The Politics of Al-Mama Marriage

The Amazon are so inbred that when they marry a wife, she's very often related to the husband by a factor of genetic coefficient of related as is much closer than first cousins. So kin selection theory and affection and obligation to a close kinsman, I think, becomes entangled with notions of romantic love. And finally, marriages among the Al-Mama are like political marriages, like the hierarchy and aristocracy in England. Their alliance is a real phenomenon. There's some teeth in marrying certain kinds of cousins that form alliance.