Marriage Systems

Named marriage arrangements and rules studied comparatively across kinship systems, including plural-spouse forms (polygyny, polyandry), a preferred marriage-partner rule (cross-cousin marriage), and a rule for remarriage within the family after a spouse death (levirate marriage). Belongs here: a named marriage arrangement or marriage rule. Does not belong here: a related but distinct exchange practice such as bridewealth or dowry payment, grouped under the Ethnography and Cultural Practices category's own Marriage and Alliance Practice subcategory, since those are payments accompanying a marriage rather than the marriage rule itself.