Calendrical systems and concepts of the measurement and passing of time vary from one society to the next, reflecting differences in technology, cultural preconceptions, and political processes. This paper illustrates this variation with reference to societies ranging from small groups of transhumant herders and agriculturalists in Ethiopia to those modern nation states which collaborate in maintaining the most advanced atomic clock.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
SinghW.: ‘Thought for the day’, BBC Radio 4, 29 February2000.
2.
LeachE.: ‘Time reckoning in Oceania’, Oceania, 1950, 20, 245–262.
3.
TurtonD. and RugglesC.: ‘Agreeing to disagree: the measurement of duration in a southwestern Ethiopian community’, Curr. Anthropol., 1978, 19, (3).
4.
SeeDrucker-BrownS.: ‘Ritual aspects of Mamprusi kingship’; 1975, Cambridge/Leiden, African Studies Centre; and ‘Calendar and ritual, the Mamprusi case’; 1984, Paris, CNRS.
5.
FortesM.: ‘Ritual festivals and social cohesion in the hinterland of the Gold Coast’, Am. Anthropol., 1936, 38, (4).
6.
QuinnT. J.: ‘The BIPM and the accurate measurement of time’, Proc. IEEE, 1991, 79, (7).
7.
This and the quotes in the following paragraph are taken from an email message from the BIPM webmaster (webmaster@bipm.fr) dated 17 August 1998.
