Paul Spencer is an anthropologist, and this book, published by Manchester University Press for the International African Institute, is his ethnographic study of age-set ritual and generational conflict among the Matapato section of the Maasai. Its strength is that it is built on Spencer's own sustained fieldwork among the Matapato specifically, giving detailed, firsthand analysis of how age-set transitions actually functioned as ritual and as social conflict within that community. Its limit is that Maasai age-set systems vary between sections and regions, so a claim about a different Maasai section's own age-set practice needs a source matched to that specific community rather than an extension of this Matapato-focused study.
Facts
Citation
AuthorPaul Spencer
PublisherManchester University Press for the International African Institute
Publication Year1988
Source TypeEthnography
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
Published by Manchester University Press for the International African Institute, Paul Spencer's scholarly ethnography, peer reviewed university-level anthropology. NotesEthnographic study of age-set ritual and generational conflict among the Matapato Maasai.
Connections
Associated With
This source names Maasai directly: "among the Matapato section of the Maasai."
Source The Maasai of Matapato: A Study of Rituals of RebellionPaul Spencer
Claims Backed By This Source (30 claims)
This source backs 30 claims across the atlas. As facts: 18 well-attested. As cited relationships: 8 holds. Plus 4 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Cultures, 8 claims: 3 well-attested, 4 holds, 1 general references.
- Sources, 8 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 holds.
- Deities, 7 claims: 3 well-attested, 3 holds, 1 general references.
- Articles, 4 claims: 4 well-attested.
- Culture Groups, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Regions, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.