Herodotus gives the information that if you asked a Lydian whose son he is, he would name his mother and list his mother's mothers in order, because "they call themselves by their mothers and not by their fathers." This information is confirmed by later epitaph inscriptions, where the deceased is referred to as "son of So-and-So" and sometimes as having an unknown father: "father unknown." Matrilineal genealogy also determines inheritance and social position. Daughters inherit, not sons, and the social status of the child is determined by the status of the mother: if she is free and a citizen, the child is free and a citizen, even if the father is a slave; if she is foreign or a slave, the child is foreign or a slave, even if the father is the most distinguished citizen. [...]

(from the first chapter of the book, "Matrilineality in Antiquity")