Handbook of Middle American Indians, Volume 6

Social Anthropology is the sixth volume in the Handbook of Middle American Indians, published in cooperation with the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University under the general editorship of Robert Wauchope (1909–1979). The volume editor is Manning Nash (1924–2001), Professor of Anthropology at the Center for Study of Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago. This volume provides a synthetic and comparative summary of native ethnography and ethnology of Mexico and Central America, written by authorities in a number of broad fields: the native population and its identification, agricultural systems and food patterns, economies, crafts, fine arts, kinship and family, compadrinazgo, local and territorial units, political and religious organizations, levels of communal relations, annual and fiesta cycles, sickness, folklore, religion, mythology, psychological orientations, ethnic relationships, and topics of especial modern significance such as