article

Ibo age organization, with special reference to the Cross River and north-eastern Ibo

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland92Published In 1962 • Pages: 191-211

By: Jones, Gwilym Iwan.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This source presents a comprehensive analysis of Igbo age organization, based primarily on the author's field work in the eastern Igbo region in 1927-1946 and again in 1956 and further supplemented by unpublished government reports written in the period of 1930-1940. The paper is divided into two parts, the first of which provides a general background summary of age stratification and organization for the Igbo as a whole, while the second presents a most intensive analysis of the age organization systems in operation in the eastern and northeastern sectors. In describing the different systems of age organization, the author distinguishes between actual and ideal, the former being the system in operation at the time it was observed, while the latter was the model provided by the informants to which they felt the actual system should conform (as it did in the past). Throughout the analysis of the material on age organization, Jones frequently uses the terms 'age-grade,' 'age-sets,' and 'age classes.' The term 'age-grade' is used in its widest extension to refer to age-categories -- the senior grade of elders, the middle grade of men and women, and the junior grade of boys and girls. By 'age-sets' is meant a group of individuals, all of approximately the same age, who are subordinate to all those of higher age and superordinate to all those of lower age (p. 193). When a number of age-sets join together for a particular purpose, as for example passing from one grade to another, this group is called age-class.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Age stratification
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Igbo
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2003
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Africa
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Western Africa
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
article
Evaluation
Creator TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
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 ; Eleanor Swanson ; 1981
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1927-1956
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1927-1956
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Cross River and northeastern Igbo; Nigeria
NotesAdditional notes
by G. I. Jones
Includes bibliographical references (p. 211)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
sv 93006773
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Igbo (African people)