Chasing the Shaman's Steed: The Horse in Myth from Central Asia to Scandinavia (Presented at the Eurasian Archaeology Conference) (original) (raw)
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Chasing the Shaman ’ s Steed : The Horse in Myth from Central Asia to Scandinavia
2017
SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS is an occasional series dedicated to making available to specialists and the interested public the results of research that, because of its unconventional or controversial nature, might otherwise go unpublished. The editor-in-chief actively encourages younger, not yet well established, scholars and independent authors to submit manuscripts for consideration. Contributions in any of the major scholarly languages of the world, including romanized modern standard Mandarin (MSM) and Japanese, are acceptable. In special circumstances, papers written in one of the Sinitic topolects (fangyan) may be considered for publication. Although the chief focus of Sino-Platonic Papers is on the intercultural relations of China with other peoples, challenging and creative studies on a wide variety of philological subjects will be entertained. This series is not the place for safe, sober, and stodgy presentations. Sino-Platonic Papers prefers lively work that, while taking reasonable risks to advance the field, capitalizes on brilliant new insights into the development of civilization. Submissions are regularly sent out to be refereed, and extensive editorial suggestions for revision may be offered. Sino-Platonic Papers emphasizes substance over form. We do, however, strongly recommend that prospective authors consult our style guidelines at www.sino-platonic.org/stylesheet.doc. Manuscripts should be submitted as electronic files, preferably in Microsoft Word format. You may wish to use our sample document template, available here: www.sino-platonic.org/spp.dot. Beginning with issue no. 171, Sino-Platonic Papers has been published electronically on the Web at www.sino-platonic.org. Issues 1-170, however, will continue to be sold as paper copies until our stock runs out, after which they too will be made available on the Web. Please note: When the editor goes on an expedition or research trip, all operations (including filling orders) may temporarily cease for up to three months at a time. In such circumstances, those who wish to purchase various issues of SPP are requested to wait patiently until he returns. If issues are urgently needed while the editor is away, they may be requested through Interlibrary Loan. You should also check our Web site at www.sino-platonic.org, as back issues are regularly rereleased for free as PDF editions. Sino-Platonic Papers is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.
Beasts of the North: Global and Local Dynamics as Seen in Horse Ornaments of the Steppe Elite
Asian Archaeology is a new archaeological journal published yearly by Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology (RCCFA) of Jilin University. This volume contains eleven research papers and field archaeological reports. The subjects covered by these papers include archaeological theory and method, Chinese archaeology, the archaeology of the Eurasian steppe and preliminary reports on new archaeological discoveries and researches in 2012.
Deer or Horses with Antlers? Wooden Figures Adorning Herders in the Altai
Arts
Among the burials of horse herders who lived in the 4th–3rd centuries BCE Altai Mountains of South Siberia were some that contained small wooden figures of four-legged hoofed animals that represent horses, deer, or hybrid creatures. They decorated headgear buried with select commoners of the Pazyryk Culture. Although the people, material possessions, and horses of the elites were frequently ornamented with imagery often associated with the so-called Scytho-Siberian animal style, these figurines are generally more realistic and less stylized representations of natural creatures, either cervids or horses. There is, however, ambiguity in these representations; in some cases, figures that are horses have inset recesses on the tops of their heads, in addition to holes for ear inserts. This recalls the elaborate headdresses on some horses outfitted with large displays of antlers or horns made of wood, leather, and felt buried with the Pazyryk leaders. The implication of this ambiguity is ...
"Shaman" burials in Prehistoric Europe. Gendered images?
GENDER TRANSFORMATIONS in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies. Scales of the transformation in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies,, 2019
Numerous burials of individuals with associated zoomorphic characteristics are known from cemeteries in Europe, dating to the Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic. This paper focuses on burials exhibiting attributes associated with cervids (including red or roe deer antlers, skulls, or bones, and/or elk-headed staffs) from Saint-Germain-la-Rivière, in south-western France; Téviec and Hoëdic, in Brittany; Vedbæk and Skateholm, in Scandinavia; Bad Dürrenberg, in central Europe; Lepenski Vir, Vlasac, Padina, and Haiducka Vodenica, in the lower Danube region; Olenii Ostrov, in northern Russia; Zveinieki, in the Baltic; and Bazaikha, in Siberia. Ethnographic materials relating to the study of Siberian shamanism are employed in the article to help understand the semantic metaphors implied by these attributes. These persons may have been classified as ritual adepts, also known as shamans. ‘Shaman’ activity is connected with transformations: transformation of consciousness, male-female transformation, human-animal transformation. A virtual connection with animals is the basic feature of shamanism, and it can be studied with the help of archaeology. Keywords: Stone Age, ethnoarchaeology, shamanism, cult of the deer, burials, elkheaded staffs
The Mythological Moon Horse as Reflected in Baltic Archaeology Folklore and Linguistics
Archaeologia Baltica, 2008
^ X In this article we discuss the phenomenon of crescent-shaped pendants dating back to the Late Roman Iron Age and Early pi Migration Period (3rd -6th centuries AD). Placed on horse's foreheads, these crescent-shaped pendants evidently embodied a mythological link between the moon and the horse. The same link is clearly reflected in linguistic data and folklore right up until the 20th century.
This study examines the so-called "staffs with elk heads" -carved -shaped objects with a top in the form of an elk head -and their representations in rock art from the Late Mesolithic to the Chalcolithic period. The morphology, geographical location, chronology, and archaeological context of these objects are analyzed. They were sacred objects, and mature and elderly men used them in rituals. In terms of semantics, these things were likely to have many meanings. They could be linked both to the idea of fertility and to the idea that maturity and old age could be correlated with the fall-winter season. "Staffs with elk heads" on petroglyphs are represented as magic objects embodying the symbolism of the Universe.
Indo-European Interfaces: Integrating Linguistics, Mythology and Archaeology, 2024
I combine a comparative analysis of 3 Indo-European myths with the findings of prehistoric archaeology, and argue that the integration of archaeological evidence in the reconstruction of Indo-European symbolic culture (“archaeopoetics”) may help us achieve a more advanced understanding of the religious beliefs and practices of the prehistoric speakers of Indo-European languages. Firstly, a case is made for the Old Norse myth of Thjalfi’s laming of Thor’s goat (chiefly attested in Gylfaginning 44) as a Scandinavian counterpart to two Ancient Greek myths, the myth of Hermes’s theft of Apollo’s cows (and slaughter of two of them), most extensively attested in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, and the myth of Prometheus’s (attempted) deception of Zeus during the slaughter of a cow at Mekone, attested in Hesiod’s Theogony, whose several correspondences allow for the reconstruction of an ancient Indo-European tradition in which the aetiology of a ritual was connected with a mythological incident involving livestock. Secondly, an attempt is made to reconstruct the corresponding ritual with the aid of insights from prehistoric archaeology, as the ritual procedure reconstructed on the basis of the myths matches the so-called “head-and-hoof deposits”, offerings of livestock bones – more precisely of their heads and hoofs (closely paralleling the Hymn’s detail of Hermes burning the cattle’s bones with “whole heads and whole hoofs”) –, a practice that is archaeologically well-attested among prehistoric Steppe cultures (the most likely speakers of the earliest Indo-European varieties).