Ceremonial Dialogues in South America

In native South America, ceremonial dialogue is a widespread and prominent, yet simultaneously enigmatic, form of ritualized language use. This paper examines the ceremonial dialogic complex through the interpretive lens of a semiotic hypothesis, namely, that ritualized dialogic form is a sign vehicle, a "model of and for" linguistic and more generally social solidarity. A comparative correlational study confirms this semiotic interpretation, showing that the ceremonial dialogue is used in situations of potential conflict—the maximally distant social relations within a given society. This paper also raises a broader theoretical issue concerning the role of metacommunicative devices in social action, suggesting that it is the "meta-signal" itself that enables actors to formulate an image of action—thereby regulating it—simultaneously as it occurs.     

Genetic and geographical structure in grapevines from northwestern Spain

The grapevine germplasm bank from Estación de Viticultura e Enoloxía de Galicia contains 110 accessions collected from more than 100‐year‐old grapevines from northwestern Spain. We identified 60 different genotypes (among which ‘Pinot Noir’ and ‘Shyrah’ were included as references) with 32 polymorphic microsatellites (SSRs), 21 of which were unlinked SSRs and without null alleles, which were used to detect genetic structure. We found four reconstructed populations that were highly differentiated by analysis of molecular variance (18.3%): (i) western Galician group (‘Caíño Bravo’); (ii) eastern Galician group (‘Merenzao’); (iii) Castilian group (‘Garnacha’) and (iv) southern Spanish group (‘Moscatel’). The greatest genetic differentiation was found between the western Galician/eastern Galician groups and the southern Spanish/Castilian groups, with Fst > 0.13. Western and eastern Galician groups contained most of the ancient Galician cultivars (86%) and included ancestors from central Europe, such as ‘Pinot Noir’ and ‘Shyrah’ in the western Galician group and the introgressant ‘Merenzao’ (French ‘Trousseau’) in the eastern Galician group; the Castilian and southern Spain groups included traditional cultivars from central and southern Spanish and suggest a further introduction of those cultivars in northwestern plantations. Genetic structure corresponded with East‐to‐West geographical differentiation in the northern Iberian Peninsula, following the old path to Santiago de Compostela from France, with the southern Spanish and Castilian groups in the East (Castilian plateau and southern Spain), the eastern Galician group and the western Galician group in the West. Five new relationships were discovered: ‘Caíño Bravo’/‘Caíño Longo2’, ‘Albarín Tinto’/‘Torrontés1’, ‘Treixadura’/‘Treixadura Francesa’, ‘Moscatel’/‘Moscatel de Bago Miúdo’ and ‘Moscatel’/‘Moscatel de Hamburgo’, indicating that hybridisation and further selection by growers have been the origin of most of the genetic diversity found in northwestern Spain.     

Priest and Shaman on the Plains: A False Dichotomy?*

Abstract

For a number of years, anthropologists have tended to classify religious leaders of more or less primitive peoples into shamans on the one hand, and priests on the other. Such terms are analytically useful, but like many polarities of their kind, they tend to break down when applied to “real world” situations. The Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indians of Montana provide interesting contrasts in this area, where two powerful religious themes - the tribal Sun Dance and the individual Vision Quest-- interact in various societies to produce a wide range of ceremonial expression. The literature on these two societies combines with modern field observation to suggest that in one case, shamans prevail entirely - while in the other, a real stage of separation between priest and shaman has developed, with one man serving in both capacities at various times.     

Pentecostal peacefulness: virtue ethics and the reception of theology in Nepal

The anthropology of Christianity has struggled to theorize the place of theology in Christian social life. Drawing on Alasdair MacIntyre's account of virtue ethics, in particular his concepts of practice, narrative, and moral tradition, I explore the reception of Pentecostal theology in the Nepali city of Bhaktapur. I show how local Christians have drawn on Pentecostal eschatology to develop a pacifistic ethics, allowing them to negotiate local social and religious conflicts. The belief that Christ has decisively defeated evil spirits allows local Christians to detach themselves from cycles of aggression connected with witchcraft accusations, providing a space of security in which to cultivate distinctive practices of care. Connecting this local theology with a wider tradition in Pentecostal moral thought, I argue that MacIntyre's virtue ethics provides a powerful tool for interpreting the relationship between local circumstance and extra‐local theology, and for studying cross‐cultural patterns of theological reception.     

Ecological Imagery and Cultural Adaptability: The Canelos Quichua of Eastern Ecuador

Ecological imagery among the Upper Amazonian Canelos Quichua native peoples of eastern Ecuador provides a paradigmatic, symbolic template organized by sets of cosmological premises. This template, anchored by traditional shamanism and ceramic manufacture, is invoked in emotionally charged ceremonial and juropolitical contexts to express resistance to normative culture bearers who have a potential or real impact on the ecosystem and indigenous political economy. The imagery is described as it exists within a system of radical change. Mechanisms are discussed whereby ecosystem knowledge and social structure are systemically linked to cosmological premises within a dynamic system of indigenous cultural adaptability . [Ecuador, symbolism of Canelos Quichua, Amazonian cosmology, cultural adaptability, ecological imagery]     

Language, Ideology, and the Press in Catalonia

This article, relying on Bakhtin's approach to canonization, demonstrates an empirical link between language and ideology. The authors employ content and discourse analysis to examine political discourse exemplified in editorial writing as a particular speech genre. They scrutinize editorials in four newspapers published in Catalonia, two of them in Castilian and two in Catalan. Despite political differences between the papers in each language, the authors discern a Catalan-language discourse style that differs significantly from the Caslilian-language discourse style. They conclude that the historically canonized discourse styles, different in Catalonia's Castilian and Catalan press, reflect the intimate relationship between language of use and ideology.     

Locals,resettlers, and pilgrims: A genetic portrait of three pre‐Columbian Andean populations

The common practice of resettlement and the development of administrative and ceremonial systems shaped the population landscape of the Andean region under the Inca rule. The area surrounding Coropuna and Solimana volcanoes, in the Arequipa region (Peru), carried a high‐density, multiethnic population. We studied the genetic variation among three pre‐Columbian populations from three functionally diverse archaeological sites excavated in this region. By analyzing the genetic composition of a large ceremonial center (Acchaymarca), an isolated pastoral settlement (Tompullo 2), and an agricultural settlement characterized by architectural features rare in the region (Puca), we investigated the patterns of population movements and the distribution of genetic diversity. We obtained mitochondrial DNA sequences for 25 individuals and autosomal microsatellite profiles for 20 individuals from Acchaymarca and Puca sites. These were compared with previously published genetic data for Tompullo 2 and other pre‐Columbian populations. We found differences among the genetic portraits of the three populations, congruent with the archaeologically described functions and characteristics of the sites. The Acchaymarca population had the highest genetic diversity and possessed the lowest number of unique mtDNA haplotypes. The Tompullo 2 population exhibited the lowest level of genetic diversity. The Puca population was distinct from the other two populations owing to a high frequency of haplogroup A haplotypes, what potentially explains the non‐local character of the burial architecture. Our analyses of microsatellite data suggest that gene flow between sites was mostly mediated by females, which is consistent with ethnohistorical knowledge of the social organization of the pre‐Columbian communities. Am J Phys Anthropol 154:402–412, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The ‘Two Men’ of Anganen Exchange: Structure and Concepts of the Individual in Highland Papua New Guinea

This paper addresses some of the political implications of exchange structure in Highland Papua New Guinea. It focuses largely on the dual exchange modes (termed mundane and ceremonial) of the Anganen (SHP). By considering variation within a corpus of factors concerning social relations, gender, material provisioning, the meaning of exchange and valuables, and so on, each mode can be seen to give rise to a particular notion of transactor, one heavily constrained by these factors, the other able to operate with relative autonomy. Some aspects of exchange in geographically proximate societies (Kewa, Mendi, Enga, Melpa) are then also briefly discussed.     

Is it God Speaking? Agency of Deities in the Western Himalaya

ABSTRACT

In many ethnographies, deities reflect social structures, represent power relations, or serve as a resource for individuals. However, believers usually do not doubt the existence of deities and their agency: that is, their ability to act and initiate change. The gap between these points of view narrows in the religious experiences in the Indian Himalayas. There, the local population, who communicate with local deities via mediums, face an epistemological problem: how to be certain that they are, indeed, talking with their gods. Furthermore, the believers are aware that they play a role in the decisions of the gods. These two aspects of the religious experience are expressed in the gradual transition of the gods from a Pahā?ī to a pan-Hindu identity, an indication of the way in which the agency of the gods is being challenged and is subject to negotiation by the locals.     

Biological ancestries, kinship connections, and projected identities in four central Anatolian settlements: insights from culturally contextualized genetic anthropology

Previous population genetics studies in Turkey failed to delineate recent historical and social factors that shaped Anatolian cultural and genetic diversity at the local level. To address this shortcoming, we conducted focused ethnohistorical fieldwork and screened biological samples collected from the Yuksekyer region for mitochondrial, Y chromosome, and autosomal markers and then analyzed the data within an ethnohistorical context. Our results revealed that, at the village level, paternal genetic diversity is structured among settlements, whereas maternal genetic diversity is distributed more homogenously, reflecting the strong patrilineal cultural traditions that transcend larger ethnic and religious structures. Local ancestries and origin myths, rather than ethnic or religious affiliations, delineate the social boundaries and projected identities among the villages. Therefore, we conclude that broad, ethnicity-based sampling is inadequate to capture the genetic signatures of recent social and historical dynamics, which have had a profound influence on contemporary genetic and cultural regional diversity.     

The use of plants as regular food in ancient subarctic economies: a case study based on Sami use of Scots pine innerbark

This study combines ethnological, historical, and dendroecological data from areas north of the Arctic Circle to analyze cultural aspects of Sami use of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) inner bark as regular food. Bark was peeled in June when trees were at the peak of sapping, leaving a strip of undamaged cambium so the tree survived. As a result, it is possible to date bark-peeling episodes using dendrochronology. The paper argues that the use of Scots pine inner bark reflects Sami religious beliefs, ethical concerns, and concepts of time, all expressed in the process of peeling the bark. A well-developed terminology and a set of specially designed tools reveal the technology involved in bark peeling. Consistent patterns with respect to the direction and size of peeling scars found across the region demonstrate common values and standards. Peeling direction patterns and ceremonial meals relating to bark probably reflect ritual practices connected to the sun deity, Biejvve.     

Semantic couplets as an expression of cultural identity

Semantic couplets in the Nahuatl language can function as discourse markers that have the pragmatic function of building identities among speech communities. The subsistence of these linguistic structures in present day institutional discourses points to similarities, not only in social, religious but also in linguistic practices of speech communities that are distant in time. Semantic couplets are presented as evidence that links modern speech events with those from pre-Hispanic times.     

The Changing Moral Economy of Ancestor Worship in a Chinese Emigrant District

This paper describes the reciprocal influences between Anxi County Fujianese, whose families and clans have migrated to Singapore, and their ancestral villages in Fujian, China. The Singaporeans bring wealth and cultural capital to their poor relations in rural China. Their participation is crucial for local socioeconomic development. Besides bringing material support and globalizing values and lifestyles, they also reinvigorate and transform the local religious tradition. They, in turn, reaffirm and even remake their own ethnic and regional identity. The complex outcome illustrates the fact that China's social change under economic reforms and global influence is, in its huge rural core, not merely a matter of infrastructural, market, and social welfare improvements, but involves exchange and transformation in meanings of rituals and experiences. We can see that kinship and religion are not unchanging aspects of the cultural tradition that are separate from programs of modernity. Indeed, modernity and tradition appear to be inseparable, and they may reveal that the recipe for effective community projects requires a vital tie between cultural, social, and interpersonal processes.     

Amusement and Absolution: Transforming Narratives during Confession of Social Debts

During Okiek initiation in Kenya, the final ritual event before the climax of circumcision involves public "confession" by initiates of their "social debts." Confession is through an intermediary who questions initiates, then announces their wrongs to an assembled crowd. The questioner/announcer introduces formal transformations that recast the narrative and its interpretation. That recasting absolves initiates of their wrongs, amuses the listeners, and completes a ceremonial process that helps initiates succeed in the trial of circumcision and gradually distances them from their childhood lives.     

Language and Bodies in Social Space: Samoan Ceremonial Greetings

Samoan ceremonial greetings both assume and reconstitute particular views of a hierarchical social order. At the same time, they also display a relatively fluid system in which negotiation of status and authority is frequent and one's ability to access the desired place in the social order is made perceptually available for public assessment. The codes (language, gestures, gaze) and channels (voice, body, sight) employed during such activities can produce meaning only inside of a cultural space that is never neutral. Eye gaze avoidance during the greetings is discussed vis-à-vis pan-Polynesian taboos surrounding individuals with extraordinary mana.     

Cultural Persistence and Cultural Change As Reflected in Oklahoma Seneca-Cayuga Ceremonialism1

Abstract

The Seneca-Cayuga group of Oklahoma are descendants of a band which detached itself from the Iroquois proper in 1750 and was joined by elements of the 6 Iroquois nations in 1800. Later, the combined group exchanged Ohio land for holdings in Oklahoma.

The focus of modern tribal life is the annual Greencorn Festival consisting of 4 major rites: the Personal Chant, the Turtle Shell Dance, the Thanksgiving Dance and the Peach Seed Game. Various women’s dances, social and exotic dances of non-Iroquian origin are also staged.

It is concluded that major ceremonial elements are shared with the Iroquois proper. Borrowed elements are several versions of Plains dances and others derived from Shawnee and Delaware neighbors in Ohio and Oklahoma. Additionally Pan-Indian dances may be substitutes for vanishing tribal lore. There is a rejection of non-Iroquian ceremonial custom by the Seneca-Cayuga group similar to that found among another Iroquian group, the Wisconsin Oneida. The author attributes this to the toughness of Iroquois culture.     

Historicising the Cosmogony: Naming the Asala Perahara in Buddhist Sri Lanka

This article offers a novel interpretation of Sri Lanka's great ceremonial procession for the Buddha, the Asala Perahara. By conceptualizing the name, ‘Asala’ as a chronotope (Bakhtin 1981), and giving emphasis to its authorisation by Buddhist monks, the interpretation reveals that this ritual commemorates the origins of Buddhism in relation to the island of Sri Lanka, thus constituting it as a unique ‘quality space’ (Fernandez 1986) for its Buddhist inhabitants. The interpretation demonstrates that the distinction between mythic time and everyday time, as espoused by Lévi-Strauss (1972) is not only arbitrary, but spurious in this context. Furthermore, contra Seneviratne (1978), it shows that far from being an anachronism in contemporary society, the Asala Perahara in fact enacts its cosmic premise and is politically powerful precisely because it defines reality in religious terms.     

Selection for territory acquisition is modulated by social network structure in a wild songbird

The social environment may be a key mediator of selection that operates on animals. In many cases, individuals may experience selection not only as a function of their phenotype, but also as a function of the interaction between their phenotype and the phenotypes of the conspecifics they associate with. For example, when animals settle after dispersal, individuals may benefit from arriving early, but, in many cases, these benefits will be affected by the arrival times of other individuals in their local environment. We integrated a recently described method for calculating assortativity on weighted networks, which is the correlation between an individual's phenotype and that of its associates, into an existing framework for measuring the magnitude of social selection operating on phenotypes. We applied this approach to large‐scale data on social network structure and the timing of arrival into the breeding area over three years. We found that late‐arriving individuals had a reduced probability of breeding. However, the probability of breeding was also influenced by individuals’ social networks. Associating with late‐arriving conspecifics increased the probability of successfully acquiring a breeding territory. Hence, social selection could offset the effects of nonsocial selection. Given parallel theoretical developments of the importance of local network structure on population processes, and increasing data being collected on social networks in free‐living populations, the integration of these concepts could yield significant insights into social evolution.