Book

The Veddas

University PressCambridge • Published In 1911 • Pages: 19, 463

By: Seligman, C. G. (Charles Gabriel), Seligman, Brenda Z., Myers, Charles Samuel, Gunasekara, Abraham Mendis, d. 1931.

Abstract
The authors of this first comprehensive study of the Veddas devoted most of their attention to the jungle-dwelling Veddas whose way of life is more primitive that the Village Veddas and the Coastal Veddas. All of them, however, have come under the influence of foreign cultures. One of the major aims of this book is to trace the course of this acculturation process and to reconstruct the historical development of Vedda society. In describing the contemporary Veddas, the authors supplement their personal observations with reports written by previous observers. The topics discussed include the kinship structure, village organization, economic activities, life cycle, religion, music, language, and sensory perception. A rather extensive list of Vedda words is included in the text.
Subjects
History
Acculturation and culture contact
External relations
Descriptive somatology
Anthropometry
Prehistory
Historical reconstruction
Dwellings
Clans
Regulation of marriage
Settlement patterns
Behavior toward non-relatives
Sociocultural trends
Kinship terminology
Community structure
Real property
Dance
Organized ceremonial
Prayers and sacrifices
culture
Vedda
HRAF PubDate
2009
Region
Asia
Sub Region
South Asia
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Robert Lee; 1961
Field Date
1907-1908
Coverage Date
1907-1911
Coverage Place
Sri Lanka
Notes
By C. G. Seligmann… and Brenda Z. Seligman. With a chapter by C.S. Myers … and an appendix by A. Mendis Gunasekara …
'Music, by C.S. Myers': p. [341]-365
Includes bibliographical references
LCCN
a 11002174
LCSH
Vedda (Sri Lankan people)