Book
The hill of flutes: life, love, and poetry in tribal India : a portrait of the Santals
University of Pittsburgh Press • Pittsburgh • Published In 1974 • Pages:
By: Archer, W. G. (William George).
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This book presents a wide variety of ethnographic topics dealing with the Santals of the Santal Parganas District, Bihar, India, during the period of 1942-1946 while the author was serving as Deputy Commissioner of the district. The study deviates somewhat from traditional monographs in that it does not deal with the material culture aspects or modes of production of the people, nor does it provide information on the range and dimensions of culture contact. The overall focus of this work is on certain aspects of Santal life such as life-cycle ceremonies and festivals, sex, and love. The study begins with a description of the ideal village, the clan system, and the world of spirits (BONGAS), followed by a portrayal of life-cycle events (birth, childhood, adolescence, and death), social dances, marriage and fertility, sorcery, religion, and the annual hunt. Special emphasis in the document is on Santal poetry and songs found interspersed throughout the text, many of which are highly erotic in nature.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Hunting and trapping
- Music
- Dance
- Literary texts
- Marriage
- Sorcery
- Mourning
- Mythology
- Organized ceremonial
- Sexuality
- Sexual stimulation
- Premarital sex relations
- Abortion and infanticide
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Santal
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1998
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Asia
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- South Asia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Government Official
- 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
- John Beierle ; 1996
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1942-1946
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1942-1946
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Santal Parganas District, Bihar, India
- NotesAdditional notes
- W. G. Archer
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 354-358) and indexes
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 73013311
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Santal (South Asian people)