Concept and Behavior in a Tlaxcalan Cargo Hierarchy

The degree of congruence between culturally patterned behaviors and the cognitive models from which the behaviors presumably follow; i.e., the distinction between ideal and real culture, is of considerable interest to anthropologists. Close examination can reveal adherence to or deviation from shared standards and expectations of behavior or, alternatively, that there is only limited sharing of standards and expectations. That such intracultural diversity exists should hardly be surprising. Pelto and Pelto ( I 97 5), following the leads of Roberts ( I 9 5 I, I 96 I ) and Wallace (I96I), suggest the necessity for intragroup cognitive and behavioral diversity for the process of human adaptation. On the other hand, it is also clear that large-scale cultural patterns exist despite varied cognitions and behaviors of actors. This paper compares a conceptual model of the organization of the religious oiceholding system (the cargo system) of a Mesoamerican community with the patterns of ohiceholding that actually occur in the village. This comparison suggests neither behavioral nor cognitive homogeneity in regard to ohiceholding or the relative ranks of offices but it does indicate that some measure of accord does exist in these areas. In addition, the differences found between the conceptual and behavioral models of the cargo system in the village of San Rafael Tepatlaxco emphasize the need to consider both cognition and behavior in the understanding of culture.