Villagers of the Sierra de Gredos: Transhumant Cattle-raisers in Central Spain

Description

This is the first study of a transhumant cattle-raising community in Spain. Transhumance is the seasonal moving of livestock to another region. This book shows the social and economic factors upon which the continued vitality of this mountain village is based: the use of communal summer pastures; the transhumant groups which walk the cattle to the winter pastures over the mountains; and the system of taking turns for many tasks within the village. The book analyses the sharp divisions between the more rigid organization of life within the village, and the organization of life outside the village in the transhumant group which goes to the winter pastures in Extramadura.

William Kavanagh Lecturer in Social Anthropology,Comillas University, Madrid. Acted as the consultant anthropologist for a film on the transhumant cattle-raisers in the Granada Television production,

'... will be of value to all interested in contemporary rural Spain in particular and issues of change in general.' Heidi Kelley, University of North Carolina at Asheville 'Kavanagh first arrived in La Nava in 1976. Most of the book was written in 1985, with a preface and epilogue written in 1992. [...] Kavanagh decided against rewriting the book in 1992, adding the epilogue and preface instead. This added dimension makes the book far more valuable than an ethnographic study focusing on one present time. Kavanagh has also located La Nava in its historical and national context more successfully than manu previous studies on Spanish pueblos. This work is a useful addition to the ethnographic literature on the Mediterranean.' South European Society and Politics "A well-written ethnography... [...] An abundance of illustrations, diagrams and photographs maintain the reader's interest and enhance the tight ethnographic detail." JASO