ABSTRACT
Commensality, extended to include shared participation in all those activities which involve the sustenance and reproduction of life, generates that ‘mutuality of being’ which is the essence of kinship – Commensal bonds are localised in the household, whose sacred character was traditionally concentrated in the hearth and altar corner and in the shared meal – The hearth was the centre of the home and symbolised the stability and continuity of the household as a social unit – The shared meal was an act of communion which asserted the bonds of family and community – Ancestors were almost universally venerated and were believed to animate the house and ensure its continued prosperity – This traditional pattern of belief suggests that the household persists through its participation in a web of exchange, simultaneously economic, biological, social and cultural, which ensures the reproduction of social life and provides a localised context of action that powerfully integrates experience – Through the commensal bond, the members of a household participate in one another’s being, generating relationships of unique intimacy and strength.
