The history of marriage is a branch of social history that concerns the sociocultural evolution of socially or legally recognized unions between people called spouses, from prehistoric to modern times. Research on the history of marriage crosses disciplines and cultures, aiming to understand the structure and function of the family from many viewpoints. The study of history has shown that marriage, like other family systems, is flexible, culturally diverse and adaptive to ecological and economical conditions. The history of marriage is often considered under history of the family or legal history.
Prehistory Marriage likely originated among Stone Age humans as a way to organize childrearing and daily work. While the theory of a male provider — who hunted for and protected his wife and children — has largely been dismissed by modern anthropologists, there was a division of labor between early men and women. Nursing women were much less capable of hunting large game, and instead focused on gathering and processing plants and smaller game (contributing the vast majority of a clan's food). This specialization led to greater interdependence between males and females, and as techniques became more advanced, it took longer to teach them to children, incentivizing parents to stay together longer. Still, the nuclear family was not the defining social institution — no individual family had enough resources to be independent, so larger clans were crucial for a family's survival. Likewise, unmarried women did not lack the support of their community. Marriages outside of immediate clan groups also allowed bands to forge relationships with one another by way of children who had parental ties to both groups. Smaller family groups would sometimes split off from their band and later join up with another. As societies began to develop larger surpluses, and began to settle into more agrarian, sedentary structures, marriage became more important. Wealthier families became less interested in sharing resources, and instead began to use marriage as a tool to consolidate those resources within the family or between a few closely linked kin groups. Studies of genetic material have shown that endogamy became increasingly common among wealthier families.
Ancient world As wealthy families accumulated more and more resources, and people were subject to more taxation, inheritance rights became of greater concern, and marriage came to play an important role in many ancient societies. Marriage became one of the best ways for people to climb the income ladder and recruit economic partners. Both men and women came under more pressure from families to choose the "correct" spouse for the family's interests. The earliest written records show that by the time writing was invented, marriage became the way most wealth and land changed hands. Nevertheless, marriages were typically private affairs and ancient governments rarely got involved. With larger amounts of wealth at stake, the distinction between "legitimate" and "illegitimate" children grew sharper. Because women had the unique ability to bear a child with an "impure" bloodline, generally their sexual behavior was more strictly supervised, especially among the aristocracy. Some societies developed elaborate ideas about female sexual purity, or forced illegitimate children into exile or slavery. In some cases, wealthy families resorted to marrying cousins or siblings to keep wealth in the family. Among the working class, children were still vitally important as a workforce. As economies shifted toward agriculture, families needed larger numbers of children to handle their workloads. Infertile women were often cast aside. The invention of the plow widened the division of labor between men and women. Plowing required greater physical strength and was less compatible with childcare, and therefore became associated with male labor. The belief, therefore, that men contributed more to a household's resources led to the proliferation of the dowry. The increase in warfare between emerging societies also raised men and lowered women in the social hierarchy — devaluing women and contributing to the idea that their presence in a family needed to be compensated in some way. Over time, in many societies, women became seen as the properties of their fathers or husbands. Where women could no longer choose their own mates, men now needed to win over their fathers. Among the aristocracy, marriage became the site of political intrigue. Rulers typically used their ancestry to support their claims to their respective thrones, so legitimacy was crucial. Factions of ruling circles fought over who had the right to legitimize marriage and bloodlines — arguments which often had serious historical ramifications. Marriages — often temporary — were used to codify treaties and solidify relationships between different cities and even empires. Heads of state would often ratify treaties or trade deals with a marriage; those daughters in turn were expected to represent their fathers' interests in their new families. Wealthy men often had multiple wives (and occasionally, powerful women would have multiple husbands) to expand their influence, but this also risked producing many competing heirs. Women would plot to overthrow their own husbands or sons-in-law in order to install their own male relatives to power, and sometimes wielded significant influence over their own men. Wives sometimes killed other wives or their children, out of jealousy or fear of losing influence. Generally, slaves were forbidden from having their own wives or households.
Africa
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