Final answer:
Kinship is a sociocultural construct influenced by both consanguineal and affinal ties, with bilateral descent being common in modern societies. The degrees of kinship are governed by cultural norms and incest taboos, defining the boundaries of familial relationships.
Step-by-step explanation:
Kinship and the degrees of consanguinity play an essential role in understanding human social structures. It is important to note that kinship does not solely depend on biological relationships but is instead a sociocultural construct. Consanguineal ties depict relationships by blood, represented by a single line in kinship charts. Affinal ties represent contractual relations such as those by marriage, shown as double lines. Culturally, an incest taboo typically governs the limits of kinship in most societies, defining which relationships are too close for sexual interaction or marriage. In terms of descent, many modern societies follow bilateral descent, where kinship is traced through both paternal and maternal lines, accounting for an average sense of kinship among humans. However, kinship can also be unilineal or ambilineal, depending on the cultural context.