<P> The Russian family of around 1900 considered property such as the house, agricultural implements, livestock and produce as belonging collectively to all family members . When the father died, his role as head of the family (known as Khozain, or Bolshak) was passed to the oldest person in the house . In some areas this was the oldest son . In others it was the oldest brother of the deceased so long as he lived in the same house . There were some areas were a new head would be elected by the family members . If all surviving members of the family were under age, a relation would become a co-proprietor . If property was divided after a death, each adult male in the house got an equal share . Sons who had left home did not have a right of succession . Females remained within the family and received a share of the inheritance when they married . In the north of Russia, the oldest son inherited the house . In the south the eldest son would have set up a separate house while the father was still alive, therefore the youngest inherited the fathers house upon his death . </P> <P> Throughout history, creative inheritance systems have been created, fitting the best needs of the various people according to their unique environment and challenges . </P> <P> Inheritance customs do not follow clear ethnic, linguistic or geographical patterns . Equality between all sons and a subordinate position of women, with the exclusion of daughters from inheriting, are prominent aspects of Hungarian, Albanian, Romanian, Armenian, and most Slavic or Latin American cultures . While many studies show the privileged position that the eldest son traditionally enjoyed in Slovene, Finnish or Tibetan culture . The Jaintia, the Garo and the Khasi, on the other hand, traditionally privileged the youngest daughter . Some peoples, like the Dinka, the Arakanese, the Chins of Myanmar, or the Karen, frequently show a compromise between primogeniture and ultimogeniture in their inheritance patterns . Although among many Chins of Myanmar, the advantage that the eldest and the youngest son have over other sons is really small, so it is not correct to speak of a true pattern of mixed primogeniture and ultimogeniture . The advantage of the eldest and the youngest son is somewhat more ample among the Dinka and the Arakanese . The compromise between primogeniture and ultimogeniture was also found among the Kachin and the Dilling, as well as among the Sherpa to some degree . This pattern of inheritance is also reported for many Fulbe villages in the Republic of Guinea, though it seems that in past times the eldest son inherited all in Guinea . </P> <P> Sometimes inheritance customs do not entirely reflect social traditions . Romans valued sons more than daughters, and Thais and Shan showed the reverse pattern, though all practiced equal land inheritance between all children . The Shan people, who live mostly in northern Thailand and northeastern Myanmar, are markedly matrilocal . </P>

Central african peoples replaced old political systems based on kinship groups with what system