‘The Cow is the Enemy of Matriliny'

We tested the hypothesis that the spread of cattle led to the loss of matrilineal descent in Bantu-speaking populations in Africa, and its replacement by patrilineal descent. We tested for correlated evolution in these cultural traits, using a phylogenetic comparative method that can also test the direction of evolution, or which of two co-evolving traits changes first (Pagel 1994). We used a Bantu language tree as a model of population history (Holden 2002; Holden et al, Chapter 4 this book). Results showed that adopting cattle led to the loss of matrilineal descent, and its replacement by either patrilineal or mixed descent (Holden and Mace 2003).