Book
The circle of mountains: a Basque shepherding community
Clarendon Press • Oxford • Published In 1981 • Pages:
By: Ott, Sandra.
Abstract
This source is a study of the shepherding community of Sainte-Engrâce located in the southeastern corner of the province of Soule, one of the three Basque provinces in France. The author focuses her attention on two fundamental principles that order '…two systems of asymmetric exchange and a range of other institutionalized forms of co-operation…' in the society (p. vii). These principles are those of UNGURU or rotation in the sense of movement around a center of axis, as clearly evidenced in several of the religious rituals, and ALDIKATZIA or 'serial replacement' or 'alternation', as noted in the sharing of pastoral activities by the men. Much of this source is concerned in one way or another with these two concepts and with the three main institutions in Sainte-Engrâce society -- the household, 'first neighbor' relations, and the pastoral institution of the OLHA (a shepherding and cheese making syndicate). Ott also draws interesting parallels between Basque ideas about human conception and those relevant to the formation of cheese.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2000
- Region
- Europe
- Sub Region
- Southern Europe
- Document Type
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- John Beierle ; 1990-1991
- Field Date
- 1976-1979
- Coverage Date
- 700 A.D. - 1970s
- Coverage Place
- Sainte-Engrâce, Soule, France
- Notes
- [by] Sandra Ott
- LCSH
- Basques