ties created
as compensation
the transaction
is not an unbalanced
one.
since, in effect,
in
If this explanation
to situations
where there is little imbalance
is inapplicable
for those cases in which there is no
the transaction
itself, it is also inappropriate
that the affinal ties created are in fact of more value to the bride's family
evidence
It is safe to assume
that in cases where
is ideally
than to the groom's.
marriage
with both sides looking
for an equal match, the affinal ties created
homogamous,
will be of approximately
On the
equal value to both families.
by the marriage
indeed
then
be
other hand, where
is
dowry may
clearly hypergamous,
marriage
with higher-status
connections
seen as compensation
for her family's establishing
with
has shown that the giving of dowry is associated
(1976:14-17)
people.
Goody
is the rule. For
are also many cases where
but there
hypergamy
homogamy,
farm families
often
in rural West Ireland in the early twentieth
century,
example,
in the towns.
The dowry,
into merchant
families
tried to marry their daughters
to approximately
which in this case ought to be large enough
equal the value of
is clearly
seen
and Kimball
the groom's
1940:368-69),
family's
shop (Arensberg
in her husband's
inclusion
of the bride's
as payment
for the favor
family
a large dowry
of providing
considerations
But in the same society,
(1940:135-36).
in farm-farm
as they are in farm-town
are just as important
marriages.
marriages
in which hypergamy
is the ideal and
societies
other complex
There are, of course,
that in such cases a lower-class
we can expect
family might well need to increase
into a family of high status. Just
the dowry if they wish to marry their daughter
di Lampedusa's
novel
The Leopard,
in Giuseppi
Tomasi
such a case is outlined
of his
the marriage
fortunes
a prince
of declining
where
reluctantly
accepts
her
unlimited
the
of
almost
a
damsel
to
means;
large dowry
bourgeois
nephew
of the
eventual
father is willing to pay has a lot to do with the prince's
acceptance
of
while
cases
In general,
di Lampedusa
however,
1960).
(Tomasi
marriage
in many
the size of dowry payments,
may have an effect on increasing
hypergamy
to
of dowry-paying
too small a proportion
societies
marriages
they constitute
of the dowry.
for the existence
serve as an explanation
cannot explain
alliances
of unequally
valuable
If compensation
for the creation
and
the other part of Divale
we still need to consider
of dowry,
the occurrence
to
the
as
that
serves
Harris's
groom's
compensation
(1976)
dowry
hypothesis
If it is true that
woman.
an economically
burdensome
for maintaining
family
'off one's
in order
to "take a daughter
to the groom's
is given
family
dowry
a higher
to
see
we
should
then
and
Bates
hands'"
1980:268),
expect
(Plog
in which the woman
of dowry in those societies
incidence
is, in fact, considered
or
The simplest
burdensome.
to be economically
way to do this is to test whether
the wife does little or none of
not dowry is more likely to occur in cases where
work of the household.
the income-producing
in the Atlas of World Cultures
from the sample
We have extracted
58 societies
since it is in such
into social classes,
stratiflcation
that are listed as having complex
Of
with or without
devolution
to find diverging
that we expect
societies
dowry.
and
Divale
We tested
as giving
are listed
sixteen
these
dowry.
58 societies,
with
societies
stratified
the complex
Harris's
(1976)
by comparing
hypothesis
the
to see whether
without
societies
stratified
to the complex
dowry,
dowry
or
in women's
difference
with a corresponding
is associated
difference
agricultural
disfind dowry
we should
are correct,
If Divale
and Harris
work.3
pastoral
or
do little or no agricultural
women
cases in which
in those
proportionately
1
2.
and
in
Table
are
shown
Tables
test
a
of
such
The
results
labor.
simple
pastoral
Table 2 against the
of labor in agriculture,
1 tests dowry against the sexual division
sexual

division

of labor

in husbandry.

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no

Ethnology
Table

1.

DOWRYAND THE SEXUAL DIVISION OF LABOR IN AGRICULTUREIN

COMPLEXSOCIETIES

Performed exclusively
or predominantly
by
or no
males;
agriculture

Performed exclusively
or predominantly
by
females

Dowry

11

No Dowry

32

Total

43

Equal or
equivalent
contribution
by both sexes

Total

X2 = .37
P - .83

there are no complex

in the AWC
societies
in which
the
Although
sample
women
do the bulk of the agricultural
there
to
be
no
work,
appears
significant
in the likelihood
difference
of dowry being paid between
in which
those societies
women
are "nonproductive,"
none or a minority
of the agricultural
contributing
and those in which their productivity
that of men.
matches
productivity,
Here
seems
there
to be no support
for Divale
and Harris's
again,
(1976)
Where
females
do not engage
in husbandry,
either because
the men
hypothesis.
do all or most of the work or because
there are no animals
to husband,
women
if
difference
not
is
less
to
are,
(the
anything,
statistically
significant)
likely
bring
to their marriages
than in those cases in which the women
do participate
dowry
or sharing equally
with men the tasks of husbandry.
by either
dominating

Table

2.

DOWRYAND THE SEXUAL DIVISION OF LABOR IN HUSBANDRYIN

COMPLEXSOCIETIES

Performed exclusively
or predominantly
by
or no
males;
husbandry

Performed exclusively
or predominantly
by
females

No Dowry

30

Total

39

Dowry

Equal or
equivalent
contribution
by both sexes

X2 - 2.46
P = .29

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Total

Dowry

Systems

in

Complex

Societies

i i i

the giving of dowry and the

Thus we find that there is no association
between
of the female.
or husbanding
That is, if nearly
all
nonproductivity
agricultural
cannot
we
use
the
amount
of
societies
have
labor
devolution,
complex
diverging
of marriage
to explain
to the economy
of their families
the daughters
contribute
and others
their portions
at marriage
make them wait
why some give daughters
for a nonproducuntil their parents
it appears,
is not a compensation
die. Dowry,
in
the value of the
and parents
are
interested
tive woman.
Grooms
everywhere
in a system
bride will bring in but this is natural enough
dowry that a prospective
in which they will have to dower
their own daughters
(and even if only a small
a
between
of the dowry is retained
by the groom's
family, the distinction
portion
and
an
accustomed
a
fund
is
where
is
and
blurred)
dowry
conjugal
circulating
in the
But parents
do not seem to be more interested
source of family resources.
value of the dowry in those cases in which it is going to cost them and/or their son
or labor to support
the bride.
more money
If the data on women's
to agriculture
and to animal
contribution
husbandry
of
of dowry as compensation
for the inclusion
seem to east doubt on the function
a
in a family,
of these
data take into account
a nonproductive
none
woman
in terms of domestic
which
is
more
woman's
economic
contribution
labor,
likely
of food than
and preparation
to be dominated
by child-rearing,
cleaning,
washing,
ln other words,
the
or weeding
the vegetable
it is by feeding
chickens
garden.
look less
of making women
data that we have presented
are biased in the direction
that
of time-allocation
studies
than they are. From the limited
number
productive
in
in general,
have been done it appears that domestic
labor is more burdensome,
it is in simpler,
than
to give
are likely
societies
(which
dowry)
complex
the notion
of compensatsocieties
1980:281),
(Minge-Klevana
nondowry-giving
It
on
would
woman
to
for
an
absurdity.
certainly
begins
verge
ing
unproductive
who cannot wait to have a daughterseem absurd to the Chinese
mother-in-law,
to take over the dirty work, or to the Japanese
in-law in the household
parents
will be the first to rise and the last to retire,
who assume
that the daughter-in-law
of the household
in order that she might better wait on the other members
(Dore
1978:159).
and diverging
devolution
social stratification
We thus can see that neither
by
when a woman
for the time in the life-cycle
which
do not account
themselves,
the fact that a
which
contradicts
nor disinheritance,
receives
her inheritance;
for
nor compensation
who gains a dowry is always inheriting
woman
something;
the
of the groom's
that is to the disadvantage
an exchange
family, which ignores
can
family is not at any kind of disadvantage,
many cases in which the groom's
can any of these factors go very far
of dowry.
Neither
account
for the presence
or
a community
either within
size of dowries
in accounting
for the differential
the
If we are to understand
to another.
or one society
from one community
a form
that dowry is indeed
we must first recognize
and size of dowries
incidence
the types of
fact to demonstrate
this simple
and then go beyond
of inheritance
in which this inheritance
is given inter vivos rather than mortis causa.
situations
Dowry

as a Social

Statement

can best be seen not only as a form of diverging

that dowry
We propose
and thus
inheritance
but also as a means of a family's public display of its wealth,
We thus expect
of a daughter's
its social status, on the occasion
dowry
marriage.
the need
and therefore
there is social stratification,
where
to occur in situations
its
to display
a family
wants
where
and particularly
for diverging
inheritance,
those
status among
occur when: (a) there is unequal
This should
wealth publicly.
status is partially
interact and intermarry;
who frequently
families
(b) this unequal
varies
to
this
wealth
access
and
economic
or wholly
determined
(c)
wealth;
by
and its
for wealth
is conscious
time that there
over
competition
sufficiently
in turn.
each of these conditions
status. Let us examine
concomitant

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ii2
Unequal

Ethnology
Status

among

Families

in which social inequality

that are part of societies
There are many communities
status based on wealth
is not
exists and is based on wealth but where differential
For example,
within the community.
Bedouin
an important
consideration
groups
in the Negev
of unequal
and
and in Cyrenaica
are both part of systems
exchange
within
and
town
dwellers.
But
the
between
themselves
Bedouin
unequal
prestige
status from being based on wealth.
there are factors that prevent
communities,
and the
are the undeveloped
nature of private
these
Primary
among
property
that are held by the patrilineage.
In spite of
of rights over property
large number
that a daughter
a share of her father's
should
receive
the Islamic
legal provision
that is equal to half the share received
a Bedouin
by her brothers,
property
not at the time of marriage
no property,
nor at any other time
receives
daughter
(Marx 1967:102,
1965:128;
1976:70-71).
114; Peters
in the German-speaking
situation
of Kippel.
A similar
existed
Swiss village
this community
an
describes
as egalitarian.
Families
John Friedl (1974)
display
with maintaining
concern
their agricultural
extreme
that, until very
holdings
their entire livelihood
but their respective
has little to
recently,
provided
prestige
do with these
of
economic
control
override
the
holdings.
Aspects
community
to its own holdings;
attachment
exclusive
both co-operative
labor and
family's
are regulated
associations
by community
grazing rights on the Alpine meadows
(J.
In Kippel,
where
even the possibility
of marrying
Friedl
1974:23-24;
47-56).
into an inheritance,
on one partner
or the other coming
the woman's
depends
in any way (J. Friedl
of as dowry,
nor is it displayed
is not conceived
inheritance
to her in order
to
than a woman's
Rather
inheritance
1974:27).
being given
in
a
her
as
of
her
as
a
woman's
status
marriage,
display
family's
part
dowry system,
in that inheritance.
when
she is already
secure
Or
only
happens
marriage
to do with her inheritance
the marriage
has nothing
whatsoever
alternatively,
it is the husband's
in some
into his own that allows
the
since,
cases,
coming
to
take
place.
marriage
In the above cases, there is an ideology
of egalitarianism
of lineage
and a degree
or community
that militate
priority
against family rights to property
against the
a part of dowry-giving.
In both cases,
so frequently
open display of family wealth,
the communities
are part of larger societies
where economic
differences
between
families
determine
those families' prestige
but the relationship
between
economic
and prestige
within the intermarrying
differences
does not operate
community.
that will be impressed
After all, it is the intermarrying
community
by the display
of a family's
wealth
as part of marriage
proceedings.
Status

Partially

or Wholly

Determined

by Wealth

it is difficult
to find communities
within complex,
stratified
societies
Although
in which variations
in prestige
within the community
are not based primarily
on
such unusual
situations
and
shed
on
the
of
wealth,
exist,
they
light
importance
is the traditional
Indian village,
display of wealth as part ofa dowry. One example
where
in caste status were defined
differences
by criteria that made no mention
of and were
unaffected
in wealth.
In the classical
Indian
by differences
legal
castes
below
Brahmins
were not allowed
to make the most
tradition,
ranking
kind of marriage,
that involving
a dowry (Tambiah
but by
prestigious
1972:69),
the nineteenth
and early twentieth
centuries
non-Brahmins
were giving dowry in
the fact that ascriptive
caste
1972:87-88),
many parts of India (Tambiah
despite
denies
the legitimacy
of this particular
ranking
display of status on the part of a
caste that ranks below
the highest
in the system.
Non-Brahmins
who subse?
to
their
in the form of dowry were denying
wealth
neither
quently
began
display
the validity
of the hierarchical
nature
of the caste
nor its implicit
system
those principles
to incorporate
considerations
of
inequality;
they were extending

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Dowry
relative
wealth.

status

within

caste

groups

Systems

that were

more

in

Complex
often

than

Societies
not

dependent

i i 3
on

is an important
transaction
where
status is
marriage
Although
dowry
family
status of intermarrying
the relative
economic
is not its
based on wealth,
families
in which a family whose
are instances
There
lower
status results
only concern.
from something
can compensate
for this lower status
other than relative
poverty
a large dowry;
a Sarakatsani
as when
wants
to marry off a
by paying
family
in East
or when prewar Ashkenazi
bride (Campbell
families
1964:111),
nonvirgin
to marry their daughters
to men whose
on
wanted
Europe
prestige
depended
own
their
or the religious
and learning
of their
learning
standing
family's
ancestors
and Herzog
for
(Zborowski
1952). But a family's ability to compensate
its lower status by making a large, publicly
displayed
gift of dowry to its daughter
is clear evidence
that wealth
matters.
Competition

for Social

Status

in an intermarrying
for determining
social standing
While wealth
is important
it does not lead to dowry as a means of publicly
that wealth
displaying
community,
is
or possible
about whose wealth
unless there is some competition
disagreement
in the southeast
of
of five villages
indeed
Cutileiro's
(1971)
study
superior.
in which each community
a situation
contained
describes
representatives
Portugal
and seareiros (tenants).
classes: latifundarios,
of three well-delineated
proprietarios,
These
Yet none of them gave
classes were quite stable and nearly endogamous.
the rule
to the bride at the time of marriage,
even though
but a trousseau
anything
at death of parents
was observed
of equal bilateral
inheritance
by all (Cutileiro
of the thirteenth
in the English
midlands
95). Similarly,
1971:45-55,
century,
excluded
of tenure
restricted
where
feudal
forms
mobility
severely,
dowry
these cases are not strong
(Homans
1941:140-42).
Although
property
productive
in an already
will
that the lack of economic
stratified
evidence
mobility
system
to
that
do
seem
indicate
this
factor
is
the
of
important
giving
dowry, they
prevent
in keeping
the dowry small.
to
where families
are concerned
If dowry reaches
its full form in communities
we would
this display
validate
their social status by the display of wealth,
expect
who give dowries.
The dowry
force for people
to be an important
motivating
and status, meant
wealth
to be noticed,
of a family's
statement
there is a public
of relative
status arise, as
whenever
and taken into account
discussed,
questions
status systems.
they will in fluid and competitive
in Ved Mehta's
is poignantly
illustrated
of dowering
The cultural
meaning
into a middle-class
Lahore family in the
account
of his mother's
(1979)
marriage
his
that this suitor not slip through
concerned
The girl's father,
1920s.
Babuji,
of the dowry.
him with the lavishness
to impress
hands, is determined
"She will have plenty of changes of clothes," Babuji said. "For winter, for summer, and for
wear and evening wear. There are, of course, the usual ornaments of twenty-two
monsoon?day
carat gold. In addition I plan to give you two thousand rupees. I would like to give you more but
I have four daughters."
The

suitor

turns

down

the gift

of a watch

as he owns

one.

"What about a motorcar?" Babuji asked. "I already have a motorcycle." "That's dangerous," Babuji
said. "A married man should not ride one of those things." "One day, I hope to have a motorcar,"
Daddyji said. "A motorcar would look impressive in the dowry, and it would be a good talking point
for the neighbors," Babuji said. "Many prominent Lahoris are giving motorcars in dowries these
days." (Mehta 1979:45).
A
from the field work of one of us (Harrell).
comes
An ethnographic
example
the next
in the Taiwanese
woman
village where he lived was to be married

young

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ii4

Ethnology

had come,
as is the
brothers
day to a man from the local town and the groom's
to pick up the dowry. They had not, however,
come in proper style.
local custom,
rather than
They had ridden the truck on which the goods were to be transported,
the dowry.
the truck they had brought
Furthermore,
hiring a taxicab to precede
and small; it was doubtful
whether
it would
hold all the furniture,
was ragged
stereo
television,
set, gas
machine,
motorcycle,
refrigerator,
sewing
clothing,
and
other
that
the bride's
small
clocks,
goods
appliances,
grandfather
range,
at much expense.
the naive ethnographer
had assembled
When
brothers
sug?
that they might make two trips, he was laughed
at for not understanding
gested
made in a dowry.
the public
statement
the situation
of Southeastern
Freedman
Chinese
families,
(1966:55)
describing
states:
a bride-giving family must, in order to assert itself against the family to which it has lost a woman,
send her off in the grandest manner they can afford. And it is no accident, therefore, that dowry and
trousseau are put on open display; they are not private benefactions to the girl but a public
demonstration of the means and standing of her natal family.
in Rheubottom's
We find a similar description
of marriage
account
in a
(1980)
of
consists
three
and
Macedonian
Here,
trousseau,
dowry
village.
parts;
money,
furniture.
Of these,
because
only the trousseau
goes on public display,
perhaps
in this area still express
an egalitarian
(Rheubottom
villagers
ideology
1980:235).
But the display
of the trousseau
is very clear from
function
Rheubottom's
(1980:228)
description:
The size and quality of the trousseau is taken as an indication of the wealth and prestige of the
bride's household. Since material goods are put on view for all to examine, it represents a public
display of standing; indeed, those present are careful to evaluate the evidence. Old women in the
village are particularly keen critics of these goods and, upon arrival at the bride's home, make
straight for them to gauge their extent and quality. After they finger them and discuss points of
difference, they arrive at a composite estimate of the trousseau's worth. Members of the bride's
family are then questioned and cross-questioned in order to obtain their own estimate. These two
estimates are compared and the result passes quickly around a village.
Differential

Incidence

of

Dowry

The
of the communicative
illustrations
function
of dowry
are
preceding
but examples.
The problem
remains
to demonstrate
that this is an
nothing
factor in determining
which communities
important
give dowry and which do not.
of course,
that dowry
We can show,
in societies
occurs
where
the
primarily
concern
is to make a match; ofthe
sixteen complex
stratified
societies
listed in the
Atlas of World Cultures as giving dowry, twelve are "agamous,"
meaning
they have
no rule of endogamy
or exogamy
or territorial
based on kinship
criteria.
The
four
in "demes
other
occur
a marked
cases
toward
local
[with]
tendency
and in "segmented
communities
of any indication
[with] the absence
endogamy"
of local exogamy"
In other words, the lack of formal rules
(Murdock
1981:94-95).
about how spouses
should
be related or where they should come from clears the
of an economic
match. But this is weak evidence,
even for
way for considerations
the association
between
and
a
and
it
dowry
match,
making
really says nothing
about the association
between
dowry and status competition.
In fact, we cannot use the Atlas of World Cultures to test the validity
of such an
nor can we make
kind
of
a
cross-cultural
statistical
association,
any
analysis
without
numerous
ourselves
and applying
to our choices
all
coding
ethnographies
the rigorous
criteria that must be used to avoid Galton's
Even if we were
problem.
to do this we would probably
be left with so few examples
that we would
not be
able to test them statistically.
another
is
called
for.
Clearly
approach
Our alternative
is to demonstrate
the association
between
and
dowry-giving
status
If we can find at least two
competition
by intra-cultural
comparison.

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Dowry

Systems

in

Complex

Societies

i i 5

within the same cultural tradition,

one that gives dowry and one that
communities
the other variables
does not, we can then examine
along which these communities
can also take a historical
Where
there
has been
the
differ.
One
approach.
in a particular
or society,
of dowry-giving
or the demise
community
development
in the stratification
that might have
we can look for any historical
system
changes
a
can
in
customs.
Such
the
exchange
comparison
change
marriage
accompanied
that within
we have listed
as
the factors
demonstrate
society,
any particular
with the presence
or absence
of dowry.
to dowry are indeed
conducive
associated
a single society.
Where
we
In fact, this kind of comparison
allows us to go beyond
in one
and nondowry
communities
find that the differences
between
dowry
communities
are parallel to the differences
between
dowry and nondowry
society
in another
we can assert with some confidence
that the same factors are at
society
of how these
and diachronic
work.
One can amass both synchronic
examples
that
to provide
sufficient
evidence
in a variety
of social contexts
factors operate
cultural
traditions.
We
of specific
of such factors
is independent
the operation
in the same
of different
communities
comparisons
begin with some synchronic
society.
within
the
is that of variation
one of the clearest
cases on record
Perhaps
Four ethnographic
case
laws of Castile.
of Spain subject
to the inheritance
regions
of Valdemara
studies
our point. In the mountain
illustrate
(Freeman
community
in fact, the comun de
there
is
little
distinction
economic
1970)
among households;
of
such as the grazing
vecinos itself exercises
certain economic
rights in common,
of a threshing
on fallow
fields and the communal
all vecinos* stock
ownership
of productive
in 1965. Here there is no distribution
machine
property
purchased
The
at the death of the parents.
all inheritance
comes
at the time of marriage,
to
and may bring clothes
as a marriage
portion
daughter
gets linen and furniture
to
usufruct
The son is given
establish.
the nuclear
family she and her husband
some plots of land but pays rent to his father, who retains ownership
(Freeman
of
in the relatively
Similar
obtain
customs
community
1970:73).
egalitarian
the bridegroom's
in the Sierra de Bejar (Brandes
Here
Becedes
1975).
family
to the
and groom
both contribute
to the bride
and the bride
jewelry
gives
ofthe
establishment
(Brandes
household,
usually at the time of marriage
conjugal
a
of the land until they die. When
retain ownership
But the parents
1975:165).
with his children's
families
work he sharecrops
father can no longer
(Brandes
differences
based on
of prestige
In both these cases, the absence
1975:120-21).
of significant
with the absence
wealth
is associated
goods.
dowry in productive
there
are
A third case is described
Here,
(1961).
although
by Pitt-Rivers
in wealth among village families
considerable
variations
(Pitt-Rivers
1961:34-46),
to
status
to accord
reluctance
time "a strong
there
is at the same
superior
who
are
ofthe
(Pitt-Rivers
1961:65).
[members
economically
superior"
pueblo}
for a
unusual
In fact, it is quite
not unknown,
is rare here.
Dowry,
though
while
the
from parents
or wife to receive
husband
property
any productive
It is not the fact of economic
are still alive
(Pitt-Rivers
1961:99).
parents
determin?
as at least partially
of such distinctions
but the recognition
distinctions,
if a community
is to have a significant
dowry
ing social status, that is necessary
system.
For

in Aragon
confirmed
seems
this relationship
by a community
Spain
in a few hands has
of landownership
(Lison-Tolosana
1966), where concentration
no
with apparently
and sharecropping
led to a stratified
tenants,
system of owners
There
distinctions.
these
economic
toward
ignoring
tendency
countervailing
his
A son must receive
a good marriage.
for making
dowry is crucially
important
a daughter
in order to be married and even though
rights to a plot of land outright
her family will
and linen to the marriage
to bring furnishings
is only required
as well, "so as not to be outdone"
a plot of land in her portion
include
often
has a higher education
If one partner to the marriage
(Lison-Tolosana
1966:158).

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n6

Ethnology

and substitute
for the property
that
portion
part of the marriage
be given (Lison-Tolosana
1966:161).
in all these
communities
inheritance
is, by law and
Significantly,
Spanish
and bilateral.
The issue is not one of transmission
of property
custom,
equal
in
all
the
the
females?that
communities?but
of
through
happens
timing of the
and validation
of a family's
in the
transmission
and of the assertion
status
its display of wealth given at its daughter's
or son's marriage.
community
through
A similar
from Turkey,
comes
where
set of examples
there
is patrilocal
and
a
in
inheritance.
The
descent,
residence,
patrilineal
patrilineal
emphasis
from neolocal,
bilateral Spain, but the same kinds
kinship
setting is quite different
of differences
that give dowry and those that do not are
between
communities
to Stirling's
account
ofthe
of Sakaltutan
and
(1965)
present.
According
villages
a
to
a
trousseau
her
but
value
of
bride
the
the
trousseau
Elbasi,
brings
marriage
is outweighed
given to her family by the family of the groom
by the "brideprice"
In the nearby town of Kayseri,
a vertical
however,
1965:186).
(Stirling
marriage
transaction?a
value
gift in gold from the groom's
parents to the bride?transfers
than
that
ofthe
In
the
town
of
Tutiineli
1965:186).
greater
"brideprice"
(Stirling
the bride brings a house to the marriage
and the groom's
(southwestern
Turkey)
it and gives
furnishes
the bride substantial
Some
inheritance
of
family
gifts.
at their marriages
while the rest
productive
goes to sons and daughters
property
waits until the death of the parents
This town-country
(Benedict
1976:234-6).
difference
is another
of the association
between
and economic
example
dowry
stratiflcation
as a basis for prestige.
(1965:47-49)
Stirling
says that the villages
retain certain
forms of communal
and land, while privately
is
owned,
pasturage,
not sold, thus, village conditions
are much less likely to be a field for economically
than is the heterogenous
based stratiflcation
and commercial
environment
of the
towns.
with urban, commercial
seems to be associated
classes in various
Dowry-giving
In the Japanese
societies.
and Serbian
cases discussed
below,
dowry
actually
with the spread of a market
spread from the towns to the countryside
economy
and the consequent
of status with wealth. Lavish dowries
association
seem to have
a part of the marriages
of merchant
in Basra in the early 20th
been
women
at a time when most rural Arab communities
to
century,
gave little or no portion
a bride
It may be noteworthy
Ess 1961:27).
that Islamic
(Van
law, which
a half-share
in inheritance
for the daughter,
was developed
in an urban,
prescribes
mercantile
environment
(Rahman
1979:12).
In many societies,
than are the
upper classes are more prone to dowry-giving
In
of
India
both
and
poor.
many
parts
marriage-by-dowry
marriageexisted
side by side but marriage-by-dowry
was the more pres?
by-bridewealth
form
in southeastern
the poor
China
a
(Tambiah
1972:69).
tigious
Among
all that was expected
trousseau
was ordinarily
but
by way of a marriage
portion
wealthier
families
dowries
contained
that, while
land,
large
gave
excluding
valuable
and
amounts
of
cash. This represented
a considerable
jewelry
large
economic
sacrifice
for brides'
natal families,
their
status
despite
upper-class
In his 1930
of Chinese
in several
(Freedman
1966:54-5).
survey
peasants
Buck
that in most peasant
the
provinces,
(1937:468-469)
reported
weddings
for families
with
groom's
family
spent about half again as much as the bride's,
large farms the costs were about equal.
Additional
that within
evidence
a single
to be
tends
society
dowry-giving
with
associated
wealth-based
status
comes
from
cases
a
where
competition
that previously
had neither
status competi?
community
dowry nor wealth-based
tion developed
both simultaneously,
the process
of incorporation
usually through
into a market
This
is
in
seen
the recent history
of rural
economy.
process
clearly
the
and
During
Japan.
Tokugawa
(seventeenth-nineteenth
early Meiji periods
The institutions
of the corporate
centuries),
peasants
paid little if any dowry.
that can become
would
otherwise

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Dowry

Systems

in

Complex

Societies

117

of class mobility
meant that peasant
had
and the legal restriction
families
village
in the villages.
for economic
as long as they remained
Even
few chances
mobility
within
differentiation
an
there
was some
wealth-based
the village,
though
militated
the display
of those
differences
(Smith
ideology
against
egalitarian
With the rise of industrial
of legal barriers
to
the removal
1978:204).
capitalism,
and Ward
and the
class mobility
Hall,
(Dore
1978:40;
1959:56),
Beardsley,
of dowry
of the economy
the institution
commercialization
as a whole,
spread
had been established
since
from the cities, where wealth-based
status differences
rural
to
areas
the rise of the merchant
the
(Nakane
class,
1967:153^.
By the
the yuino or betrothal
in some communities,
mid-twentieth
century
gift (which
had become
but a minor,
had once been like a bridewealth
[Nakane
1967:153])
and Ward
indirect
(Smith
Hall,
1978:1934;
Beardsley,
part of the dowry
1959:324-325).
the fourteenth
A similar process
took place in the Balkans.
century
During
who had no brothers,
and
dowry occurred
only in those cases in which women
have married
nevertheless
married
thus would
virilocally
uxorilocally,
ordinarily
from
with them. This is not really diverging
and took their inheritance
inheritance
More
own
individual
families
of their
the standpoint
(Hammel
1980:249).
whatever
the villages
of Serbia. Whereas
true dowry in land has reached
recently
of money
and
in 1870
with
the bride
consisted
were
chiefly
given
goods
also
some
land
was
as
middle
ofthe
twentieth
the
movables,
century
given
part
by
and Halpern
of the marriage
(1967:192)
1972:18).
Halpern
portion
(Halpern
in real property
to Western
of dowry
but he also
the growth
attributes
ideas,
of the rural economy
on at the same time
documents
commercialization
going
within
how class differences
and shows
87-88)
village
1967:34-36,
(Halpern
in the 19th and 20th centuries
communities
1967:166-169).
(Halpern
developed
in importance
in the
that dowry has also increased
It is not merely
coincidental
modern
period.
to
dowry system has reverted
Finally, there is a case in which a once-flourishing
of
with
the disappearance
a true bridewealth
system
resembling
something
of Guangdong,
We refer to the southern
stratification
based on wealth.
province
in the 1950s.
of
after
the
collectivization
Chinese
agriculture
People's
Republic,
In the 1940s and 50s a betrothal
only a
gift to the bride's family usually covered
of providing
the bride with a suitable
dowry.
By the 1960s
expenses
part ofthe
on wealth
but more on
was no longer based principally
and 1970s social prestige
to
a
small
had
trousseau
shrunk
In
the
the
considerations.
1970s,
dowry
political
used by the bride's family
a true bridewealth,
while the betrothal
gift had become
to peasant
even in proportion
to find a bride for its own son, and had increased
in
which had itself gone up in the last 30 years. This change
happened
income,
Law
of
and
the
of
bridewealth
of
both
the
by
Marriage
dowry
prohibition
spite
has practically
with the
vanished
1978:181-188).
Dowry
1950 (Parish and Whyte
of causality
and in this case the direction
stratification
of wealth-based
elimination
intentional
was a conscious,
of wealth-based
stratification
is clear. The elimination
It
that
and
clear
this
seems
a
carried
out
caused,
ruling political
party.
by
change
the change
did not simply
away from the dowry system.
accompany,
one might object that the
In support
ofthe
hypothesis,
dowry-as-compensation
of the
not
from
resulted
the elimination
of dowry in Guangdong
decline
villages
of women
into field
but from the entrance
based on relative wealth,
status system
with the collectiviza?
that more or less coincided
labor for the first time, a process
labor. If this were true we would
and agricultural
tion of land ownership
expect
on dowries,
lack of emphasis
or special
small dowries,
to find especially
among
in the fields?the
labored
women
whose
that one group of Chinese
traditionally
over some of
control
more
to
have
had
women
seem
Hakka
But
Hakka.
personal
of other
Chinese
than did women
in their dowries
received
the wealth
groups
that
and there appears to be no evidence
Wolf 1972:135),
(Cohen
1976:180-191;

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n8

Ethnology

in Hakka communities.
in brideprice
in the
The increase
the dowry was smaller
in
after collectivization
may well have to do with the increase
Guangdong
villages
in
from
the
decrease
to
come
the value of women's
but
seems
have
labor,
dowry
After all, in Taiwan,
where women's
another
source.
labor is now valuable
also,
can compete
means that even ordinary
families
small-scale
but where
capitalism
in
and dowry have increased
for riches and status, both bridewealth
dramatically
recent
years.
Why

Dowry

is not

only

a Social

Statement

All the foregoing

while dowry
comparisons
point to a single set of conclusions;
that goes to a daughter
inheritance
this
is a form of premortem
upon marriage
in the practice
of dowry
not explain
the variation
does
We must also
giving.
of a family's
of dowry as a display
wealth
and thus of its
consider
the function
status. Having
we still need to deal with objections
that
established
this, however,
that dowry is not, in fact, a form
come from the other direction;
i.e., the assertion
of inheritance
at all but simply a means of displaying
a family's wealth at the time
of one of its daughters.
is articulated,
for one case
of the marriage
This position
that dowry
at least,
After
is perceived
(1980).
by Rheubottom
noting
by
as a woman's
for the premarital
Macedonian
villagers
rightful
compensation
made to her natal household,
contributions
Rheubottom
notes
(1980:230-231)
that:
This suggests that dowry may plausibly be regarded as a form of inheritance; as equivalent and
complementary to the shares which will eventually devolve to the bride's brothers . . . There is
this
some evidence in the data from Skopska Crna Gora to support this . . . Nevertheless,
explanation makes little logical sense in the Crna Goran context. Why, in a patrilineal, virilocal
society would the wife-givers endow the groom with rights over the bride's labour, her sexuality,
her reproductive capacity, and then give the couple a substantial amount of clothing, cash and
furniture as well?
The apparent absurdity of the question itself suggests the answer. The bride's family does not endow
the groom or his household: they endow the bride. But they do not endow her in order to balance
the amount her brothers will receive as their inheritance . . .
Dowry and inheritance resemble one another neither in timing, value, nor the manner in which they
are allocated.
that "dowry in Skopska
Rheubottom
concludes
Crna Gora, then, has
(1980:248)
of property
. . . But . . . it has everything
little to do with the devolution
to do
with relationships,
their quality,
and their transformation."
to the conclusions
Rheubottom
draws from his material,
his case
Contrary
our explanation
of dowry. We agree that dowry has much to do
actually
supports
with relationships
and within
and that it is the bride who is
between
families
But we disagree
endowed.
that the endowment
ofthe
bride is not inheritance
and
that it has "little to do with the devolution
of property."
The passage
of property
from the bride's parents
to the bride and her husband
the
is, by any standard,
devolution
of property.
That the dowry comes
at a different
time from the male
that it is worth less, and that it is allocated
inheritance,
differently
simply indicate
that this community
has two ways of devolving
one for sons and one for
property;
The one for daughters
is arranged
in such a way that at the same time
daughters.
as it arranges
the inheritance
it also makes
statements
social
about
important
Rheubottom's
case thus fits well with our model
of dowry
(1980)
relationships.
systems.
From these various
kinds of evidence
we believe
that we can now see more
what dowry
is in complex
It is not a way of disinheriting
societies.
a
clearly
a woman's
husband's
nor, in most cases, a way of compensating
daughter
family
for the burden
of supporting
them into in-laws.
her, nor for the favor of making

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Dowry

Systems

in

Complex

Societies

119

or where
even where
the bride makes a substantial
both
contribution,
the marriage.
it is not an
create
ties through
Similarly,
important
within
the direct family line in
to the need to keep wealth
response
such
of inheri?
societies.
societies
stratified
Many
give portions
monogamous,
to be sure, but there are other ways of doing
tance to both sons and daughters,
in
this besides
the extravagant
Indeed,
display of dowry at the time of marriage.
a
and
resident
autonomous
even
neolocally
economically
many communities,
or the wife's rights of inheritance
nuclear family cannot claim either the husband's
to be a way of doing two
until that spouse's
die or retire. Dowry
seems
parents
all or part of her share in inheritance,
and (2)
things at once: (1) giving a daughter
it
to
that
a
lesser
of
the
status
of
the
the
extent,
and,
family
gives
family
displaying
it. It is also more than just a giving of part of the inheritance
to the
that receives
a family's wealth.
It is a demonstration
and more than a way of displaying
daughter
a generous
to the community
that a part of the inheritance
one)
(and preferably
from a good family.
that she comes
a demonstration
can go to a daughter,
It occurs
families
automatic

NOTES
1. We are grateful to Edgar Winans and Ted Adams for comments on an earlier draft of this paper.
2. In some societies, such as the Burmese (Spiro 1977) and Ilocano (Lewis 1971), grooms rather
than brides are endowed. This is quite a rare pattern and although it is susceptible to some of the
explanations proposed in this paper it differs in certain ways from the more common female dowry
and will not be considered here.
3. Other types of subsistence could have been considered as well. Sanday (1973) and Barry and
Schlegel (1982), for instance, have measured the percentages of female contribution in agriculture,
domestic animals, fishing, hunting, and gathering. We felt that agriculture and husbandry would be
sufficient for our purposes, however, since together they account for the major subsistence form of
the great majority of societies included in the Atlas of World Cultures. Moreover, as Barry and
have recently documented, high or low female contribution to any one
Schlegel (1982:187-188)
subsistence form tends to correlate with a respectively high or low contribution to all other forms
practiced within a society.
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