Is polygyne present in pastoral society?

Answer 1

For most modern westerners their nearest contact with polygyny will be through what they have read of Biblical society: Abraham, David and Jacob all had multiple wives. So clearly pastoral societies had polygyny.

In fact it is mainly pastoral and early agricultural societies which show polygyny. The extreme wealth imbalance which begins with managed farming make it easy for a rich man to acquire and support multiple wives, while the relative porosity of nomad foraging cultures limit the development of polygyny there. (A nomad wife who doesn't want to continue with her polygynous marriage finds it much easier to join a different band than a pastoral wife would).

Opposition to polygyny - in fact to all polygamy - tends to begin when city-based cultures allow a greater diffusion of wealth, so that there is always a moderately wealthy and moderately powerful middle class without the means to maintain multiple wives, but with the social leverage to extend their disadvantage to the society as a whole.