Tolosian Ethnographic Questionnaire

Dr. Zahar’s Ethnographical Questionnaire was compiled by David Zahir to help in the description of concultures, and can be found in the files section of the Conculture group at Yahoo.

Questions of Place

Describe the geography of where your society calls home.

Tolos is a group of islands situated in the Southern Hemisphere, North of the Falklands, in an alternative Earth. There are five major islands : Teǧgolo, Takolo, Kočche, Teǧgotu and Koǰja ; and five groups of minor islands : the Chotolos, the Zotolos, the Timi, Tolotes and Toloso.

The islands are named after their most important geographical feature : Teǧgolo (canyon) presents a canyon which divides the island in two parts, north and south ; Takolo (geyser) has a group of sacred geysers and hot water baths ; Kočche (mountain), as the third most recent island, has high mountains which are old volcanoes (no longer active) ; Teǧgotu (caldeira) had a volcano too, but it collapsed, forming a caldeira which a sacred area ; Koǰja (volcano) has an active volcano.

For the minor islands, Chotolos (three islands) is a group of three isles, Zotolos (eight islands) has eight little isles, Timi (cat’s pawn) is a group of six isles affecting the form of a cat’s pawn.

Describe the climate your society deals with. How severe are their seasons?

The climate is comparable to that of Ushuaïa on South, a little less cold on the North. Seasons are not really marked because of the oceanic influence. Snow is common most of the year, and there are eternal snow on the top of the mountains in Kočche.

What kinds of natural disasters has this society gotten used to?

Snowfall is as common for Tolosians as it is/was for Vikings or Inuits. Tsunamis are rare, but storms are not. The great volcano of Koǰja is active, but it is not really destructive as the geology of the island create a natural lava canal to the sea. No one can live on the southern side of the island, but at least it doesn’t destroy the cities of the northern side.

What are the most commonly-grown foods?

The most commonly-grown foods are cereals (corn, wheat, spelt wheat, engrain ; less commonly barley, oats, rye, buckwheat, quinoa and wild rice), starches (peanuts, beans, broad beans, lupin, soy beans, potatoes, nasturtiums, Jerusalem artichokes) and vegetables (calabashes, physalis, marrows, courgettes, pumpkins, patty ban, capsicum, tomatoes and sweet pepper).

What are the most commonly-eaten meats?

The traditional meal is a cereal paste (a bread which is baked but not risen) with a piece of fish or more rarely meat. The meal is accompanied by a sauce of vegetables and starches.

What foods are considered exotic or expensive?

The most expensive foods are the one which needs the more heat, like tomatoes or capsicum. Meat is not as common as fish because the islands host a limited amount of game animals. Sheep are the only animals reared for meat.

What forms of alcohol are common? Rare?

The most common form of alcohol are pulque and mezcal, its distilled form. Wine is rarer.

Is there usually enough food and water for the population?

Yes. The population isn't growing much and the islands are rich. Food and water produced in excess in good years are stocked in the cities'granaries for the difficult years.

What is this place's most abundant resource?

Wood is probably the most common resource.

What is its most valuable resource?

Gemstones.

What resource is it most lacking?

Rocks other than volcanic ones are non-existent.

How do people travel from one place to another?

By foot for short distances, by boat for longer travels. Guanacos are used to carry heavy merchandises and sometimes chariots if the road allows it.

Are the borders secure? In what way?

The islands are surrounded by a strong water current. Tolosians can't fight against the tide so they can't go far away the islands (but since they don't see another emerged land, they think these islands are the only lands on the planet). People from everywhere else in the world can't fight against the tide either, and cannot discover the islands. The Tolosian geographical zone is known to be terribly dangerous for boats, so only a few people actually try to navigate there.

How many people live here?

The population vary between 300,000 and 400,000.

Where in this place to they congregate?

Cities can be found on every island, the bigger ones being Om on Teǧgolo (the oldest city) and Liea on Kočche (build on an ancient marsh). The population is essentially found on the major islands and on the northern coast of these.

What part of this place do they avoid? Why?

Takolo and the caldeira of Teǧgotu are sacred areas and therefore avoided by the population most of the time. Only priests and to a certain extent sick persons can penetrate into these areas.

What are the most common domesticated animals here? And what are they domesticated for?

Guanacos are domesticated to carry heavy loads, for their fur and for their meat. Sheep are domesticated for their meat and their wool, goats mostly for their milk. Birds of preys can be domesticated for hunting, crows for a religious purpose.

What are the most common wild animals?

Pumas, tuco-tucos and Falkland Islands wolves are common.

Which animals are likely to be pets? Which ones won't be?

Cats are the most common pets. Wolves are most used for hunting but can be pets as well.

Questions of Time

Do people think the present better or worse than the past? & Do people believe the future will be better or worse than the present or past?

Since the goal of every Tolosian is to make life better by their work to increase their eado, they will find the present better than the past (it's been improved) and worse than the future (they have to work to improve it).

Questions of Sex and Family

How many spouses may a man or woman have?

There is only one spouse and one husband, but each one of them can bring as many men or women they want. Those additional people will be included in the family as concubines. They have the same rites as the husband or the wife, and their children are treated the same way than the "legal" children. However, they come in second in case of heritage.

Though this fact is accepted in the society, multiple couples are not so common. Most couples are two, sometimes three when the third member is ever a man who can keep company to the spouse when the husband is away (fisher, carrier) or a woman who can carry a baby or feed it if the spouse cannot.

The additional members always require the primary couple to agree on their arrival. If they disagree, they can't enter in the family.

Who decides on a marriage?

The two persons who are going to marry. Family members can give advices or ideas, but cannot decide.

Marriages can be out of love, but also out of complicity between two persons who want to increase their prestige by marrying (generally those couples have concubines). There is no distinction made between the two.

Can a marriage end in divorce? How?

A marriage can end in divorce on the request of either of its member. The person who want the divorce come to their partner's family to announce the decision, and the rest of the family can try to change their mind. If it doesn't work, they acknowledge the situation, generally by giving a "divorce party" which celebrates the return of their son or daughter to the family. This happens in the two families.

If the couple had concubines and one of them is willing to stay with their son or daughter, they are likely to celebrate the new marriage almost instantly.

There's an exception to this free rule of divorce : a divorce cannot be declared if a woman is pregnant.

Due to the liberty of the marriage's customs, divorces are quite rare.

Who usually takes custody of children if a marriage ends for some reason?

Children from the divorced are generally raised by, in order of frequency : the mother, the father, the concubines if any, the family of the mother, the family of the father. It's a private issue that is determined inside the couple itself or sometimes between the families.

How is adultery defined? What (if any) is the punishment? Who decides?

Adultery would be defined by the fact of having sex with someone outside of the couple. There is no real punishment for this act, as Tolosian people are quite liberal about their sexual life.

Having a continuous relation with someone without including her/him in the couple will be, however, frowned upon.

How are families named? What happens to orphans?

Families are named generally after their geographical origin or after a famous ancestor. Orphans are raised by the remaining family, generally from the mother.

How are boy and girl children treated differently?

They aren't. Children are going to the same schools and are raised the same, regardless of their gender.

Questions of Faith

What superstitions are common? What kinds of supernatural

events/beings do people fear?