Hunting the European Sky Bears: On the origins of the non-zodiacal constellations (original) (raw)
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The origins of ‘Western’ constellations
The development of the 48 Greek constellations is analyzed as a complex mixture of cognitive layers deriving from different cultural traditions and dating back to different epochs. The analysis begins with a discussion of the zodiacal constellations, goes on to discuss the stellar lore in Homer and Hesiod, and then examines several theories concerning the origins of the southern non-zodiacal constellations. It concludes with a commentary concerning the age and possible cultural significance of stars of the Great Bear constellation in light of ethnohistorical documentation, folklore, and beliefs related to European bear ceremonialism.
SKY BEAR RESEARCH: IMPLICATIONS FOR " CULTURAL ASTRONOMY "
This chapter examines research carried out to date on the Sky Bear and seeks to demonstrate the implications of this line of research for ―cultural astronomy‖. It begins by reviewing research that has been done cross-culturally on bear ceremonialism, focusing on the role of circumpolar stars, Dipper stars and stars adjacent to them, and how they came to be integrated, cognitively, into an over-arching cosmology shared by different hunter-gatherer populations across the N. Hemisphere. Next, using three mutually reinforcing ethnographic datasets, the manner in which, specifically in Europe, this archaic worldview, characterized by embodied reciprocity, allowed humans, animals and nature to be bound together. The cosmology, grounded in the belief that humans descended from bears, integrated skyscape and landscape into a single interlocking reality. Furthermore, the worldview can be understood as embodying a ―relational epistemology‖ or ―relational ecology‖. This more culturally-informed approach coincides with the goals of ―cultural astronomy‖ as well as the methodology and goals of the emerging field of archaeological ethnography. The reasons that these particular sky resources were chosen to project this set of spirtual beliefs skyward are also addressed. In the final section I suggest that the skyscape acts a kind of mnemonic device. As such, it is a cognitive resource, readily available to the social collective in question, which can act as a repository for past beliefs. Anchoring key components of a cosmology in the stars above allows the resulting skyscape to act as an enduring ―memory bank‖. In short, the datasets analyzed facilitate the reconstruction of a European-wide ethno-cultural substrate that points to an archaic relational cosmovision and the belief that humans descended from bears as well as providing evidence for the way that skyscape and landscape were integrated into this cosmology.
Hunting the European Sky Bears: German ‘Straw-bears’" and their Relatives as Transformers
The origins of the Germanic “Straw-bears” have been subject to speculation for years. In this study the Straw-bears will be contextualized along with their European relatives so that their meaning can be better appreciated within a larger framework of European ritual belief and social practice. The cosmogony in question is grounded in the belief that humans descended from bears, a belief that continued into the 20th century among Basque-speakers. The transformative aspects of the Straw-bear performances will be examined in relation to “Good-Luck Visits”, a type of performance aimed at bringing good health and prosperity to the houses visited and in which Straw-bears and their relatives have played a major role.
Archaeological Approaches to Shamanism - Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017
Beginning with an early mapping of an effigy mound complex in eastern Wisconsin in June, 1994, a connection between a shaped and aligned rock, a bear effigy mound, the 18.61-year lunar maximum cycle and the ‘bear stars’ in the north was eventually confirmed with the observation of alignments and the lunar maximum moonset. All may have been part of the ancient circumpolar bear cult tradition that spread in the old world both east and west. The renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell recognized shamanism and bear cults as possibly two of the four oldest traditions transported to the New World. Along with the circumpolar distribution of the bear cult came other traditions that filtered down into the interior of North America over time. Among them were links to the moon, the number seven, left handedness and transgender associations. Women were respected members of bear cults, the celestial bear itself was said to be female. Many women were regarded as great healers with shamanistic abilities, perhaps the first people recognized as such. The rich symbolism, myth and cosmology associated with the bear lends itself to a Jungian interpretation, one that this chapter will explore.
arXiv: Popular Physics, 2013
Following previous works on ancient myths in Greek and Latin literature regarding Ursa Major, and the possible relation with the ancient shape of the constellation, we discuss further this case in the light of the evolution of Homo sapiens and the ethnographic records of populations of Eurasia and North America.
Скульптура древних обитателей Западной Сибири изучена с целью выявления истоков иконографии обра- за медведя в культовой металлопластике кулайской общности раннего железного века. Установлено, что фи- гурки медведя, стоящего на четырех лапах, и изображения головы зверя генетически связаны с аналогичными вариантами скульптуры, появившимися в неолите. Изображения стоящего на задних лапах медведя приобре- тают популярность накануне эпохи железа под влиянием лесостепных этнокультурных импульсов. Парциаль- ные изображения переживают процесс реархаизации и образуют композиции, известные как медведь в «жер- твенной позе». Иконографические типы отражают различные семантические пласты, являясь, в частности, социальными символами. The sculpture of the ancient inhabitants of Western Siberia was studied in order to identify the origins of the iconography of the image of bear in the cultic repoussage of the Kulai community of the early Iron Age. It was established that the figurines of a bear standing on four paws, and the image of the beast’s head are genetically related to similar types of the sculpture that appeared in the Neolithic Era. The images of a bear standing on its hind paws became popular on the eve of the Iron Age under the influence of the forest-steppe ethnocultural impacts. The partial images are undergoing the process of rearchaization and form compositions known as a bear in the «sacrificial posture». Iconographic types reflect different semantic layers, representing, in particular, social symbols.
Prehistory of zodiac dating: Three strata of Upper paleolithic constellations
Vistas in Astronomy, 1995
A pattern of archaic proto-constellations is extracted from Aratus' "The Phaenomena" didactic poem list according to a size criterion elaborated earlier, and their symbolism is analyzed. As a result of this approach three celestial symbolical strata are discovered to be probably a reflection of the symbols for the Lower, the Middle and the Upper Worlds; the Under-World creatures have a water character, the Middle World ones are mostly anthropomorphic and flying beings are for the Upper World. The strata excerpted from Aratus' sky seems to be in agreement with the well-known Babylonian division into three god pathways for Ea (Enki), Anu and Emil. There is a possibility of dating the pattern discovered because of precession's strong influence as far back as 16 thousand years, the result being supported by the comparison of different star group mean sizes. The archaic constellation pattern under consideration is a reasonable background of symbolical meanings for the first Zodiacal generation quartet (7.5 thousand years old) examined by the author previously. The enormous size of the Argo constellation (Ship of Argo and his Argonauts) as well as the large sizes of other southern constellations are explained as due to the existence of an accumulation zone near the South celestial pole. Some extra correlations between the reconstruction proposed and cultural data available are discussed. The paper is the second part of the investigation "On the
Bear and Human Facets of a Multi-Layered Relationship from Past to Recent Times, with Emphasis on Northern Europe, 2023
The bear was the constant neighbour of prehistoric hunter-gatherer-fishers of the East European Plain forest zone (10th-3rd millennium BC) and also a part of their hunting prey. Nevertheless, scholars usually emphasise its special spiritual role, as it was quite different from the roles of other species of the boreal forest animal realm for both ethnographically-known Siberian indigenes and Holocene hunters. Here, we have made an attempt to put together and analyse all groups of the material culture sources which can give us some hints about the status, significance and symbolic meaning of the brown bear in the Holocene East European Plain forest zone - portable art, rock art, and osseous bear remains in settlement and burial contexts. These data show the significant presence of bear bones in kitchen waste and among bone tools, the sporadic presence of bear images in petroglyphs and cemetery materials, and the complete absence of them in Mesolithic/Neolithic portable art up until the start of the Final Stone/Bronze Age, around 3000 cal BC, when its presence increases.