avunculocal residence

In anthropology, avunculocal residence is a postmarital residence pattern where a newly married couple establishes their home with or near the husband's maternal uncle. This custom is often associated with the avunculate, a social system where a mother's brother holds significant authority and responsibility for his nephews' upbringing and marriage.

In avunculocal societies, boys typically leave their natal homes during adolescence to live with their maternal uncles. When a boy marries, his wife joins him in his uncle's household. This system can lead to households comprising a senior couple, their unmarried daughters and young sons, and the husband's nephews, their wives, and children. Such practices are often linked with matrilineality, where descent is traced through the female line, and may encourage cross-cousin marriage to keep property and inheritance within the kin group.12