Reimar Schefold (born February 8, 1938, in Basel, Switzerland),[1] is professor emeritus of cultural anthropology and sociology of Indonesia at Leiden University.
His special interests are thematic symbolic anthropology, cultural materialism, vernacular architecture, and social change among ethnic minorities.
[9] Having spent many years among the Sakuddei in Siberut, Schefold researched their life in the tropical rainforest,[10] including their views on everything having a spirit that is "free to wander as it wishes".
[11] One of his areas of specialization is vernacular architecture; with several hundred ethnic groups in Indonesia, Schefold researched their extreme variety, fundamental similarities, as well as their creative adaptation to regional circumstances and social changes.
[12] In the Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World, Schefold describes how Mali's Dogon people use complex esoteric anthropomorphic symbolism, associating parts of the human body with their homes.