Sorry, we don't allow throughout history questions. These tend to produce threads which are collections of trivia, not the in-depth discussions about a particular topic we're looking for. If you have a specific question about a historical event or period or person, please feel free to re-compose your question and submit it again. Alternatively, questions of this type can be directed to more appropriate subreddits, such as /r/history or /r/askhistory.
better question for r/askanthropology
here is a wiki article with many references and so on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_inheritance_systems
Here is an interesting piece on inheritance through kinship