ABSTRACT
Celtic inheritance and naming traditions, some of which can be traced into the twentieth century, also suggest the existence of a matrilineal society at some historical point. If Math does depict a matrilineal-to-patrilineal shift, it would certainly be reflecting a similar shift in Celtic cultural history. There is a long-established consensus regarding the presence of matrilineal elements in early Celtic society, elements which the Celts may have taken over from the Picts. Inheritance, and especially succession to kingship, shows similar traces of a matrilineal influence. Women, thus, were the primary ones connected with the sacred fertility process at that early stage and were, therefore, the determiners of lineage and inheritance. When men became aware of their own role in the reproductive process and began to want increasing authority in matters of lineage and inheritance, marriage as a legal and moral institution was developed.
