Basque ethnography at a glance
Chocolate from Cambo-les-Bains. Source: Pantxix Bidart.
It is known that chocolate was very valuable in the ancient South American civilizations. Cocoa beans were used as currency a thousand years before Christ. It was also used in medicine, ceramics and to make alcohol. The word comes from the Mayan civilization, who called the hot drink made with grain xocoatl.
Thanks to Christopher Columbus and Hernan Cortés, cocoa made its way to Europe. It seems that it was a success at the wedding of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa of Spain (in 1660) and it was able to be established in the Basque Country from then on.
Two dancers performing an aurresku in Armentia. Author: Josu Chavarri Erralde.
Dance[1] and (traditional) dancing[2] are, above all, a social fact: a cultural practice that articulates community, memory and identity. Beyond their aesthetic dimension, dances organize and regulate social relations, express symbolic values and accompany religious and community festive cycles: pilgrimages, festivals, carnivals and agricultural celebrations. They are articulated and understood through unwritten codes that define what is danced, who can do it, in what space and under what rules. A clear example is dance rituals, where roles are strictly divided and each gesture has a ritual value (Barandiaran, 1972).
Pumpkins have been receiving a lot of attention lately (Photo: E. X. Dueñas).
This society in which we live, move and are a part of, actively or passively, feeds and self-stimulates with the latest trends in leisure and, of course, fun. This is how the festive program of each town is prepared.
Ellande Alfaro, craftsman, sewing the leather of a ball. Sara (Labourd). Source: Labrit Ondarea.
When undertaking inventories of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), it is not always easy to determine its limits. Many believe it is a sea without borders. Often, projects without a systematized methodology hide its impossibility under the pretext of an unlimited scope. It is not a question of constantly reviewing inventories, but rather of their temporal scope, aware of their constant evolution and the need for periodic updating.
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