ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the way that anthropologists study ritual. The first part considers the impact that anthropological methods have had on the development of ritual theories. The second part illustrates these points by analysing rituals observed in the Ecuadorian Andes. The customs and concerns of modern-day Ecuadorian peasants are far removed from those of the citizens of archaic and republican Rome. Nevertheless, this analysis of Andean ritual provides a useful example of how anthropological theories can be applied. Most anthropologists have the advantage of being able to observe and participate in the rituals they study. The presence of anthropologists as participants and observers raises a number of issues. Some anthropologists have avoided the problems involved in regarding ritual as a form of communication by focusing on ritual as a form of performance. Kelly and Kaplan note that rituals can both evoke tradition and lead to change. Rituals are sites of differing meanings, contradictions, competition and even conflict.
