‘Frott ta' l-art u xogħol il-bniedem’ : kinship and cultural ecology in the Pwales Valley, Malta : an anthropological analysis of farming, social networks and strategies in an ecological niche

Abstract

Cultural ecology integrates the study of human and natural ecoystems though an understanding of the interrelationships of culture and nature. The present study brings forth the analysis of land use and technology, kindship, networks and exchange in a farming population in the Pwales valley of Malta, to explore the interrelationship between nature and culture. Evidence collected through ethnographic fieldwork methods, whos that kinship, rather than being a fixed cultural category is practical and flexible and works as a key organisational principle in labour organisation and production. Moreover, the evidence suggests that kinship is not the only practical strategy governing the organisation of this population because many conflicts and competition arise between various categories of kin, especially in relation to the inheritance of land. Kindship therefore has its limits and other networks are developed and used with other non kin social groups. These networks include long-term and short-term relationships of exchange that serve to promote the survival of a farming population within given environmental constraints. The use of the term environment is broad and has been subdivided into the physical or natural environment, the wider social environment and the wider global or political environment. An analysis of the relationship between the different environments, with particular reference to the interaction between the physical and social environment, as well as a discussion of the changes that are taking place over time, will help us understand the life of the farmers in this study. This will bring us to an understanding of the human ecology of the farmers in the Pwales valley, both in terms of the historic analysis of change, as well as continuity, identity, strategy and motivation.