Lijnverwantschapsstructuren

Lijnverwantschap, or lineal kinship, is a concept used in anthropology and genealogy to describe kinship relations traced through a direct line of descent—parents, grandparents, children, and grandchildren. It is distinguished from collateral kinship, which encompasses siblings and their descendants but does not include the direct parent–child link. In many societies, lineal descent determines membership in a lineage and can influence inheritance, succession, and social authority.

Lineage is often described as patrilineal or matrilineal, depending on whether descent and membership are transmitted through the male or female line. Some cultures use a combination of rules or alternate forms of descent. The relevance of lineal kinship lies in its capacity to organize family structure, passing of property, ritual roles, and prestige along the direct line of descent.

In research and education, lineal relationships are mapped in pedigrees or family trees to show ancestors and descendants connected by parent–child links. In biology and evolutionary studies, the term lineal lineage is used to refer to the direct ancestral line of an organism or cell lineage.

See also: kinship, pedigree, stamboom, patrilineal, matrilineal, collateral kinship, ancestry.