Brazilian mythology is the subset of Brazilian folklore with cultural elements of diverse origin found in Brazil, comprising folk tales, traditions, characters and beliefs regarding places, peoples, and entities. The category was originally restricted to indigenous elements, but has been extended to include:
Because Brazil is a melting pot of cultures, many elements of Brazilian mythology are shared by the traditions of other countries, especially its South American neighbors and Portugal.
Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans and in contrast to the social anthropology perceives the cultural variation more as an independent "variable" than the dependent one.
A variety of methods, including participant observation, often called fieldwork because it involves the anthropologist spending an extended period of time at the research location, but also interviews and surveys are part of anthropological methodology.