Anthroclan

                                       Defining Kinship  Anthropologist Robin Fox states that "the study of kinship is the study of what man does with these basic facts of life – mating, gestation, parenthood, socialization, siblingship etc''. He argues that human society is unique in that we are working with the same raw material as exists in the animal world, but [we] can conceptualize and categorize it to serve social ends. These social ends include the socialization of children and the formation of basic economic, political and religious groups. The ‘facts of life with which man has had to come to terms in the process of adaption and which are immediately relevant to the study of kinship and marriage can be reduced to four basic principles; 1. A lengthy infant maturation period that requires a major commitment from one and usually both parents to nurture and educate dependent children ( the women have the children) 2. The presence of a marital bond that cre