经过 前两篇 （ 2 ）的梳理，问题的焦点逐渐明朗，牛友的质疑推动了我寻求更好的表述，这正是我所期待的交流，也合了我的“科学是一种对话方式”这一信条，所以感谢大家，特别是MiniTrue和laoyao。

首先修正一个术语，我想还是用等级多妻（hierarchical polygyny）代替等级多偶（hierarchical polygamy），以便容纳两个我原本就暗示了的含义：1）它是关于人类的；2）它是男性单方面多偶的。

经过梳理，我的假说的核心推论是：多妻制、等级分化和父系继承的起源时间，早于智人走出非洲之前。

对于这一推论，现有的考古学、人类学和遗传学研究没有提供正面证据，但也没有提供反面证据，也就是说，我们不能确认这一点，只是因为我们对智人成种到走出非洲之间这段时间发生了什么所知太少，而并不是已经有足够证据来划出一个时间上限。

这里先给出一些多妻制的材料（提示：我已说明，人类的社会性决定了，多妻制必然是等级化的，所以，多妻的证据，就是等级化的证据），关于父系继承，稍后再考察。

多妻制广泛流行于各种文化，下面是wiki的 Polygamy 词条中援引一份民族志普查结果（更多介绍可参见wiki的 Polygany 词条）： According to the Ethnographic Atlas Codebook, of the 1231 societies noted, 186 were monogamous. 453 had occasional polygyny, 588 had more frequent polygyny , and 4 had polyandry.[4] At the same time, even within societies which allow polygyny, the actual practice of polygyny occurs relatively rarely. There are exceptions: in Senegal, for example, nearly 47 percent of marriages are multiple.[5] To take on more than one wife often requires considerable resources: this may put polygamy beyond the means of the vast majority of people within those societies. 非洲的多数部落在智人成种后从未离开非洲大陆，其中许多部落很少受外部文化影响，那里的情况是： Polygamy existed all over Africa as an aspect of culture or/and religion (mainly Islam). Plural marriages have been more common than not in the history of Africa. Many African societies saw children as a form of wealth thus the more children a family had the more powerful it was. Thus polygamy was part of empire building. It was only during the colonial era that plural marriage was perceived as taboo. Esther Stanford, an African-focused lawyer, states that this decline was encouraged because the issues of property ownership conflicted with European colonial interest.[6] It is very common in West Africa (Muslim and traditionalist). 另一段关于非洲多妻制的文字，来自 一个非洲历史网站 ： Polygamy has always been a feature of the world. In Africa pologamy expressed itself in the Jewish, Islamic and other native traditions. In all systems there were strict laws which protected the womens position in this traditional African system.

Polygamy became taboo with Colonialism due to the conflict with inheritance in large families, the social-economic threat caused by increased African populations and the Eurocentric Christian values.

However today polygamy is still a reality and is becoming an option in the African Diaspora in response to a social dilemma. Polygamy within the framework of law and balance is a viable aspect of African family systems which is exited from Kemet to Sokoto. 澳洲土著的情况很关键，因为他们是第一批走出非洲的智人的后裔，而且从到达澳洲大陆之后就一直近乎与世隔绝。更重要的是，澳洲土著没有农业和牧业，只有渔猎和采集，这表明多妻制和等级分化可以早于农牧业而产生。以下摘自 大英百科的Australian Aborigine词条 ： Although most men had only one wife at a time, polygyny was considered both legitimate and good. The average number of wives in polygynous unions was 2 or 3. The maximum in the Great Sandy Desert was 5 or 6; among the Tiwi, 29; among the Yolngu, 20 to 25, with many men having 10 to 12. In such circumstances, women had a scarcity value. Having more than one wife was usually a matter of personal inclination, but economic considerations were important; so were prestige and political advantage. Some women pressed their husbands to take an additional wife (or wives), since this meant more food coming into the family circle and more help with child care. 另外， 马林诺夫斯基 （ Bronislaw Malinowski ）在《原始人的性生活》（ The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia, 1929）中描述的Trobriand Islands上的美拉尼西亚土著，其部落酋长拥有十几位妻子和大量财产，这些土著与欧亚大陆的隔绝程度也很高，只有非常简单的园艺农业，没有黎凡特地区发展出的那种农业。 稍后继续……