Nicholas J. Allen & Hilary Callan 
Early Human Kinship 
From Sex to Social Reproduction

Early Human Kinship brings together original studies from
leading figures in the biological sciences, social anthropology,
archaeology, and linguistics to provide a major breakthrough in the
debate over human evolution and the nature of society.

* A major new collaboration between specialists across the range
of the human sciences including evolutionary biology and
psychology; social/cultural anthropology; archaeology and
linguistics

* Provides a ground-breaking set of original studies offering a
new perspective on early human history

* Debates fundamental questions about early human society: Was
there a connection between the beginnings of language and the
beginnings of organized ‘kinship and marriage’? How far did
evolutionary selection favor gender and generation as principles
for regulating social relations?

* Sponsored by the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great
Britain and Ireland in conjunction with the British Academy

Table of Content

List of Tables.

List of Figures.

List of Illustrations.

Preface.

Acknowledgements.

Notes on Contributors.

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND.

Why ‘Kinship’? New Questions on an Old Topic (Wendy
James).

A Brief Overview of Human Evolution (John A. J. Gowlett and
Robin Dunbar).

PART I Where and When: The Archaeological Evidence for Early
Social Life in Africa.

1 Kinship and Material Culture: Archaeological Implications of
the Human Global Diaspora (Clive Gamble).

2 Deep Roots of Kin: Developing the Evolutionary Perspective
from Prehistory (John A. J. Gowlett).

PART II Women, Children, Men – and the Puzzles of
Comparative Social Structure.

3 Early Human Kinship Was Matrilineal (Chris Knight).

4 Alternating Birth Classes: A Note from Eastern Africa
(Wendy James).

5 Tetradic Theory and the Origin of Human Kinship Systems
(Nicholas J. Allen).

6 What Can Ethnography Tell Us about Human Social Evolution?
(Robert Layton).

PART III Other Primates and the Biological Approach.

7 Kinship in Biological Perspective (Robin Dunbar).

8 The Importance of Kinship in Monkey Society (Amanda H.
Korstjens).

9 Meaning and Relevance of Kinship in Great Apes (Julia
Lehmann).

10 Grandmothering and Female Coalitions: A Basis for Matrilineal
Priority? (Kit Opie and Camilla Power).

PART IV Reconstructions: Evidence from Cultural Practice and
Language.

11 A Phylogenetic Approach to the History of Cultural Practices
(Laura Fortunato).

12 Reconstructing Ancient Kinship in Africa (Christopher
Ehret).

13 The Co-evolution of Language and Kinship (Alan
Barnard).

EPILOGUE.

Reaching across the Gaps (Hilary Callan).

Appendices to Chapter 12.

Bibliography.

Index.

About the author

Nicholas J. Allen is Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College,
University of Oxford. He has published on the Himalayas, kinship
theory, the Durkheimian School and Indo-European Comparativism. His
books include Categories and Classifications (2000) and
Marcel Mauss: A Centenary Tribute (1998).

Hilary Callan has been Director of the Royal
Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland since 2000.
Her research and publications include work on biological and social
anthropology, occupational cultures, and gender, including
Ethology and Society (1970)and The Incorporated Wife
(edited with Shirley Ardener, 1984).

Wendy James was until recently Professor of Social
Anthropology at the University of Oxford, and is now Emeritus
Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford. She has carried out
ethnographic research in North East Africa, and her books include
War and Survival in Sudan’s Frontierlands: Voices from the Blue
Nile (2007) and The Ceremonial Animal: A New Portrait
of Anthropology (2003).

Robin Dunbar is Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology,
University of Oxford, and specializes in primate behaviour. He is
co-director of the British Academy’s Centenary Research Project
(‘From Lucy to Language: The Archaeology of the Social Brain’). He
is the author or co-author of numerous books, including The
Human Story (2004) and Evolutionary Psychology: A Beginner’s
Guide (2005).