We feel that there is presently in Portugal a deep, and in some way incomprehensible, paradigmatic shift from the type of rural ethnography carried out during the 20th century, whether by academic ethnographers or by local enthusiasts, the latter deserving no less respect for being \u201cregional\u201d. In the last decades, we think that there has clearly been a change of axis in the concerns of contemporary anthropology towards urban contexts and themes, and towards social-political critical theories, which, being legitimate, left vast rural territories at the mercy of heritage simplifications based on tourism and endogenous products\u2019 promotion.<\/p>\n