The Prazeros as Transfrontiersmen: A Study in Social and Cultural Change

Abstract

Fifteenth-century maritime expansion precipitated an unprecedented exchange of ideas and technology between Europe and the indigenous societies of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.2 While scholars have focused on the broad political and economic impact of the overseas exploration, they have been less concerned with patterns of local interaction and the concomitant processes of social change. Recently social scientists have developed a number of analytical models to interpret the outcome of cultural contact between European overseas communities and the indigenous populations. These forms range from plural societies, with their separatist ideologies, to new hybrid cultures. While interculturation has been recognized as a common phenomenon on the frontier,3 scholars have failed to consider the possibility that