ABSTRACT
If the cyclical torno is the key to understanding the internal organisation of La Nava de San Miguel, the annual cycle of transhumance to the pastures of Extremadura is that which defines the terms of the villagers' understanding of themselves in relation to the world outside La Nava. Since no one at La Nava owns pastureland in Extrernadura, all villagers must come to an agreement, either individually or as a group, with the owner of a finca who is prepared to let their cattle graze on his land for a fixed price per animal. The villagers who have rented the same property together will always take all their cows down and bring them back as a group, uniting their animals into one large piara. Some villagers, the poorer ones, go as cowherds for the five or six months of the season to tend the cattle of others.
