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This project seeks to develop a general theory of the way in which religious practices are reproduced, which adequately addresses their frequency and periodicity. By frequency is understood the total number of events of a particular kind, by periodicity the time lapses between them. The empirical focus of the study is the Nuaulu, a people of Seram in the Indonesian province of Maluku. Although there has been a steady rate of conversion to both Christianity and Islam since 1970, the number of practising animists has increased, making the Nuaulu probably the largest single animist group in Maluku. The research will entail the analysis of data on Nuaulu rituals collected by the grant-holder between 1970 and 1996. The grant-holder also plans to conduct four months new fieldwork. The work proposed is important for three reasons. Firstly, the Nuaulu are probably the only animist group in Maluku where an analysis of the kind indicated can be undertaken. Elsewhere, demographic decline has led to the erosion and disarticulation of ritual cycles. Secondly, the applicant will focus on ritual practice and performance rather than on structure and symbolic content, which have previously been the focus in eastern Indonesia. The research is of additional pertinence given current civil unrest in Maluku, which is expressed in religious terms

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