Bilateral Kinship. Among the Germanic peoples, kinship networks were bilateral in nature—an individual traced his relationships with aunts, uncles, cousins, and other kin through both his father and mother. Relationships of support and obligation, including vengeance, were thus extended through both sides of the family, and a person had many people on whom to rely for support or advice. How distantly one cultivated these relationships varied according to local custom and changed over time. One of the significant features of bilateral kinship is that it is unique to each person. Thus, a parent's kin group will not be identical with his or her child's, and each generation redefined its kinship network. Bilateral kinship tends to focus on the individual, with lines of relationship running from the individual in both directions, through male and female lines...