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This conclusion was reached after analysing twenty years of anthropological field data -- from contemporary non-warlike patrilineal groups, particularly from the scientists' own fieldwork carried out in Asia -- and modelling various socio-demographic scenarios.

This allowed the reconstruction of several extensive pedigrees, revealing that the communities practised a strict patrilineal system of descent.

Yet, such techniques can be shallow and are often patrilineal, meaning that the women of the past are more prone to be forgotten than their partners.

Ryu, the former North Korean diplomat, said a female heir is “unimaginable” for the Kim dynasty because it would deviate from the patrilineal succession of three generations.

Alice Evans, a researcher at King’s College London who studies women’s economic and social progress, said women’s rights were caught in a “patrilineal trap.”