ABSTRACT
The maximal lineage is a more easily identifiable group, but a much less active and effective one, than the inner lineage. It simply comprises the group of living people who can trace agnatic descent (or who claim they can) from the earliest known ancestor. The founding ancestors of maximal lineages are generally alleged to have been first-settlers on the slopes of Mt. Meru in the second quarter of last century—though a few were the fathers of first-settlers. Therefore these lineages have a special historical significance linked with the origins of the tribe itself; and they are all shallow in genealogical depth, for the founder is either grandfather or great-grandfather of the senior living generation of men today.
