that, marriage transactions and attitudes toward virginity will be analyzed to demonstrate that they form a meaningful pattern, albeit a pattern somewhat different from what one might ini tially expect. Specifically, it will be argued that the virginity of daughters protects the interests of brides' families when they use marital alliances to maintain or enhance their social status marriage transactions The form of marriage transaction that has received the most attention in the anthropological literature is bridewealth, goods given by the groom, usually with the assistance of his kin, to the family of the bride Bridewealth generally does not remain with the family that receives it it or its equivalent is used to obtain wives for brothers of the bride or an additional wife for her father. Thus, goods and women circulate and countercirculate In the large majority of bride wealth-giving societies, which are patrilocal, households end up with as many women as they have produced, by replacing daughters with daughters-in-law and sisters with wives Women exchange is also a form of replacement the exchange being direct rather than me- diated by a transfer of property. women exchange and bridewealth are most frequently found where women have economic value through their large contribution to subsistence(cf Schle- gel and Barry 1986). In each case the result is a kind of social homeostasis, both among the families through which women and goods circulate and within the household that sooner or later gains a woman to replace each one it has lost Brideservice is often considered to be analogous to bridewealth, with payment in labor rathe than goods. They differ significantly, however, in that the benefit of brideservice goes directly to the brides household and is not circulated as are bridewealth goods, Thus families with many daughters receive much free labor, while families with few get little While gift exchange, in which relatively equal amounts are exchanged between the families of the bride and groom, can occur at all levels of social complexity, it is often found in societies with important status differences in rank or wealth; it occurs most often in Asia, native North merica, and the Pacific Since residence is predominantly patrilocal in gift-exchanging soci- eties, the bride-receiving household is socially, although not economically in debt to the bride giving one. The exchange of equivalent goods is a way of ensuring that the intermarrying fam- ilies are of the same social status, as indicated by the wealth that they own or can call up from among their kin and dependents. atus is a major consideration in dowry -giving societies the bride' s dowry is sometimes matched against the grooms settlement, thus ensuring equivalence, a usual practice among European land-owning peasants or elites. Dowry can also be used to"buy"a high-status son in-law, a common practice in South Asia and one also known in Europe. Dowry or a brides anticipated inheritance can be used to attract a poor but presentable groom, a client son-in law whose allegiance will be primarily to the house into which he has married and on which is dependent. This strategy seems to have been practiced by mercantile families in Europe and Latin America. Dowry was associated historically with the Old High Culture areas like the Mediterranean(ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome)and Asia(India, China, and Japan) and was the common form throughout Europe until recently The final form of marriage transaction to be examined here is indirect dowry which contains some features of both bridewealth, in that goods are given by the grooms family, and dowry, in that the goods end up with the new conjugal couple. Sometimes the groom s kin give goods directly to the bride but more often they give goods to her father, who then gives goods to the new couple. The latter form has frequently been confused with bridewealth, as in the islamic mahr. Indirect dowry tends to be found on the fringes of the old High Culture areas and in those Old High Culture areas, like Egypt, into which it has been introduced along with con version to Islam, replacing the simple dowry of earlier times. In its classic form, it appears to 720 american ethnologistthat, marriage transactions and attitudes toward virginity will be analyzed to demonstrate that they form a meaningful pattern, albeit a pattern somewhat different from what one might ini￾tially expect. Specifically, it will be argued that the virginity of daughters protects the interests of brides' families when they use marital alliances to maintain or enhance their social status. marriage transactions The form of marriage transaction that has received the most attention in the anthropological literature is bridewealth, goods given by the groom, usually with the assistance of his kin, to the family of the bride. Bridewealth generally does not remain with the family that receives it: it or its equivalent is used to obtain wives for brothers of the bride or an additional wife for her father. Thus, goods and women circulate and countercirculate. In the large majority of bride￾wealth-giving societies, which are patrilocal, households end up with as many women as they have produced, by replacing daughters with daughters-in-law and sisters with wives. Women exchange is also a form of replacement, the exchange being direct rather than me￾diated by a transfer of property. Women exchange and bridewealth are most frequently found where women have economic value through their large contribution to subsistence (cf. Schle￾gel and Barry 1986). In each case the result is a kind of social homeostasis, both among the families through which women and goods circulate and within the household that sooner or later gains a woman to replace each one it has lost. Brideservice is often considered to be analogous to bridewealth, with payment in labor rather than goods. They differ significantly, however, in that the benefit of brideservice goes directly to the bride's household and is not circulated as are bridewealth goods. Thus, families with many daughters receive much free labor, while families with few get little. While gift exchange, in which relatively equal amounts are exchanged between the families of the bride and groom, can occur at all levels of social complexity, it is often found in societies with important status differences in rank or wealth; it occurs most often in Asia, native North America, and the Pacific. Since residence is predominantly patrilocal in gift-exchanging soci￾eties, the bride-receiving household is socially, although not economically, in debt to the bride￾giving one. The exchange of equivalent goods is a way of ensuring that the intermarrying fam￾ilies are of the same social status, as indicated by the wealth that they own or can call up from among their kin and dependents. Status is a major consideration in dowry-giving societies. The bride's dowry is sometimes matched against the groom's settlement, thus ensuring equivalence, a usual practice among European land-owning peasants or elites. Dowry can also be used to "buy" a high-status son￾in-law, a common practice in South Asia and one also known in Europe. Dowry or a bride's anticipated inheritance can be used to attract a poor but presentable groom, a client son-in￾law whose allegiance will be primarily to the house into which he has married and on which he is dependent. This strategy seems to have been practiced by mercantile families in Europe and Latin America. Dowry was associated historically with the Old High Culture areas like the Mediterranean (ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome) and Asia (India, China, and Japan) and was the common form throughout Europe until recently. The final form of marriage transaction to be examined here is indirect dowry, which contains some features of both bridewealth, in that goods are given by the groom's family, and dowry, in that the goods end up with the new conjugal couple. Sometimes the groom's kin give goods directly to the bride, but more often they give goods to her father, who then gives goods to the new couple. The latter form has frequently been confused with bridewealth, as in the Islamic mahr. Indirect dowry tends to be found on the fringes of the Old High Culture areas and in those Old High Culture areas, like Egypt, into which it has been introduced along with con￾version to Islam, replacing the simple dowry of earlier times. In its classic form, it appears to 720 american ethnologist