ABSTRACT
The chapter reviews existing theory on the relation of social structural patterns to war, and considers these posited relationships against Amazonian cases. It argues that production and conflict patterns together determine post-marital residence patterns. The chapter proposes that residence, production, and conflict combine to influence the significance in war of men fighting over women. Conflict patterns of native Amazonians have special significance in the growing anthropological literature on war. The cause of these conflicts is hotly debated, with the key issue being whether limitations on the availability of game animals are responsible for generating competition and warfare. Robert Murphy's observations on kinship patterns and the organization of war have been much more influential. Drawing on Georg Simmel and British structural-functionalism, Murphy argues that matrilocal residence among the Mundurucu requires suppression of conflict and facilitates cooperation among men, because men of different patricians must live together in their wives' households.
