Basque ethnography at a glance
Fountain of Goiendegi. Neighbourhood of Urigoiti, Orozko (Bizkaia). Javier Perea. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
“It has quite rightly been said that any human settlement is the amalgamation of a little humanity, a little land and a little water.” proves to be a self-evident, though worth recalling observation, made by Barandiaran at the time.
Proximity to rivers or springs of fresh water was a major geographic factor for human settlement, ultimately affecting the location of rural houses. Some households had their own well, cistern or tank; others shared it with neighbouring households. Many neighbourhoods featured a fountain, together with a drinking trough for the livestock, and a communal washing place where clothes were laundered. And in larger population areas urban fountains were a convenient source of good-quality water, not to mention professional vendors who supplied water door to door. (more…)
Luis Manuel Peña. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
A ‘consumer’ enters a shoe shop one morning and buys a pair of shoes. For reasons which escape us —perhaps prompted by coquetry, perhaps motivated by a hidden psychological need—, the shoes he buys are two sizes smaller than just right. After wearing them for two or three days his feet of course hurt, so he takes painkillers. But he continues to wear them. Days later his feet are covered in blisters, which he treats and covers with antiseptics and sticking plasters, but he still continues to wear his newest shoes. His battered feet get worse, so he decides to see the doctor. The blisters have become infected, so the doctor prescribes antibiotics. Treatment concludes, and yet his condition worsens. He sees the podiatrist, but his feet will not improve. His wounds may eventually turn gangrenous, so the surgeon decides to amputate. The amputee undergoes rehabilitation, is fitted with a pair of prosthetic feet especially designed by pioneering experts, and not without difficulty, learns to walk again. Next a team of renowned scientists build a new pair of bionic feet for him, which they connect to his nervous system using improved artificial intelligence, so in the end he is able to move quite naturally. (more…)
Implements for linen making. Zeanuri (Bizkaia), 1931. Felipe Manterola Collection. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
Subsequent chores required to extract the fibre from the flax plant by hand and traditionally process it to be spun into linen were undertaken during the autumn.
Beating it, mazoz jo
Once retted and dried, the bundles of straw were crushed with mallets by one, two or even three beaters, their beating so becoming all the more effective and bearable. A stone called liho-harria would be expressly used for the said task in many houses. (more…)
Flax was highly esteemed in the old days; indeed, there were no or few farms where it was not grown, because flax fields provided a vital element for the autarchic economy which characterized farmsteads: textile fibre.
Cultivated flax plants were herbaceous and of fragile appearance, with a pure blue flower. Blossomed flax fields in spring are said to offer a breathtaking landscape, unknown for many, perhaps most of us. (more…)
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