ABSTRACT
What we can conclude based on this analysis of David Beck’s diary is that hospitality was the most important gift in terms of frequency. It was literally offered on a daily basis, but was also of great importance during ritual occasions such as calendar feasts and rites of passage. Hospitality was the most common gift for all of these occasions and events. For almost all of the individuals Beck described in his diary, hospitality was both the type of gift they most often offered and received. Other types of gifts were far less common, but as we shall learn later, were significant for other reasons.
