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The age-system of the Masai

Annali Lateranensi18Published In 1955 • Pages: title page, 257-318

By: Bernardi, B..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This paper is a study of the social and the political structure of the Maasai in terms of their age group system. Bernardi analyzes the existing literature on the Maasai and attempts to elucidate and reconcile discrepancies with regard to the structure and function of the age and class unit among the Maasai. This results in detailed analytical descriptions of initiation ceremonies, military activities and ranking procedure of the age units. Almost every aspect of Maasai life is touched upon, since it is Bernardi's main thesis that the age-system both permeates and helps to explain the totality of the culture.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Age stratification
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Maasai
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
1996
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Africa
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Eastern 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
Missionary
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.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Amal Vinogradov ; 1965
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
ca. 1946-1950
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1904-1954
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Kenya and Tanzania
NotesAdditional notes
B. Bernardi I.M.C.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 258)
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Masai (African people)