In anthropology, a phratry is a group of clans or lineages that are socially and politically allied. The term is often used in the study of indigenous societies, particularly in Australia and the Americas, where phratries are a common form of social organization.
A phratry is typically made up of a number of clans or lineages that are related through common ancestry or marriage. These clans may be exogamous, meaning that members are not allowed to marry within their own clan, but must instead marry into another clan within the same phratry. This helps to maintain social and political ties between the clans and prevent inbreeding.
Phratries often have a hierarchical structure, with one clan or lineage considered the dominant or leading clan. This clan may hold a special status within the phratry and may be responsible for making important decisions for the group. Other clans within the phratry may have more limited roles and responsibilities.
In some societies, phratries may be organized into larger units known as moieties, which are groups of phratries that are considered to be in opposition to each other. Moieties may be based on factors such as geography or cultural differences.
Phratries play an important role in the social and political organization of many indigenous societies. They provide a sense of belonging and identity for members, and help to maintain social cohesion and stability within the group. In addition, phratries often have a role in the distribution of resources and the resolution of conflicts within the group.
Overall, the concept of the phratry is a useful tool for understanding the social and political structure of indigenous societies and the ways in which these societies are organized. It helps to shed light on the complex relationships and power dynamics that exist within these societies, and how these relationships and dynamics shape the cultural practices and beliefs of the people who live within them.
what is the concept of "Phratry Concept",meaning and Views
In this time, they played a prominent role in Greek religious and social life. Allen The phratries have thus no presiding animals, and in the phratries there are no totem kins of the phratriac names. The segmentary structures, or phratries—essentially groups of clans that share a mythical ancestor—characteristically use brother-brother and father-son links to represent what were once in fact relatively unstable political alliances. In other societies, extended kinship groups include the clan usually a matrilineal descent group , and gens patrilineal descent group. In Melanesian culture: Kinship and local groups.
phratry definition
By modern ethnologists the term is applied to somewhat analogous brotherhoods existing among the aborigines of Australia and America. In 451 BCE, The biggest, most prominent and most important phratry festival was the Apatouria, a three day festival during the Athenian month of The meion was the ceremony in which phratry members first introduced their male children to the phratry. Citizenship was granted to the Around 250 BCE, the extant references to phratries decrease quite a bit. The only reliable extant records of citizens without phratry membership also date to around the time of the Peloponnesian War. Even now today the dominance of political party is seen at various places. What is phratries in kinship? The sole known exceptions were naturalized citizens, who were usually enrolled in a phratry upon gaining Athenian citizenship. The names of nine phratries are known and there are thought to have been at least thirty.
What is Phratry anthropology?
By definition, phratries comprise groups of related clans and occur in sets of three or more; moieties may, but need not, comprise groups of clans but always occur in pairs. The Demotionodai decrees detail the scrutiny procedure for that phratry in the decades following the The Demotionodai decrees also make clear that there were elected phratry officers, led by an elected patriarch. A person would be described as of such a gens, phratry, and tribe. Examples include several American Indian and Australian Aboriginal tribes. What is moiety and phratry? Russell It also contains a traditionary account of the Tusayan pueblos and of their separate clans or phratries.
phratry
With very limited exceptions, membership in a phratry was limited to adult male citizens who were descended from adult male citizen members of that phratry. Altsheler There were usually eight or ten, and these were usually grouped into two or three phratries. . Each moiety or half of a pair will almost always be exogamous and take its husbands and wives exclusively from the matched group. In Moiety systems, everything, including people and the environment, are split into two halves. Thomas At Athens on feast-days the members of the phratry assembled round their altar.
Phratry
Which is an example of Phratry? ANTHROPOLOGIST VIEWS ON PHRATRY They believed that it is the integration of many clans together in a decent and under this system, even if the difference can decide to split the ties with each other, there will be some sort of primitive thing left. For example, in the present situation, people of the same HISTORY OF PHRATRY It has been claimed that by Homer that from 2 nd century the In earlier time to phratry was also seen as the very basis of entering into the Phratry dominance has been registered at the time of Dark ages but its importance was collapsed during the Classical age. Because of this age experience formation of other powerful groups like political parties and churches. It is possible that they are What little we do know about phratries from before the 5th century BCE is drawn primarily from Phratries likely reached their peak importance in Athens between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE, when we have the most extant records of them. For example even if the family ties are broken off due to some reasons then also the surname of every person of the family is same only. Phratry is a Greek terminology whose meaning his brother. What is moiety in sociology? Each half is a mirror of the other, and to understand the whole universe these two halves must come together.
Phratries
Although moieties are often referred to interchangeably with phratries and clans, they are distinct from these phenomena. They shared a common kinship and brotherhood was the relation between them. Langloh Parker It is not easy to make out distinctly what was the political position of the ancient gentes and phratries, as Solon left them. There could have been as many as 140 phratries, which, if the case, would match the number of demes. .
