[RightWhale]

Good points. There would be more than one way to administer such institutions. For example, in America a system of patriarchy was superimposed over an existing system of matriarchy when the Euros arrived. The matriarchy still exists although it is not recognized by the state.

[Modernman]

For example, in America a system of patriarchy was superimposed over an existing system of matriarchy when the Euros arrived. The matriarchy still exists although it is not recognized by the state.

One quibble here- I think you mean matrilineal rather than matriarchal. Matrilineal inheritance of property is a logical system since it is always clear who the mother of a child is, but up until recently it wasn't always, ahem, certain who the father was. Of course, a matrilineal system only works if a woman was able to independently own property, which was generally not the case in a lot of Western history.