Social Origins and Primal Law

"Social Origins and Primal Law" by Andrew Lang and J. J. Atkinson is a scientific study that explores the roots of social organization, looking closely at how family and marriage developed in early societies, particularly through ideas like totemism and marrying outside one's group. The book wants to deeply explain the first human connections and the involved guidelines for marriage in different tribes. The book starts by introducing the authors and why they wrote it, pointing out Atkinson’s ideas about totemism and moral rules for families. Lang shares Atkinson's history, including his research on the customs of people in New Caledonia and talks about the arguments among scientists about family history. The beginning of the book gets ready for discussions on the historical growth of social traditions, like how important sexual jealousy was in early relationships and how complex marriage laws were for early tribes; these topics will be talked about more in the rest of the book.