American Geographical Society

The Gypsies of the BalkansLes Tziganes ou Bohemiens: Recherches anthropologiques dans la Peninsule des Balkans byEugene PittardReview by: Leon DominianGeographical Review, Vol. 23, No. 4 (Oct., 1933), pp. 695-696Published by: American Geographical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/209260 .

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GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS

runs to 34 pages of small type, giving mainly Georgian and Russian sources. The two folded maps illustrating the historical geography have an unusual and pleasing feature-the type is so bold and clear that even the smallest print can be easily read.

R. M. FLEMING

THE GYPSIES OF THE BALKANS

EUGANE PITTARD. Les Tziganes ou Bohemiens: Recherches anthropologiques dans la Peninsule des Balkans. Diagrs., ills. Le Globe: Memoires, Vol. 70, I931, PP. 1-286.

Pittard's contribution to our knowledge of a little-known human group has two- fold value-a wealth of data and a suggestiveness that deserves attention. Con- centrating on the Balkan group of gypsies, the author, on the basis of abundant anthropometric figures, has succeeded in determining the chief characteristics of the genuine gypsy type-a result of no little importance, since heavy mingling between these nomads and the peoples inhabiting the western Eurasian geographical highways has taken place. Careful sifting of the facts secured in seven Balkan expeditions permitted final determination of an exceedingly small number of pure- blood gypsies in the midst of the relatively large groups of individuals of the mixed breed enumerated as gypsies in the censuses of the countries examined. The pure gypsy type was found to be a pronounced Hindu specimen-a fact corroborated by linguistic data.

Backwaters, as it were, of the great human tide that pressed on from Asia into southeastern Europe, the gypsy folk appears to have been not unknown to early historians. Gypsy tribes are recorded in the valley of the Danube in the fourteenth century and are mentioned in Byzantine records of the seventh century. If the Sigynnae of Herodotus are identified with the gypsy folk, then they must have been on the banks of the Danube at least 2500 years.

The still unprecise knowledge of the origins of the tribes and of the paths of their migration carries the suggestion that research might be fruitfully directed toward the discovery among Hindu peoples of the characteristics special to gypsies deter- mined by Pittard. His suspicion that somewhere among the inhabitants of the Indian peninsula there probably exist groupings whose members reveal the very anthropological traits that he ascribes to the pure-blood gypsy deserves to be fol- lowed up. It is also desirable that investigations similar to those in the Balkans be undertaken within Asia Minor. Since these two peninsulas constitute east and west bridgeheads along the chief highway of human migration between Asia and Europe, the presence of gypsies within each and in larger numbers than elsewhere becomes intelligible.

To the geographer, however, the suggestion comes at once that these admirable anthropological studies be supplemented by geographical data. The route of the surmised migration between northwestern India and western Europe should be traced beyond its present fragmentary stage. Gypsy agglomerations in Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and Persia should also be investigated. The problem acquires further interest by the possibility of its relation to the introduction of bronze into Europe through the natural highways of its southeastern section.

Ethnographically the Asiatic origin of the gypsy people appears certain. Its special type of nomadism is foreign to Europe. The disdain of the sedentary dweller for the vagrant, intensely felt in past ages and far from having disappeared in our day, forced these wanderers to keep to the highways until the habit became rooted in their nature. It explains such gypsy social habits as imperfectly developed notions of personal property and general lack of any kind of restraint. Gypsy art as revealed in song and music is also part of the fabric of free mentality. These racial traits, however, tend to disappear among the tribes within the confines of countries in

runs to 34 pages of small type, giving mainly Georgian and Russian sources. The two folded maps illustrating the historical geography have an unusual and pleasing feature-the type is so bold and clear that even the smallest print can be easily read.

R. M. FLEMING

THE GYPSIES OF THE BALKANS

EUGANE PITTARD. Les Tziganes ou Bohemiens: Recherches anthropologiques dans la Peninsule des Balkans. Diagrs., ills. Le Globe: Memoires, Vol. 70, I931, PP. 1-286.

Pittard's contribution to our knowledge of a little-known human group has two- fold value-a wealth of data and a suggestiveness that deserves attention. Con- centrating on the Balkan group of gypsies, the author, on the basis of abundant anthropometric figures, has succeeded in determining the chief characteristics of the genuine gypsy type-a result of no little importance, since heavy mingling between these nomads and the peoples inhabiting the western Eurasian geographical highways has taken place. Careful sifting of the facts secured in seven Balkan expeditions permitted final determination of an exceedingly small number of pure- blood gypsies in the midst of the relatively large groups of individuals of the mixed breed enumerated as gypsies in the censuses of the countries examined. The pure gypsy type was found to be a pronounced Hindu specimen-a fact corroborated by linguistic data.

Backwaters, as it were, of the great human tide that pressed on from Asia into southeastern Europe, the gypsy folk appears to have been not unknown to early historians. Gypsy tribes are recorded in the valley of the Danube in the fourteenth century and are mentioned in Byzantine records of the seventh century. If the Sigynnae of Herodotus are identified with the gypsy folk, then they must have been on the banks of the Danube at least 2500 years.

The still unprecise knowledge of the origins of the tribes and of the paths of their migration carries the suggestion that research might be fruitfully directed toward the discovery among Hindu peoples of the characteristics special to gypsies deter- mined by Pittard. His suspicion that somewhere among the inhabitants of the Indian peninsula there probably exist groupings whose members reveal the very anthropological traits that he ascribes to the pure-blood gypsy deserves to be fol- lowed up. It is also desirable that investigations similar to those in the Balkans be undertaken within Asia Minor. Since these two peninsulas constitute east and west bridgeheads along the chief highway of human migration between Asia and Europe, the presence of gypsies within each and in larger numbers than elsewhere becomes intelligible.

To the geographer, however, the suggestion comes at once that these admirable anthropological studies be supplemented by geographical data. The route of the surmised migration between northwestern India and western Europe should be traced beyond its present fragmentary stage. Gypsy agglomerations in Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and Persia should also be investigated. The problem acquires further interest by the possibility of its relation to the introduction of bronze into Europe through the natural highways of its southeastern section.

Ethnographically the Asiatic origin of the gypsy people appears certain. Its special type of nomadism is foreign to Europe. The disdain of the sedentary dweller for the vagrant, intensely felt in past ages and far from having disappeared in our day, forced these wanderers to keep to the highways until the habit became rooted in their nature. It explains such gypsy social habits as imperfectly developed notions of personal property and general lack of any kind of restraint. Gypsy art as revealed in song and music is also part of the fabric of free mentality. These racial traits, however, tend to disappear among the tribes within the confines of countries in

695 695

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.176 on Fri, 9 May 2014 14:25:22 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

which administrative organization has reached a high level of perfection. Nomadism has become less and less possible in France and Germany. It has been well main- tained in Asia Minor and the Balkan countries. In Spain the environs of Granada may be considered as illustrating an intermediate condition. But the trend is unmistakable, and the area within which gypsy wanderings are possible will con- tinue to dwindle. LEON DOMINIAN

THE LIFE OF THE ESKIMOS

EDWARD MOFFAT WEYER, JR. The Eskimos: Their Environment and Folkways. xvii and 491 pp., maps, diagrs., bibliogr., index. (Published on the Louis Stern Memorial Fund.) Yale University Press, New Haven; Humphrey Milford, London, 1932. $5.oo. 9 x 632 inches.

Dr. Weyer's doctoral dissertation is a broadly comprehensive, descriptive mono- graph on the Eskimos, greatly influenced by Sumner and Keller's methodological work (Science of Society) and in itself highly systematized. The first part aims at showing the dependence of Eskimo culture on habitat and life conditions. It deals with the Eskimos among peoples of the world, their mode of life and intertribal relations during the cycle of seasons, their geographical and vital conditions, their

ingenious utilization of scanty resources, hunting methods, food economy, and the like. It is illustrated with several maps and diagrams, including "sociographs" of seasonal changes in the activities of several Eskimo groups. The following sections deal with the organization of society, folkways of law and order, and religion and cult.

The author has utilized a large and as a rule excellent body of source material from authoritative works. To a minor degree he makes use of observations from his own voyage along the coasts of Bering Strait. On principle he has confined himself to a study of the Eskimos, rarely drawing comparison with other peoples; nor is there any archeological or historical research in this work.

The author's critical sense asserts itself on many points. But it seems that at times he has taken too lightly certain problems of an ethnological and linguistic nature, accepting without much examination the postulates of others-for example, in what he calls exorcism among western Eskimos, a notion of dubious value in con- nection with Eskimo shamanism.

This volume might perhaps be described as a kind of handbook of the problems of and literature on the Eskimo. It is certainly a meritorious contribution to the science of American ethnology. WILLIAM THALBITZER

THE CARTOGRAPHY OF NORTHERN GREENLAND

LAUGE KOCH. Map of North Greenland, 1: 300,000. Surveyed by Lauge Koch in the Years 1917-23. Published by the Geodetic Institute of Denmark, [Copen- hagen, I1932]. I8 sheets and supplementary sheet in case 22 x 14 inches. Kr. 250.

No polar land has yet received the adequate cartographic treatment that is given northern Greenland in this admirable series. Certain areas of Alaska, it is true, that lie within the Arctic considered as a natural region (Amer. Geogr. Soc. Special Publ. No. 8, 1928, p. 74) have been represented in the excellent topographic style of the U. S. Geological Survey, but these areas are not in the zone of present glaciation, and the model maps of parts of Spitsbergen by Gunnar Isachsen (see Geogr. Rev., Vol. 8, I919, p. 211 I) and Baron Gerard De Geer, while they represent areas that are, do not form so connected and systematic a series as the present.

The map consists of I8 sheets and a supplementary sheet that cover the whole coastal belt of extreme northwestern and extreme northern Greenland between

which administrative organization has reached a high level of perfection. Nomadism has become less and less possible in France and Germany. It has been well main- tained in Asia Minor and the Balkan countries. In Spain the environs of Granada may be considered as illustrating an intermediate condition. But the trend is unmistakable, and the area within which gypsy wanderings are possible will con- tinue to dwindle. LEON DOMINIAN

THE LIFE OF THE ESKIMOS

EDWARD MOFFAT WEYER, JR. The Eskimos: Their Environment and Folkways. xvii and 491 pp., maps, diagrs., bibliogr., index. (Published on the Louis Stern Memorial Fund.) Yale University Press, New Haven; Humphrey Milford, London, 1932. $5.oo. 9 x 632 inches.

Dr. Weyer's doctoral dissertation is a broadly comprehensive, descriptive mono- graph on the Eskimos, greatly influenced by Sumner and Keller's methodological work (Science of Society) and in itself highly systematized. The first part aims at showing the dependence of Eskimo culture on habitat and life conditions. It deals with the Eskimos among peoples of the world, their mode of life and intertribal relations during the cycle of seasons, their geographical and vital conditions, their

ingenious utilization of scanty resources, hunting methods, food economy, and the like. It is illustrated with several maps and diagrams, including "sociographs" of seasonal changes in the activities of several Eskimo groups. The following sections deal with the organization of society, folkways of law and order, and religion and cult.

The author has utilized a large and as a rule excellent body of source material from authoritative works. To a minor degree he makes use of observations from his own voyage along the coasts of Bering Strait. On principle he has confined himself to a study of the Eskimos, rarely drawing comparison with other peoples; nor is there any archeological or historical research in this work.

The author's critical sense asserts itself on many points. But it seems that at times he has taken too lightly certain problems of an ethnological and linguistic nature, accepting without much examination the postulates of others-for example, in what he calls exorcism among western Eskimos, a notion of dubious value in con- nection with Eskimo shamanism.

This volume might perhaps be described as a kind of handbook of the problems of and literature on the Eskimo. It is certainly a meritorious contribution to the science of American ethnology. WILLIAM THALBITZER

THE CARTOGRAPHY OF NORTHERN GREENLAND

LAUGE KOCH. Map of North Greenland, 1: 300,000. Surveyed by Lauge Koch in the Years 1917-23. Published by the Geodetic Institute of Denmark, [Copen- hagen, I1932]. I8 sheets and supplementary sheet in case 22 x 14 inches. Kr. 250.

No polar land has yet received the adequate cartographic treatment that is given northern Greenland in this admirable series. Certain areas of Alaska, it is true, that lie within the Arctic considered as a natural region (Amer. Geogr. Soc. Special Publ. No. 8, 1928, p. 74) have been represented in the excellent topographic style of the U. S. Geological Survey, but these areas are not in the zone of present glaciation, and the model maps of parts of Spitsbergen by Gunnar Isachsen (see Geogr. Rev., Vol. 8, I919, p. 211 I) and Baron Gerard De Geer, while they represent areas that are, do not form so connected and systematic a series as the present.

The map consists of I8 sheets and a supplementary sheet that cover the whole coastal belt of extreme northwestern and extreme northern Greenland between

which administrative organization has reached a high level of perfection. Nomadism has become less and less possible in France and Germany. It has been well main- tained in Asia Minor and the Balkan countries. In Spain the environs of Granada may be considered as illustrating an intermediate condition. But the trend is unmistakable, and the area within which gypsy wanderings are possible will con- tinue to dwindle. LEON DOMINIAN

THE LIFE OF THE ESKIMOS

EDWARD MOFFAT WEYER, JR. The Eskimos: Their Environment and Folkways. xvii and 491 pp., maps, diagrs., bibliogr., index. (Published on the Louis Stern Memorial Fund.) Yale University Press, New Haven; Humphrey Milford, London, 1932. $5.oo. 9 x 632 inches.

Dr. Weyer's doctoral dissertation is a broadly comprehensive, descriptive mono- graph on the Eskimos, greatly influenced by Sumner and Keller's methodological work (Science of Society) and in itself highly systematized. The first part aims at showing the dependence of Eskimo culture on habitat and life conditions. It deals with the Eskimos among peoples of the world, their mode of life and intertribal relations during the cycle of seasons, their geographical and vital conditions, their

ingenious utilization of scanty resources, hunting methods, food economy, and the like. It is illustrated with several maps and diagrams, including "sociographs" of seasonal changes in the activities of several Eskimo groups. The following sections deal with the organization of society, folkways of law and order, and religion and cult.

The author has utilized a large and as a rule excellent body of source material from authoritative works. To a minor degree he makes use of observations from his own voyage along the coasts of Bering Strait. On principle he has confined himself to a study of the Eskimos, rarely drawing comparison with other peoples; nor is there any archeological or historical research in this work.

The author's critical sense asserts itself on many points. But it seems that at times he has taken too lightly certain problems of an ethnological and linguistic nature, accepting without much examination the postulates of others-for example, in what he calls exorcism among western Eskimos, a notion of dubious value in con- nection with Eskimo shamanism.

This volume might perhaps be described as a kind of handbook of the problems of and literature on the Eskimo. It is certainly a meritorious contribution to the science of American ethnology. WILLIAM THALBITZER

THE CARTOGRAPHY OF NORTHERN GREENLAND

LAUGE KOCH. Map of North Greenland, 1: 300,000. Surveyed by Lauge Koch in the Years 1917-23. Published by the Geodetic Institute of Denmark, [Copen- hagen, I1932]. I8 sheets and supplementary sheet in case 22 x 14 inches. Kr. 250.

No polar land has yet received the adequate cartographic treatment that is given northern Greenland in this admirable series. Certain areas of Alaska, it is true, that lie within the Arctic considered as a natural region (Amer. Geogr. Soc. Special Publ. No. 8, 1928, p. 74) have been represented in the excellent topographic style of the U. S. Geological Survey, but these areas are not in the zone of present glaciation, and the model maps of parts of Spitsbergen by Gunnar Isachsen (see Geogr. Rev., Vol. 8, I919, p. 211 I) and Baron Gerard De Geer, while they represent areas that are, do not form so connected and systematic a series as the present.

The map consists of I8 sheets and a supplementary sheet that cover the whole coastal belt of extreme northwestern and extreme northern Greenland between

696 696 696

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.176 on Fri, 9 May 2014 14:25:22 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions