article
Bone transfers: incomplete replacement in Rmeet ritual exchange
Taiwan Journal of Anthropology • 4 (1) • Published In 2006 • Pages: 79-112
By: Sprenger, Guido.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Rmeet society is organized into localized patrilineal lineages forming alliances as “wife-givers” and “wife-takers” that are not only the precondition for physical reproduction, but also the ritual source of fertility for the fields and health for the individual. Both functions are made possible through the exchange of duties and responsibilities. Wife-takers pay a bride price to wife-givers. Lineage members contribute gift items to mortuary sacrifices in exchange for delayed reciprocal returns for other lineage members. This article argues that these exchanges are conceived of as essentially unequal in value. Wife-givers, for example, claim that the bride price is of much less value than the bride as a person. The Rmeet resolve this problem by displacing the items into a religiously-charged third object, the value of which redefines the original value of the items. The analysis supports the theory of asymmetric alliance.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Regulation of marriage
- Mode of marriage
- Arranging a marriage
- Burial practices and funerals
- Cult of the dead
- Prayers and sacrifices
- Lineages
- Exchange transactions
- Price and value
- Kin relationships
- Sacred objects and places
- Inter-community relations
- General character of religion
- Gift giving
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Rmeet
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Asia
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southeast Asia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Anthropologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Teferi Abate Adem ; 2018
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 2000-2002, 2005
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 2000-2005
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Takheung, Luang Namtha, Laos
- NotesAdditional notes
- Guido Sprenger
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-111)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 2003261195
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Lamet (Laotian people)