Eventually, an important phase occurred. Isolated hordes began to relate to each other and exogamy predominated. Kinship groups or tribes developed, each with a strong identity and a symbolic totem. A totem is a symbolic plant or animal vested with mythological and spiritual significance. At first, in the early kinship phase, which existed before the development of agriculture but after the discovery of fire, marriages likely occurred within the social structure of the clan or tribe. No distinct isolated family units existed. Evidence for this epoch and subsequent prehistoric one comes from studies of isolated indigenous peoples during the nineteenth century. Although the conclusions from this type of inductive reasoning must remain hypothetical, the lifestyles of many indigenous peoples throughout the world lend credence to these ideas. It appears that marriage in this early kinship phase represented pure economic exploitation of women. They would stay home and guard the fires and raise the children while the men were out hunting. There is rigid division of labor in this phase, with men dominating, usually brutally, while the women were their slaves. In this phase, the men were organized and bonded, the women were not. Likely representing this phase of social organization were the Australian Aborigines, Eskimos, Hill-Veddahs, Bushmen, Andamanese, Fuegians and Tasmanians.
With the development of agriculture about ten thousand years ago, a remarkable change occurred in human societies. This period, characterized as the full kinship or tribal phase, is highlighted by the high position of women. In fact, women were organized and dominated tribal life. In this phase, womens' collective position was the best at anv stage of human cultural development, including modern times. With the development of agriculture, women attached themselves to the soil, while men continued to hunt. Women produced and maintained the staple foods of the tribe. The women owned both the fields and the crops produced. They became highly organized in the kinship groups, dominating them. These matriarchal clans dissolved marriage in its earliest form giving women more freedom, status and authority. The tribe predominates in matriarchy while marriage and family are insignificant. People identify themselves as belonging to their mother's tribe. A husband remains with his own tribe and a wife with hers. He must win her and keep her by ongoing service- hunting or helping clear the fields. The women can decide on forming and ending marriages. The husband will visit his wife's home at times and spend the night with her. The children produced are the wife's, never his.