Abstract
It has been observed that in some populations male succession to petty offices and inheritance of impartible male property pass down a line of brothers before members of a more junior generation inherit or succeed. When the proper ty or office is conveyed to a member of a junior generation, populations vary as to whether the heir or successor is usually a son, a brother's son, or a sister's son. The present paper argues that these diverse patterns evolve in response to dif ferent genealogical structures and the patterning of male survivorship. The arguments, while general, are developed through historical exegeses of the demography and inheritance systems of the Havasupai Indians of northern Ari zona and the Aborigines of Groote Eylandt.
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