Mapping regional structures as outlined and produced by a system of marriage ties

Abstract

Kalotaszeg is a famous historic and ethnographic region in Transylvania (Romania) consisting of approximately 35–40 village communities. The region has raised considerable scholarly interest since its early discovery at the end of the 19th century. A constantly reoccurring focus of studies has been to outline the structure of the region. Although it was not our primary concern, when we started our social anthropology fi eldwork at the beginning of the 1990s we soon encountered the problematic issue of how to delineate the external and internal boundaries around and within this multi-ethnic and multi-religious region and how to grasp in-group and out-group relations with a special regard to the context of socio-historical structure of the population in the area. We wanted to understand what kinds of diachronic and synchronic factors stood behind the formation of various networks of human connection interpreted as regional structures.