Lineage. In its most basic form lineage is a multigenerational grouping of people related through bloodline or descent from a common ancestor (consanguinity). The main function of establishing lineage was enforcing the rules of consanguinity regarding inheritance and marriage. In West Africa some ethnic groups are patrilineal and others matrilineal in establishing their rules of descent.

Matrilinealism. Among most ethnic groups in ancient West Africa, lines of descent were traced through the female side of the family. In fact, before modernization and the rise of private property, matrilinealism was far more common than patrilinealism, the tracing of descent through the male side of the family. Even in patrilineal systems there were pockets of matrilineal rule. Matrilinealism was found among the Ashanti people in what is now the modern nation of Ghana, as well as in some parts...