Origin of Family

A society in primitive age was of two kinds. 1. Primitive age , and  2. Age of Barbarism.

In the primitive age people lived on entirely dependent on nature having no weapon to protect themselves or to procure food for them. In barbarous age men began to live in a permanent  shelter, began animal husbandry, cultivating lands. Though they had weapons made up of stone which they could make in the shape according to their need. But in  the case of relation between a man and a woman at this stage, a difference of opinion exists. According to Engels the relation between a man and a woman differs from that in the case prevailed as in animals. In animals we find all types of relations in the case of mammals. Actually, there are no definite or a single system. They had one to one relation, many to many relation, one to many and many to one relation regarding their sexual behaviour.
A community and an individual have its own contribution. When individual family life developed community life disappeared. On the other hand, when many to many sexual life developed, a community relationship developed automatically.
Primitive family life was community marriage. In such a family each man had relation with each woman and there was nothing to envy upon. Sexual relationship was open and was simple. But there was a generation gap. Each man behaved as husband to each woman within the same generation which was true for the next generation also. Thus a clan was developed. Marriage between the male and the female within the clan was not allowed.
As communal marriage was in vogue, it became difficult to determine the father of a new baby in a community. Therefore, the child was known after its mother and the clan was determined by his mother.
In the primitive stage the property of a community was meant only household goods, shelters, weapons to procure food and other productive forces. In the higher form of barbarous stage, property included animal husbandry which gradually became individual property. Thus a community became richer than the other and some became servants to others. After some time these slaves became the property of an individual as the animals.
As the clan was determined by the female, the male after marriage come to the family of the female. But as the property became huge, the influence of the male increased and the bindings of the matriarchal family gradually became loosened.