Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
G15 — Corn girls.
Source data for narratives and traditions is drawn from Berezkin’s Analytical Catalogue. If you use this data, please acknowledge and link to it: Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of motif
OverviewIn another world or in the past, products or materials used by humans look or looked like people.
Berezkin category: Fertility and Agriculture
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 6, Origin and interpretation of culture elements, in particular related to agriculture, inadequate forms of subsistence and economic activity before the establishment of the present norms.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| C14 | 96.82% | During or on the eve of a global catastrophe (flood, darkness), animals or monsters attack people. (See motif C13A (rebellion of things: animated objects and/or domestic animals threaten people, attack them).) |
| E1A | 95.31% | The first humans are made of fragile materials (clay, wax, fire, honey, etc.) and prove to be unviable. |
| A11B | 94.94% | The sun or moon has one eye (usually the second eye is knocked out or sucked out, but sometimes the reason is not explained; among the Munduruku, the sun of the rainy season has lost both eyes, while the sun of the dry season has retained both). See motif 11A. |
| A11A | 94.07% | The visible sun or moon are their eyes; if the eyes of the luminaries were not damaged, it would be much brighter and hotter. |
| D1A3 | 93.55% | A man marries a woman who is fire. She is mistreated, or her husband does not like her, and the marriage breaks down. |
| G9A | 93.55% | The field that was cultivated the day before turns back into virgin soil by morning. |
| L58 | 93.42% | A man refuses to give food to his closest relatives or spouse; as punishment, he or his food changes its nature. |
| A24 | 93.27% | The first ancestors live in twilight. When they first find themselves in the rays of the sun, they (spontaneously or by someone's will) perish, turning into animals, spirits, or stones. |
| L26 | 92.35% | During the (first) initiation, supernatural beings teach boys rituals and kill them for violating rules related to the consumption and distribution of food. |
| M121 | 92.35% | A louse or other similar creature (flea, tick, firefly) is sent to follow a certain character. |
See the 100 most similar distributions →
Map of motif dispersal
DistributionDrag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below
Traditions
25 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 25 traditions: Melanesians of the islands of Massim District ( =Milke Bay Province) to the east of New Guinea: Dobu, Rossel, Fergusson, Goodenough, Murua (Woodlark), Trobrian Islands, d'Entrecasteau Islands, Juang, Bondo, Didayi (Gata'), Gutob (=Gadaba; cf Dravidian-speaking Gadaba), Sora (Savara, Saora), Parenga, Konds (Khonds; language is Kui, incl Kuttia, Konda-Dora), Koya; Pengo, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Mandan, Western Sahaptin (Upper Cowlitz, Klikitat, Tenino, Umatilla, Yakima, Wallawalla), Karok, Zuni, Huichol, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Tepehua, Totonac, Zapotec, Chatino, Yucatec, Itza, Paya (Pech), Sumu, Misquito, Guajiro, Aguaruna, Huambiza, Kabiyari, Yukuna (Yucuna), Bora, Aimara, Ashaninca (Campa), Machiguenga, Suruí, Gaviâo, Zoro, Arua, Cinta Larga
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