Field techniques for recording the history of segmentary societies

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Periodical article

Title:	Field techniques for recording the history of segmentary societies
Author:	Erim, E.O.
Year:	1981
Periodical:	Kiabàrà: Journal of the Humanities
Volume:	4
Issue:	2
Pages:	25-40
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	Idoma history ethnic groups
Abstract:	Historians reconstructing the history of precolonial Africa seem to pay more attention to centralized states than to segmentary societies. A lack of adequate methodologies for handling the past of noncentralized states partially explains the neglect of the history of segmentary societies. This article offers some practical guidelines which are drawn largely from field experience among the segmentary Idoma of Benue State of Nigeria. It examines the following aspects of field investigations: the prefieldwork phase, techniques for field recording of oral traditions, types of field data to record, and the preservation of recorded traditions. Ref.